Tree Felling Technique Thread

[XP_Slinger]

My mechanic saved some money because these milling subjects were left. He was sure this cheap tree guy was good enough.View attachment 174075 left hand stick caused the cutter to go expletive! when it started down. Headed toward the deck around the above ground pool. CloserView attachment 174077 with this mismatch of cuts the only thing that saved the deck was the stick falling measured 11' rather than 12 1/2 feet in length. It trimmed back to 9'10" which has me strapping a ladder to the roof for the guide

There’s a whole lot of F’d up going on with that stump, wow.

 

[longleaf]

There’s a whole lot of F’d up going on with that stump, wow.

 

[redline4]

I'm looking for suggestions on the best method to bring this down.

It "sounds" solid when thumped with an axe, but I have a gut feeling based off other trees that the heart may be gone out of it. Many have been hollow for 4-6' up here.

The trunk has a bit of a twist and it has a slight lean.





Roughly 90 degrees from first pics.


And the opposite side from the first 2 pics.




In a perfect world I would like it to fall either toward me in the first 2 pics, or to the right in same pictures.
That would be toward the left in last 2.

That direction is the most open and would cause the least damage to other live trees.

 

[Czed]

I'm looking for suggestions on the best method to bring this down.

It "sounds" solid when thumped with an axe, but I have a gut feeling based off other trees that the heart may be gone out of it. Many have been hollow for 4-6' up here.

The trunk has a bit of a twist and it has a slight lean.

View attachment 174913
View attachment 174914


Roughly 90 degrees from first pics.
View attachment 174915

And the opposite side from the first 2 pics.

View attachment 174916
View attachment 174917

In a perfect world I would like it to fall either toward me in the first 2 pics, or to the right in same pictures.
That would be toward the left in last 2.

That direction is the most open and would cause the least damage to other live trees.

I've had the top half snap off dead tree's when they fall
Rarely do i bore cut
I'd shallow face and traditional back cut towards
The lean
Get away from that one quick.

 

[~WBF]

So you are trending off other trees of the same species in the same area in this case. That's good.
That's the first thing you need to do. You can gather a lot of important information about the timber stand before hand by just walking in to where you are going to cut, known to me as a site overview.
Of course, you would be looking at everything. Example: soil type and condition? Fire? Insects? Is disease present? If so WHAT are the indicators? First you have to be familiar with what species is susceptible to what ? So you can do a quick search and find out about different types of root rot, sap rot, ( sap rot will have a white seaweed like fungus around the base and lower trunk. In this case I can see it doesn't. Heart rot and *types of heart rot conks to look for. Sometimes they swell under and around the branch collar.
( that's one type with cottonwood for example) not all conks mean heart rot either. Can you tell the differences without a phone in your hand?
Also what pests attack that species and what are the signs?

What is going on with these trees?
Is it from Insects? Can you see galleries patterns on the tree or exit/entrance holes through the bark? I see sloughing bark and the top hasn't decomposed yet. So did the sap suckers/ wood peckers speed up the process by pecking at the bark to feed on the beetles and larva or is it a natural process? How many yrs does that natural process take with each different species? So it's an indicator of time. How muck time for that species? IDK?
Perhaps that species isn't bothered by insects? IDK?
It's knowledge worth knowing going forward.
I don't know the species and a can only tell so much from these pics but it possibly looks like abnormal swelling of the branch collar? which would indicate a type of heart rot disease.

One can't judge a tree lean by pictures really If it's flat ground I may have to walk around the tree. If it's side hill falling on a hill then you have to stand in the pocket or a bit above on the high side to know whether it is going left or right. If you try judge it from the low side then it may show it going the other way by a mile. You were vague on the lean direction. Where is the slight lean in reference to were you want to fall it.
With the lean or against the lean?. Sounds like you have 90° leeway. So that leaves with or against the lean. if it has a very slight side lean with a forward lean then that shouldn't be an issue? You need to do more assessments on the wood to no the limits first.

Cut all that sloughing bark off and then you can do a vertical bore in the direction you are going to fall it. (Front or back of tree. No point making a low bore if you cut high. *Always take a knee on a low bore.
Plan to make the fall at a comfortable height (waist height) reasons: 1)You are standing erect so you are a smaller target
than you are while leaning over. 2) you can look up easy in this position 3) You can get away faster in that position 4)
You can often find more solid wood higher up than at the base when heart rot is present. It is much to do with the condition of the sap wood as that's the strongest wood. So if I still get some good 'white wood out of the sap wood and it sinks in the middle then I am not always concerned with smallish tree on flat ground. Even if the shell of the sapwood is discoloured after the bore then as long as it's still has a hardness to it then I can likely work with it such as wedge over. You can check how soft the outside is with hitting with the back of axe too. If it is all punky then not much you can do. You MAY get away with a slight wedge on flat ground, 180° of the direct lean with an easy lean.
This is general rules to decomposing wood. If it was green wood on trees I never cut then I would be of less help really.

"Edit

 

[longleaf]

Cut a hole in the side and fill it with tannerite. Get way back and shoot it.

 

[redline4]

This tree is at my parents place.
Not sure why it died. Most of the bigger oaks in their woods suffered a pretty much similar fate.
The woodpeckers have not gotten to this one yet.
Insects, maybe, but there is not really any boring into the wood that I can see even though the bark is coming off.

The rest of the trees that need to come down are fairly straight forward, lean one direction and a larger branch hanging off the leaning side means a shallow face, back cut and wedge, and over it goes that direction.

This one, the trunk has a bit of a cork screw, and that 1 larger limb is 90 degrees to the lean.
My concern is that the corkscrew will make the tree want to twist on me.
Shallow face cut, begin the backcut toward the twisted side, then wedge the hell out of it from that side to prevent a twist and finish backcut?

The slight lean would be to the right in the first pic, which is where I actually would like it to go.
The "twist", brings it slightly toward a person in that first pic. Directly below the 1 larger limb above if that makes sence.

Ground is flat as a pancake there, so that's a non-issue.

@Czed I hear you on that. I have no issue whatsoever abandoning the saw and setting a new world record 100m dash time getting out of there.

 

[Czed]

This tree is at my parents place.
Not sure why it died. Most of the bigger oaks in their woods suffered a pretty much similar fate.
The woodpeckers have not gotten to this one yet.
Insects, maybe, but there is not really any boring into the wood that I can see even though the bark is coming off.

The rest of the trees that need to come down are fairly straight forward, lean one direction and a larger branch hanging off the leaning side means a shallow face, back cut and wedge, and over it goes that direction.

This one, the trunk has a bit of a cork screw, and that 1 larger limb is 90 degrees to the lean.
My concern is that the corkscrew will make the tree want to twist on me.
Shallow face cut, begin the backcut toward the twisted side, then wedge the hell out of it from that side to prevent a twist and finish backcut?

The slight lean would be to the right in the first pic, which is where I actually would like it to go.
The "twist", brings it slightly toward a person in that first pic. Directly below the 1 larger limb above if that makes sence.

Ground is flat as a pancake there, so that's a non-issue.

@Czed I hear you on that. I have no issue whatsoever abandoning the saw and setting a new world record 100m dash time getting out of there.

Got another to fall against this one?

 

[redline4]

Got another to fall against this one?

No.
The only trees surrounding it are small maples. Maybe 8-10".
Now that I think on it, if I clear some brush and a few small scrub trees, I will have a straight 150' path that the lean is going toward.
I have 100' of 3/8" cable, and another 50' of chain. I could climb, hook the cable and run it to my skidsteer to help pull it toward the lean. That would possibly take my worry about the twist in this thing out of the picture.

I need to do some calculating to see if I have enough stuff to keep the skid out of the way.

Hook up the cable, face cut, then bore in 90* from the face to clear the center. A bit of tension and cut the trigger? I can't recall the name of that cut, but I know I saw it in this thread. I will have to look back.

 

[hseII]

No.
The only trees surrounding it are small maples. Maybe 8-10".
Now that I think on it, if I clear some brush and a few small scrub trees, I will have a straight 150' path that the lean is going toward.
I have 100' of 3/8" cable, and another 50' of chain. I could climb, hook the cable and run it to my skidsteer to help pull it toward the lean. That would possibly take my worry about the twist in this thing out of the picture.

I need to do some calculating to see if I have enough stuff to keep the skid out of the way.

Hook up the cable, face cut, then bore in 90* from the face to clear the center. A bit of tension and cut the trigger? I can't recall the name of that cut, but I know I saw it in this thread. I will have to look back.

Don’t Climber that one.


https://www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?item=17322

Use the throw line to get a little rope to get the cable in position.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[redline4]

Is there a general rule of thumb for tree height vs. how high one wants a pull line hooked to it?

 

[Czed]

No.
The only trees surrounding it are small maples. Maybe 8-10".
Now that I think on it, if I clear some brush and a few small scrub trees, I will have a straight 150' path that the lean is going toward.
I have 100' of 3/8" cable, and another 50' of chain. I could climb, hook the cable and run it to my skidsteer to help pull it toward the lean. That would possibly take my worry about the twist in this thing out of the picture.

I need to do some calculating to see if I have enough stuff to keep the skid out of the way.

Hook up the cable, face cut, then bore in 90* from the face to clear the center. A bit of tension and cut the trigger? I can't recall the name of that cut, but I know I saw it in this thread. I will have to look back.

I'm to lazy for that
Post a pic from the base looking up
90* from lean
Or burn it.

 

[~WBF]

Is there a general rule of thumb for tree height vs. how high one wants a pull line hooked to it?

Yes the rule of thumb is you have to have move weight below your running bowline than above

 

[hseII]

Is there a general rule of thumb for tree height vs. how high one wants a pull line hooked to it?

No more than 2/3rds the height typically.

I would shoot it in that big fork & be gentle with any pull.

You want to just help it over with the cable, use wedges primarily, & the cable secondarily.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[redline4]

I'm to lazy for that
Post a pic from the base looking up
90* from lean
Or burn it.

I suggested blowing it up.
Or purchasing a surplus Sherman tank and running it over.
My old man said he wouldnt mind the tank, but really didnt want his whole woods on fire.
I wont be back over there until next weekend for more pics.

 

[Deets066]

I don’t like pulling on dead ones. Depending how dead, it may fail in places you wouldn’t expect. Fall it toward the lean, if it gets hung up then just pull it with the skid steer.

From the bottom

 

[~WBF]

But isn't your tree leaning already to the direction you want to pull it? So it's not nearly as critical as long as you have your holding wood. and get up a ways.

Use fishing line and a bit of a weight. You could hand throw it or cast it. When it come down over the branch you want then remove weight and tie on line to rope and pull your rope up and over the branch and back down with the line. Then tie a running bowline.
(Google if needed) and pull the rope to set you knot.

 

[beaglebriar]

This tree is at my parents place.
Not sure why it died. Most of the bigger oaks in their woods suffered a pretty much similar fate.
The woodpeckers have not gotten to this one yet.
Insects, maybe, but there is not really any boring into the wood that I can see even though the bark is coming off.

The rest of the trees that need to come down are fairly straight forward, lean one direction and a larger branch hanging off the leaning side means a shallow face, back cut and wedge, and over it goes that direction.

This one, the trunk has a bit of a cork screw, and that 1 larger limb is 90 degrees to the lean.
My concern is that the corkscrew will make the tree want to twist on me.
Shallow face cut, begin the backcut toward the twisted side, then wedge the hell out of it from that side to prevent a twist and finish backcut?

The slight lean would be to the right in the first pic, which is where I actually would like it to go.
The "twist", brings it slightly toward a person in that first pic. Directly below the 1 larger limb above if that makes sence.

Ground is flat as a pancake there, so that's a non-issue.

@Czed I hear you on that. I have no issue whatsoever abandoning the saw and setting a new world record 100m dash time getting out of there.

I see small branches in the top of that tree which is a good thing. It could be a lot deader... I'd do like Dave said and fall it with the natural lean, keep a close eye above.

Since there's other mature oaks dying in the same woodlot I'd guess that you have oak wilt. It's a fungus that spreads through the root system if I remember correctly.

If there's any other oaks that still have timber value and you confirm that it is wilt it would be wise to take them now. Otherwise you end up with a lot of firewood that could have put some extra cash in your parents pocket.

 

[~WBF]

No more than 2/3rds the height typically.

I would shoot it in that big fork & be gentle with any pull.

You want to just help it over with the cable, use wedges primarily, & the cable secondarily.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I believe he clarified it was leaning that way anyway.


*Edit..Even the first branch should be above the bulk if the weight?

 

[redline4]

@beaglebriar we kind of suspected the same thing with the oak wilt.
There are only a handful of oaks left. All the regen came back as maple.
30 years ago, it was mostly oak. I think there are maybe 5 or 6 smaller than the pictured one that still appear to be alive. And the 5 or 6 similar to this one that are no longer. Nothing of timber value. Just firewood at this point.