Newbie strikes again with cherry

[LostInTheWoods]

Guys, check it out...

I've been given an approx 35-40' cherry (yea me!) that is somewhat dead at the top and leaning over. I was going to fell it this weekend. Literally the only thing in the way of the fall path was a port-o-pot and I have moved that (no there was no one in it at the time). But, as my luck would have it, the builder had the dumptster removed yesterday and a empty one delivered yesterday. Partially in the fall path.

So, if I look at it from one direction it looks like it will fall right over the middle of the dumpster, this is one of those long ones, maybe 20' used for construction site waste. If I look at the lean from a different direction it looks like it might just miss the thing.

Question: is there a method by which I can cut this thing to make it fall where I want? Will ropes help? I think I only need to influence it, in the fall, 15-20 degrees (side to side) in the way it is leaning. The lean (standing) is at about 75-80 degrees from standing directly up. Thoughts?

 

[oldsaw]

Ropes, wedges, cable, chain will all work. Pictures would help more.

Mark

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

Those dumpsters can be easily draged from the lift side before they are full with a backhoe, offroad forklift, 3/4" ton pickup and a chain, etc. The gate side has rollers under it. Maybe an option...

 

[woodshop]

Question: is there a method by which I can cut this thing to make it fall where I want? Will ropes help? I think I only need to influence it, in the fall, 15-20 degrees (side to side) in the way it is leaning. The lean (standing) is at about 75-80 degrees from standing directly up. Thoughts?

If the tree is reasonably strait, and not already leaning 45 degrees, you can usually pull a tree left or right a good bit by leaving holding wood on the back cut when felling. Leave the holding wood on the side of the hinge you want it to go towards. This is not as hard as it might seem, you just have to be careful with your saw cut, watching as you go through so that you leave the appropriate amount on the correct side of the hinge. ROUGH ballpark example, on a 14 inch dia tree, your hinge might have an extra inch of holding wood on the side you want it to fall. Point being... not a WHOLE lot extra holding wood, just enough to hold it while it's falling, pulling it a little in that direction.

 

[LostInTheWoods]

Thanks for this advice so far. I need to get you guys some pics of this mother so you can see the lean, the tree quality (and the port-o-pot!! lol)

I'll cut it in about two weeks when my father in law shows up.

I'll get out there this weekend.

 

[LostInTheWoods]

Pics of this tree

Ok, here are the pics:

First: relative to dumpster
Second: lean vs the strait trees behind it
Third: rough amount of dumpster to clear
Fourth: More lean
Fifth: some rough diameter sizing, my hand right up against it

 

[timberrat]

felling help

i would use a humbolt face cut and leave 1.5"s of holding wood and drive the tree over with wedges. the face cut should be cut 2' from the ground
please wear ppe and ask for help do not want you to get hurt or killed.
:greenchainsaw:

 

[woodshop]

Based on that third picture, you should easily be able to pull that tree to the right a little and miss that dumpster. From the looks of things though, even if you do accidental drop it on the corner of that thing, it looks like it would glance off and fall to the ground anyway. Just stay clear of the bottom of that tree when it starts to fall, because it if DOES hit the dumpster, there is no way to predict what that butt will do. It could even come back at you if the trunk or a big branch hit the dumpster just right.

Like timberrat says, make sure you got ppe and a plan of action if something should go wrong. In other words, don't do this alone.

 

[dustytools]

Couldnt you just push the dumpster back a bit with the backhoe or something? We do it all of the time,as Aggie said there are rollers on one end which make it kinda east to shove. Looks like a real find. Good luck.

 

[Ianab]

Should be no big problem to aim the tree the 20 deg or so to the right to miss the dumpster. You are not really fighting against the lean, just steering a bit to the side.

I would consider using a bore cut and leaving a holding strap at the back of the tree. This allows you to set up your notch and hinge properly, then cut the back strap last to let the tree fall. You might want to practise your bore cutting first though before you do it for real An open face notch would keep control of the butt of the tree the longest as it falls too.

This page has good diagrams and an explanation of the bore cut.
http://www.forestapps.com/tips/backcut/backcut.htm

Cheers

Ian

 

[Doctor Dave]

Guys, check it out...

I've been given an approx 35-40' cherry (yea me!) that is somewhat dead at the top and leaning over. I was going to fell it this weekend. Literally the only thing in the way of the fall path was a port-o-pot and I have moved that (no there was no one in it at the time). But, as my luck would have it, the builder had the dumptster removed yesterday and a empty one delivered yesterday. Partially in the fall path.

So, if I look at it from one direction it looks like it will fall right over the middle of the dumpster, this is one of those long ones, maybe 20' used for construction site waste. If I look at the lean from a different direction it looks like it might just miss the thing.

Question: is there a method by which I can cut this thing to make it fall where I want? Will ropes help? I think I only need to influence it, in the fall, 15-20 degrees (side to side) in the way it is leaning. The lean (standing) is at about 75-80 degrees from standing directly up. Thoughts?

My opinion, just dump it over the dumpster, The size of the tree you have, it doesn't seem like it'll hurt it. Then it'll be easier to cut up, off the ground.
You're call.

 

[stihlatit]

As woodshop said in post #4.

 

[Ekka]

Just notch it directly where you want it to go.

As mentioned earlier bore cut it but with a tapered hinge (wider on the side opposite the dumpser).

Cut the strap and let it fly.

 

[oldsaw]

Okay, this is for you guys. I haven't fell a decent sized tree in over a year, and it has been 3 years since I had one that would be considered "tricky". I had to keep a similarly leaning 20" walnut out of a ravine.

I used a plunge cut with an asymmetric hinge (a bit over an inch on the lean side and maybe 2 1/2 or so on the fall side IIRC) and the face probably 70-80* from the lean. Wedged the ever lovin' pi$$ out of it on the opposite side of the fall (two wedges in tight), and cut the strap. I managed to put it alongside the ravine with only some small branches hanging over. The fall split the difference but more in the tree's favor (which I was expecting) from my face. Was I just lucky, or would that approach work here? I realize that there are a lot of variables in this question, but I'm interested in it as a matter of standard practice.

Mark