Manual Hoist for Felling?

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Conquistador3

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Sometimes I run into trees (90% of the time either Downy oak or Black locust) which have grown into places where "guiding" the fall is necessary to either avoid damages or making bucking and limbing easier.
Usually a cable or rope tied to a tractor or a truck is enough to do that but sometimes the layout of the place doesn't allow anything larger than a wheelbarrow to get through.
My Stihl dealership is also a Tractel dealer and they presently have two Tirfor's they may be willing to let go at highly discounted price (cancelled order): http://www.tractel.com/en/series.php?id_serie=47

I was thinking, just thinking, these things can also be used to guide a falling tree if properly placed. Besides several other uses of course. :laugh:
Can it be done? Or I am just victim of the drugs I am still taking after my surgery?
 
One thing you should keep in mind with these manual ratchet pullers is that their pull rate is very very slow and every time you re-cock the thing the tree will sit back. Its not like the quick continuous pull you get from a machine with an engine. Watch out trying to pull trees that might break the hinge mid pull.
 
We are not allowed to pull trees using a machine/truck (company policy), so we use tirfor. Works good, but we only use it when it takes more pull than we can get with 2 groundies and a 3:1. What works most convenient is to attach the cable hook to the pull rope with a prussic loop. It makes it easy to adjust if you run out of cable.

I don't know what you mean by guiding a fall. Once the tree starts to go, you're at the mercy of gravity and your hinge.
 
We are not allowed to pull trees using a machine/truck (company policy), so we use tirfor. Works good, but we only use it when it takes more pull than we can get with 2 groundies and a 3:1. What works most convenient is to attach the cable hook to the pull rope with a prussic loop. It makes it easy to adjust if you run out of cable.

I don't know what you mean by guiding a fall. Once the tree starts to go, you're at the mercy of gravity and your hinge.

I think that is what he means by "guided". And thanks for mentioning running out of pull, I was going to say something but forgot.
 
One thing you should keep in mind with these manual ratchet pullers is that their pull rate is very very slow and every time you re-cock the thing the tree will sit back. Its not like the quick continuous pull you get from a machine with an engine. Watch out trying to pull trees that might break the hinge mid pull.

Given the people I can get to help me, the slower the better. ;)

We are not allowed to pull trees using a machine/truck (company policy), so we use tirfor. Works good, but we only use it when it takes more pull than we can get with 2 groundies and a 3:1. What works most convenient is to attach the cable hook to the pull rope with a prussic loop. It makes it easy to adjust if you run out of cable.

I don't know what you mean by guiding a fall. Once the tree starts to go, you're at the mercy of gravity and your hinge.

"Guiding a fall" means getting the tree to fall where I want instead of where it wants. Which usually means straight on a fence, a telephone line etc. I don't know what trees have against man-made structures. :laugh:
The main problem is that I am invariably short on manpower when working, so I have to use every trick in the book to make the most of that. A Tirfor would allow me to pull oaks located in places where a truck cannot get... perhaps without making a mess of things.
 
Given the people I can get to help me, the slower the better. ;)



"Guiding a fall" means getting the tree to fall where I want instead of where it wants. Which usually means straight on a fence, a telephone line etc. I don't know what trees have against man-made structures. :laugh:
The main problem is that I am invariably short on manpower when working, so I have to use every trick in the book to make the most of that. A Tirfor would allow me to pull oaks located in places where a truck cannot get... perhaps without making a mess of things.


I can understand you move slow but when you see what I mean you will see what I mean.


I often work alone, one thing I do is put a pulley out where the tree is going and redirect it back to the base of the tree I am cutting so I can cut and crank at the same time.
 
You know "The Max Power Way" from The Simpsons? That's what most people I work with live by. :laugh:

And it's funny I made this post yesterday because later today I am going to see a soon-to-be-removed Black locust which will most likely need a hoist...
 
Two double shive pulleys will give you a 5 to 1 and you can pull 10 feet of rope quickly with a lot of power. Wire rope is a pain, heavy, dangerous, and hard to handle. A nice 5/8 in rope will pull over must trees. If you need more then that you should rethink trying to pull it over.
 
The higher you get the rope into the tree, the less power you need to pull/guide it. Just today I used my come-along winch to guide fall a cedar that was leaning and heavily branched in the opposite direction, and its only rated at 4 tons and I bought it new for about $25. But by getting the rope about 2/3 way up (I have climbing spikes) it pulled just fine right where I wanted. Getting it higher would only make it that much easier.

But certainly, cedar isn't black locust, but the height principle is the same. Also, de-limbing what you can on the opposite side before felling helps a lot too.
 
The higher you get the rope into the tree, the less power you need to pull/guide it. Just today I used my come-along winch to guide fall a cedar that was leaning and heavily branched in the opposite direction, and its only rated at 4 tons and I bought it new for about $25. But by getting the rope about 2/3 way up (I have climbing spikes) it pulled just fine right where I wanted. Getting it higher would only make it that much easier.

But certainly, cedar isn't black locust, but the height principle is the same. Also, de-limbing what you can on the opposite side before felling helps a lot too.

The big problem is I've never climbed in my life and I am surely not starting at this age. I would probably be instantly blacklisted by all insurance companies in a 500 miles radius. :laugh:
I always try delimbing with my trusty polesaw as much as possible but I can only get that high with it.
Hence the need for a "strength multiplier".
 
Tirfors (Griphoists) are powerful tools and they last forever. The way the wire passes through the machine allows unlimited length of wire rope. The separate handles for tension/de-tension are very smooth. +1 on using a block to redirect and keep you out of the direction of fall. I used one last weekend to pull a tree off a hiker's shelter in West Virginia after packing it in for about a mile. Wire was blocked to a spar tree then down to an anchor tree, and Maasdam rope puller at a 90° to swing it to the side.

DSC02277.JPG P1030642.jpg
 
Tirfors (Griphoists) are powerful tools and they last forever. The way the wire passes through the machine allows unlimited length of wire rope. The separate handles for tension/de-tension are very smooth. +1 on using a block to redirect and keep you out of the direction of fall. I used one last weekend to pull a tree off a hiker's shelter in West Virginia after packing it in for about a mile. Wire was blocked to a spar tree then down to an anchor tree, and Maasdam rope puller at a 90° to swing it to the side.

View attachment 552596 View attachment 552597

I assume in the last pic, the tree you're hooked to is the anchor tree. I would suggest in the future, you attach the tirfor at the base of the tree, rather than a few feet up the tree. Less likelihood of pulling your anchor tree over. Because the way root systems work, hooking at the base of the tree allows you to utilize a much smaller tree. There is no bending moment, rather just trying to pull the root system straight out of the ground, an action where tree root systems are very strong.
 
I assume in the last pic, the tree you're hooked to is the anchor tree. I would suggest in the future, you attach the tirfor at the base of the tree, rather than a few feet up the tree. Less likelihood of pulling your anchor tree over. Because the way root systems work, hooking at the base of the tree allows you to utilize a much smaller tree. There is no bending moment, rather just trying to pull the root system straight out of the ground, an action where tree root systems are very strong.

Yes, it was the anchor tree, but the original posting used pics from two separate projects. I used them as examples. It's always imperative to select heathy trees for anchors, and the lower you rig, the less likely you are to pull the tree over.
 
Maasdam's are easier to carry than a Griphoist. Be sure to get one or two good arborist blocks if you buy it. I used one to haul a rootball off a trail a couple years ago. Fast forward to the end to see it go:

 

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