The PPOT ULTIMATE tree cutting thread!
 

I discovered PPOT about a year ago, and some of my favorite posts are about tree cutting.

Who can forget the thread about the neighbor who was about to drop the tree onto another neighbor's house?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/842120-developing-situation-i-doubt-will-end-well.html

Rivetting I tell you!!!! So tonight I submit my own pathetic offering, a scraggly pine which threatens my daughter's playhouse. It it nothing more than a cheap dead pine, but is pitched towards the playhouse, so I will need to make it fall in a completely different direction than mother nature intends, or DOOM will befall the playhouse. This won't happen though for TWO reasons- 1. I payed $$$ coin for that playhouse, and 2. I assembled it (total biatttchhhhh!) -stay tuned my friends as I warp physics and do the impossible because I am too cheap to call a professional!
I do encourage people to contribute their own tree cutting adventures to this thread as to compile an ultimate pelican "how to" or "how not to" down a tree!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1436664741.jpg

Tomorrow I strike- and by posting to PPOT, that gives me some incentive to actually get out and do it in the next week or two!

That tree will fall right on the treehouse. There is no way you can notch it to not fall on the playhouse. The bend of the tree brings the weight of it right over the playhouse. You can bend gravity if you are really good but you cannot defy the laws of physics.

(Not an expert nor a hotel advertisement. Die at your own risk)

The bottom 2/3 of the trunk leans towards the playhouse.
That part is solid trunk.
Enough to support human weight. I hope.

The top 1/3 leans away.
Heavy with foliage and tight quarters to rotate. An electric pole saw extension might help there.
That is the most dangerous part.
Leave a 24" stump on small branches to hang a rope off.

First invest in or rent quality professional climbing gear (spikes/harness/helmet/saw/wedges).
Better yet get a pro to 'advise'.

Drop the top third. Remove as much brush as possible before.
Piece by piece. Go slow.
You have the rest of your life IN TRACTION to think about this.
Take a week or a month.
That is the most dangerous part.

That high up.....the trunk will tend to vibrate and flick you off like an insect.

Then rope away sections until there is enough space to drop the main trunk.

Which may not be very much time if things go awry! :D

I've had to cut down a couple of 60' popal trees that were going to interfere with my power line.
They were leaning toward the power line.
What I did was to tie a rope( 150' of climbing rope) as high on the trunk as possible, put a screw anchor in the ground where I wanted the tree to fall, attached a pulley to the screw anchor, feed the rope through the pulley and tie to my truck at 90 degrees from line of tree fall.
I then notched tree in direction of fall, tension the rope, back cut tree until tree starts to fall, add tension to rope and finish cut.
Every time I use this method the tree drops right on the pulley....
The main thing is to be certain you have the space for the tree to fall.
A helper in the truck is, well, helpful......
Be careful and aware of the situation.....

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Much different than the one I posted. I had a lot of room for a lot of error. I don't see that here. I'd hire this one out.

I watched a guy do this to one of my trees that was leaning toward a shed. I would not try it myself, but here goes.
He cut a notch out of the tree to make himself a wedge. I'm thinking a piece of 2x4 would work for this, as it was about 4" thick at the thickest part. On your tree, he would notch it on the side facing the camera, to make a hinge so it would fall toward the camera. He would cut the notch, backcut the tree, and when it starts falling and the center of gravity changes, he would jam the wedge into the left side of the notch. When the tree hit the wedge it had a momentary WTF? hesitation, then fell a few degrees away from perpendicular to the hinge.

https://www.facebook.com/fred.grosshaupt/videos/733503663379605/?l=7016471530256524449
Last summer, my good friend Bob, (also a 930 owner ) showed me a new way to drop trees

Farm it out to Thom's neighbor :)

Go back in time, drop tree before building playhouse.

I would probably hire that one out.

My neighbor had a huge poplar dropped this year. I was surprised how reasonable the price was for the amount of labor and equipment involved.

Ha! Well to honor that guy, I need to post an update. This morning I realized I had no throwball to set a line- so I improvised:
Attempt one was my wife's garden trowel:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1436704295.jpg
Pros: good weight/ balance/ throws well
Cons:got stuck in tree. Wife unaware she is now minus one garden tool

So I got lazy and grabbed the next available thing in the garage- a clamp:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1436704410.jpg

Pro's: It was sitting right there, about the right size, throws well
Cons: gets stuck in branches even worse than garden spade

Here's a picture of my morning progress (Tree 2:Ron-0):

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1436704792.jpg


Then the craftsman wrench "eureka" moment:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1436704534.jpg

Check out the angle on the tree as the wrench dangles straight down!
String up:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1436704881.jpg

Now I need to go buy some new rope- all my old stuff was getting rotten.

That's what I do, with a cut if the trunk is more than 8" or so, or a notch if I'm really worried about the direction.

skinny, but long. that tree.
you gonna post a video?

update:
Got the lines in place from two angles. I've got a good angle on the trunk and am just about ready to go. Need to get my wife to video. I want to swing it around the cherry canopy and into the open yard. On a scale of 1-10 pucker factor is a 1.5. Feeling confident(ish).


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1436721047.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1436721061.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1436721077.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1436721194.jpg

There is no way you can notch or wedge that tree enough to not fall on the treehouse. The weight of the trunk is just too much. Ifyou try at best you'll knock down the playhouse. At worst you will get badly hurt in the process. That is a complex tree. You should not in any stretch of the imagination try it yourself. A pro with proper tools will probably cut it in sections until it gets short enough to handle. Thinking you can handle that tree is like thinking you can take your car straight to the Indy 500 and compete with their pros. Your chances of success and death or dismemberment are about the same.

Whoa! Given your "aiming point", why do you have a come along on the angle to the left? I would think that line will tend to pull things in that direction.

Best
Les

Thanks- That line is a safety so if the tree falls back towards the playhouse, it will spin it around the radius of the trunk the come along is attached to so the pine will clear the cherry canopy and land it in the yard. It does look weird though! :)

Won't the tension on the lines instantly disappear once the tree moves even a foot or two? Making it as if the lines weren't even there at all?

Oh. The answer is yes.

Good luck to you!!

Yep!-:D Infact that is just what I am counting on for the line oldE mentioned. I considered hanging a weight on the main pull line, but have such a good angle on the tree that I feel confident once it starts to go, it will go in the right direction.

Two words -
OH SCHITZ!

Growing up on a farm, I've helped fell many trees and then later on clearing building sites. Never was comfortable with it as some of it scares the hell out of me. I've observed the pro's and even read an old publication, something like Pap's Tree cutting / chainsaw guide.

Sometimes this stuff is best left for the artist. No thanks and I wouldn't go near your project!

Okay- the pucker factor went up 4 out of 10- why? because I was recording it, and when people record things, stupid s#$% happens. Also, I would be embarrassed if the tree significantly missed my landing point of the white box in the front yard.

So.... in retrospect- filming it was dumb - primarily because I discovered I had a dull blade and was too busy trying to get the tree down on film to stop and change to a newer blade. I went slow so the tree wouldn't bind on the chainsaw bar-(I had to notch the side of the tree in compression- so I made several cuts to get a feel for how bad the tree would compress on the bar- and it just about did-where my wife laughed at me, so that was close, but in retrospect, I really should have changed the blade. Nothing more dangerous than a dull tool. When the bar got caught I did a big no no and stepped in front of the tree to free it. Stupid..stupid stupid.

On the other hand, this video gives an idea of how good of an angle I ended up having on the tree before it came down.

You might want to speed through the first minute or two to not die of boredom. I could have chewed through it with my teeth faster than the blade cut. Also, the wide angle lens makes the tree look a mile away, but in reality this was tighter than it looked. My wife thought it would hit the house it was so close and shares her thoughts on the video.


Keep your eye on the box. (p.s.- Intake- The bikes were in the garage!)

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Well done! But looks like you hired Ronald McDonald to come do it! ;)

Ha! My wife loved that comment!:D
Again- Nothing like a good tree cutting thread to keep the suspense high. Reminds me of the old adage that the "Driver is infinitely more optimistic than the passenger" during rallye racing. Watching idiots cut trees on the internet is the best. Hopefully this will embolden more tom foolery of this nature.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1436734527.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1436734564.jpg

Good aim there, Mr. McDonald! Lol