Mechanical felling wedge

[jb-chainsaws]

Figured I'd ask if any of you chaps have used a mechanical type felling wedge? Story goes I've just landed a job clearing round a site for 600 houses to be built, currently covered with some big deciduous British hardwoods. The terrain is awful, hell my truck even struggles on some of it! So most of the trees need felling against the natural lean either for access or to get them away from other structures.

With winching options being limited, I've looked at investing in one of these:

Big rotten beech that I'm not looking forward to. The terrain looks far better on this picture than it is.

The wedge is Hellish expensive, but it'll hopefully pay for itself over the course of the job. Did a rough guesstimation on a walk round the site and figure I've got about 250 hard leaners that need to go where they don't want to. This gives 15 tonnes of force apparently, and comes highly recommended in Germany where i believe it is manufactured.

Thoughts?

 

[merc_man]

I was just looking at those on the net the other day. Was thinling about trying to make one. They look simple.

Sent from my SM-J320W8 using Tapatalk

 

[jb-chainsaws]

I was just looking at those on the net the other day. Was thinling about trying to make one. They look simple.

Sent from my SM-J320W8 using Tapatalk

I've been itching to pull the trigger for a few weeks now, I know I'm going to need it eventually but that price tag is going to make me butt sore

 

[RI Chevy]

Really cool idea. I like it. I am not quite sure that it will make a tree go where it does not want to go, but I like it. I probably wouldn't like the price though.
Real cool video.

 

[USMC615]

Interesting...

 

[jb-chainsaws]

Really cool idea. I like it. I am not quite sure that it will make a tree go where it does not want to go, but I like it. I probably wouldn't like the price though.
Real cool video.

Should be able to make it work with a combination of cutting techniques on the most part. I'm currently having a hydraulic ground blade made for the front of the defender, and I'm getting a new hydraulic winch capable of pulling 8T. On the real nasty ones the plan is to bury the anchor blade, then preload the winch on some pulley blocks where I want it to go and finish the job with the winch on a remote control once it's been cut and wedged.

Edit: the cost of that REALLY makes my eyes water though, so hopefully this wedge can get the cash flowing before I have to stump up the reddies for the hydraulics

 

[huskihl]

Why not step the back side out and use a $30 bottle jack?

 

[jb-chainsaws]

Why not step the back side out and use a $30 bottle jack?

I've seen a lot of talk on other forums of bottle jacks jumping out, going bang or sinking into the wood, and it's a lot of weight to carry round the woods with the terrain being so bad with no gaurantee of it holding up. I also can't use a bottle jack in a bore cut, and the weight and size of it required to get 15T of force would probably make it impractical

 

[Deets066]

You can use a jack in a bore cut, I've done it.

Make your face, then bore through the face right out the back.

If your cut outs are good and level the jack won't jump out. Bring a small plate for the top and it won't sink in the wood.

It is a lot of weight to carry, but if you have big heavy leaners then it's a very handy tool

 

[PissRev]

I like the idea of this wedge. A bottle jack would be much less expensive though. Is there anyway you can get a backhoe or smaller excavator in where you are cutting to help push the trees over with the bucket? I know both of those and cost a lot of money to rent but maybe you have one available to use.

 

[PissRev]

 

[PissRev]

Here is another option for you.

https://www.clarkforest.com/shop/lo...ling-tools/ram-wedge-hydraulic-felling-wedges

Edited to add that this is way more £ than the wedge you were looking at.

 

[RI Chevy]

Cool " How to" videos. Nice options.

 

[Marshy]

That mechanical wedge is genius. I can't believe how simple it is. If you had the time and talent you could make your own quite easily.

 

[jb-chainsaws]

You can use a jack in a bore cut, I've done it.

Make your face, then bore through the face right out the back.

If your cut outs are good and level the jack won't jump out. Bring a small plate for the top and it won't sink in the wood.

It is a lot of weight to carry, but if you have big heavy leaners then it's a very handy tool

You know I never even thought about it like that before, i guess I just got in the mindset that it won't work without even thinking about it properly. i might try it out after all. Thanks for making it clearer in my head

 

[Deets066]

You know I never even thought about it like that before, i guess I just got in the mindset that it won't work without even thinking about it properly. i might try it out after all. Thanks for making it clearer in my head

Technically it wasn't a bottle jack that I used. It was a portapower. Like this

 

[Deets066]

They also make these.



But I'd rather use the regular head, I could see the wedge head spitting out.

Regular head gives you straight vertical lift

 

[KiwiBro (deleted)]

Slightly different take on it. Threaded cone. Can't find the Italian manufacturers web details any more. But was about $180 from memory. The videos showed it working well in small soft woods. Haven't seen it in bigger or harder wood but the manufacturer said it would still bite in hard wood.

 

[Dave6390]

Why not step the back side out and use a $30 bottle jack?

The Bottle Jack idea is a great setup for leaners, I carry 2 pieces of 1/2" steel to place on the top and bottom of the jack so it's not absorbed into the tree, whether it's solid or partially decayed. The only time I wouldn't use it is when I can use 1-3 guy ropes or a RAD system. I'm just throwing this out there, before you spend your money on an assumption. Best of Luck!

 

[Dave6390]

View attachment 56352

Slightly different take on it. Threaded cone. Can't find the Italian manufacturers web details any more. But was about $180 from memory. The videos showed it working well in small soft woods. Haven't seen it in bigger or harder wood but the manufacturer said it would still bite in hard wood.

Contact anyone on this site that does any steel lathe work, you can more than likely get 2-4 of them for the same, if not less money! IMO