How do cut down this tree???

[MES 944]

Be careful it doesn't roll on you.

[McLovin]

There is unrest in the forest,
There is trouble with the tree.

[oldE]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

I'm surprised daryl Hanna and a bunch of smelly berkeley hippies aren't living in it to protest it getting cut down

That's probably why it fell: Exceeding the registered number of protesters.

Seriously though, as said before: get the weight off the right side (tree top). Work slowly, make sure you have a scoot route.

Les

[Hugh R]

Rent a gas-powered pole saw to stay away from it. The stuff on the right side may roll as you remove it and work on the trunk right to left, especially at the pole it's resting on.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by pete3799

Wait.....this is in Ca?......by the time you get a permit to cut it down it will have turned into worm food.

If that is an oak tree, you had best delete this thread or you are liable to get fined.

I would pull it off the post first, chain and pull it with your tractor or whatever, assuming you don't mind killing that fence. Then it can't fall off its precarious perch at an inopportune time. Then you can cut the whole thing up on the ground. I think Paul is right about a lot of weight on the branch, but that fencepost looks buckled some, and is bearing weight too. Pole saw would be good to keep you out of harms way while working on smaller pieces. It is going to start raining again tomorrow, so you might need to wait for a little bit of dry weather.

Where is that, out by Los Lagos off Auburn Folsom Rd?

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

The post isn't holding up the tree, the lower, large trunk-like branch is...I bet it is embedded six inches deep in the ground. That tree weights many, many tons.

I'd get a good pole saw and and trim right to left, get the weight off as Burnin' Oil mentioned. Before you do anything, however, clean the little stuff first and make sure you get all the crap around the tree cleared. I always want a clear path to scoot, exercising the better part of valor.

You'll know a lot more on how best to attack the big stuff after that. My bet is that trimming off the top large branch first, leaving the lower section to support while you cut, will work best.

I've had to deal with two Oaks that fell on my farm. Get the weight off.

exactly -- you can easily prove this to yourself by cutting the fence post in half

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Tobra

...I would pull it off the post first, chain and pull it with your tractor or whatever, assuming you don't mind killing that fence. Then it can't fall off its precarious perch at an inopportune time.

That would take some serious equipment imo. Thinking "out loud" here...a few well placed shots from a 44 mag (or equivalent) would remove the post from a safe distance however . I'm not kidding...

[legion]

Like this:

[Bill Douglas]

The b1tch, i'd punish it first.

As said above make sure it doesn't roll on you. And it may right itself once the trunk is cut. Sadly there was a case of a guys little girls playing in the hollow of a large stump and the trunk righted itself when the tree was chopped off

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by legion

Like this:

xlnt example of why loggers are tree-huggers

that guy didn't

[MBAtarga]

Originally Posted by BRPORSCHE

I would move right to left. Gradually taking weight off the base.



Edit: I just realized I was contradicting myself. way to mix up my left and rights! Doh!

If you go this route - make the right-most cut from the bottom of the branch up, othewise, the chainsaw bar will be wedged.

[aigel]

Right to left in 3 foot sections. Fun job if you have a good saw.

G

[Rodsrsr]

Originally Posted by Tobra

If that is an oak tree, you had best delete this thread or you are liable to get fined.

I would pull it off the post first, chain and pull it with your tractor or whatever, assuming you don't mind killing that fence. Then it can't fall off its precarious perch at an inopportune time. Then you can cut the whole thing up on the ground. I think Paul is right about a lot of weight on the branch, but that fencepost looks buckled some, and is bearing weight too. Pole saw would be good to keep you out of harms way while working on smaller pieces. It is going to start raining again tomorrow, so you might need to wait for a little bit of dry weather.

Where is that, out by Los Lagos off Auburn Folsom Rd?

Nice call...I'm about a mile from the entrance to Folsom Lake ....Granite Bay.

[Eric Coffey]

Whatever you do, please film it. Preferably with the following opening monologue:

[starts chainsaw]
Rod: "Hold my beer.....watch this."

[GH85Carrera]

Pics or it did not happen!

[ErVikingo]

Where I live you would have to call the tree department of the town to get permission, then apply for a permit before they would let you cut the tree.

After that, by law, you have to replace the tree with the same caliper (trunk width).

One exception, cleanup after a hurricane. But then, you still have to replace the caliper..... Last storm I had to replace 1 tree with 6 smaller ones.

Did I just go PARF?

[Rodsrsr]

Originally Posted by ErVikingo

Where I live you would have to call the tree department of the town to get permission, then apply for a permit before they would let you cut the tree.

After that, by law, you have to replace the tree with the same caliper (trunk width).

One exception, cleanup after a hurricane. But then, you still have to replace the caliper..... Last storm I had to replace 1 tree with 6 smaller ones.

Did I just go PARF?

Fortunately that wont apply because we own the property where the tree is planted. That fence is not the property line, its just a hot wire to keep our horses in.

[Tobra]

It almost certainly will apply if that is a valley oak

[Rodsrsr]

Originally Posted by Tobra

It almost certainly will apply if that is a valley oak

Ok, you win.. I'll replant a tree that weighs thousands of pounds on the edge of a creek where there is not enough dirt to keep it standing just to be a good little citizen. Then I watch it fall again and do it all over.

[RWebb]

I'm sure you can replant somewhere else - contact the state or county or whomever & see. You might get free saplings out of it. Your livestock want some shade anyway.