What is Wrong With This Picture?

Hi There, I was cruising the back roads of Canada yesterday and found these two gentlemen sawing and pulling on this burly Manitoba Maple.
I immediately impersonated the Tree By-law Officer and demanded 1000$ as an extortion fee, which I had no luck collecting. The chopper, with his Pioneer P20 retorted that his Uncle had been a logger. He had left in a rather large Dutchman and I doubted that the tree would miss the fence.
Being the cocky individual that I am, I suggested that maybe the rope thing wasnt too safe and that either the rope or the tree would give. I guess he figured that because his Uncle was a logger that it was hereditary or something.
Anyway, I didnt hang around to see it fall, but when I came by again , it was laying nicely on the fence and the chopper nor the strawline man were no where to be seen.
Go Figure

You see all types of interesting things when you travel don't you?
That rope that they are using probably snapped like a piece of dental floss!
What was the one guy doing trying to hold the rope? Was he planning to hold on and control the fall of the tree?
Hope they didn't get hurt.

Looks like the rope man has devised a revolutionary .0025 to 1 mechanical advantage system. "Say, that's a fine bullrope you have there, Jim. And I agree, pulleys and rigging just get in the way. The quadruple square knot works great for me too."

now that my friend was funny.now a question. i handle lessor similar jobs occasionally. but that would take a loto counter weight to even attemt to move that the other way.
aint sure i want to climb it either an start at the top.
what method would u experts use. short of a freight train .later now.

Hey John, Did you check under the tree at all? For the two guys and a Pioneer!

Sure would be a shame if that Pioneer got hurt.

Howdy,

Just another example of how most saws seem to have problems with loose nuts that periodically become attached to their handlebars.

Regards,
Walt Galer

Originally posted by tony marks
now that my friend was funny.now a question. i handle lessor similar jobs occasionally. but that would take a loto counter weight to even attemt to move that the other way.
aint sure i want to climb it either an start at the top.
what method would u experts use. short of a freight train .later now.

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I usually cut my hinge so it is fatter at one end than the other and snip a couple inches off the skinny end.

That or take with winch on the big dodge and hook it to it and pull. 200 feet of 5/8" cable is plenty enough to get far away.

That's a pretty funny picture. All I can picture is the guy holding the rope being flung through the air when the trees goes over. I hope he didn't take a wrap around his hand.

Maybe that was the intent. Some people pay good money at amusement parks for a slingshot ride.
Reminds me of a time I was getting a cat out of a tree. Used a pike pole to draw the limb down low enough for the cat to jump to the ground. As I was getting the limb good and bowed. the OIC told me to let go and the cat would come down. I let that order slide, but only because the pike might have speared someone on the next block beside where the cat would land.

Howdy Jim L.

How far do you think that Big Dodge of yours would bet slingshot if you tried to pull a maple that big the otherway, with a 5/8 cable yet. Man, that could be a launch that would do credit to an aircraft carrier! Do you have any idea how much a big old maple like that weighs? I would venture that the one in John's photograph could flip a good sized sidder.

Some trees were just ment to be taken down from the top, by people who have been trainned to do such things. Either that or a good stick of Dupont and a lot of running room.

Regards,
Walt Galer

john,
i surely hope this is yet another one of your funny-fhotos. nothing in this picture makes any sense unless the fool holding the rope has a big "s" on the suit under his clothes. but than he would not need the ladder, just a telephone booth. insurance's see claims from fools like this and we wonder why our insurance is so high. chainsaw injury staticsis are based on jerks such as these. that saw must really suck down gas to need a 5 gallon gas can for one tree. guess they did not need the second rope. i would like to see a picture of the final product. maybe the reason no one was around was because the guy on the rope got launched and they other guy went to look for him.protect yourselves; marty

Hi Marty, no the picture was for real. I would have stayed around to see if the choker chaser got lauched into the next township, but the chopper was making a career out of it with the rocked out Pioneer. I bet he was chewing away at that tree for an hour or so with no idea when the tree was about to fall. What he lacked in experience, he made up for with enthusiasm. The tree could have been easily dumped without roping, but these guys had no way to tell what was going to happen.
Suggestions to these types of backyard loggers usually comes across as a know it all attitude, but I guess their knees were knocking the same as mine were when I first droped a large tree.
I imagine we have all been guilty of doing stupid things with saws and timber. Its so much easier to do things the right way, but learning is the hard part.
I will go back and see if they are ok or in bug dust heaven.
John

Thanks for the picture Tramp.

Yesterday I was reading Jerry Beraneks CD_Book, Tree Story. He relates a job [Jerry did not rig this one] where a large old-growth redwood had to be pulled with cables. The choker was set in the tree and anchored to a D8 Cat, yup, D8! The tree went the wrong way and tossed the D8 Cat down the hill. I t actually picked the Cat up off the ground like a whip! The 'skinner was OK.

Bailey's sells the CD. The pictures are amazing. You couldn't buy a book with these pictures in it for $17.

Anchoring trees to vehicles can be dicey. Unless you can work out the math to see that the vehicle is heavy enough you should consider backing up the vehicle with a second anchor. Chock the wheels. Turn the vehicle sideways, that way, if you calculate wrong, the vehicle will tip over and not slide

Tom

I woulda used the GRCS and anchored it to a tree further back and pulled it.

Howdy,

There is a good advantage to taking a binder chain and rigging a good tail hold for a vehicle trying to pull a large heavy hardwood back against a 40 degree lean. At least you will get two vehicles out of the deal, where otherwise you would only beat up one.

Regards,
Walt Galer

Hi There, sometimes I am amazed at the antics that people go thru to get a tree down. Brute force should never be used, except when explosives are required for large dead snags that are to dangerous to be felled by hand.
Falling wedges and proper undercuts are the best assurance to get a tree to lay where you want it. Cableing and winching is fine, but these methods are best used to prevent the tree from going where you dont want it. It's the holding wood that does the talking at all times. Huge trees with excessive lean can be felled with hydraulic or air jacks placed in a pie shaped recess beneath the undercut in combination with multiple wedges. Holding wood is extremely strong and one must trust it implicitly once you have gained experience. Snatch blocks can also be used effectively to comit large or small trees over. There are many variables and each situation is different requiring different safety considerations.
Felling timber should be a gentle dance and not one of blindly trying to dominate the tree thru brute force. We can leave that up to Tornadoes and Hurricanes.
John

Hi There, I just reread my message and like Dumb & Dumber, I have a jack in the undercut, I meant to say backcut.
Sorry,
John

Naw you guys got it all wrong. I'll bet it was because of the Pioneer, ya know those tress will jump right off the stump and run at the sight of one. The had it all tied up so it couldnt get away


The dynamite thing brings back memories. My grandfather loved dynamite he would use it to split logs clean in half if they were too big to fit in his sawmill


I'm sure that wasnt all he used it on though