Advice/Warnings welcomed

[bushy79]

Well, i guess this to most of you will be another stupid thread where a guy is asking stupid questions and i fully expect to get burned. hohum. ive got pretty thick hide. go for it.

To the rest of you, hey, thanks for takin the time to hear me out and consider my options.

I have come across the tree that i think will be my largest to drop to date.
Im asking advice for a number of reasons.
1 this will be my largest tree to date ive tackled, should i go ahead.
2 its deader than a box full of door nails
3 im not equiped to the level a lot of you are.
4 im not nearly as experienced as a lot of you are.
plus plenty more im sure you'll all come up with!

maybe im being over cautious but id rather that and be so again than not and never again.

its, as said, dead, fairly big and on our property.

i say its 16metres high and roughly 600mm at nipple height.
theres very little left other than a couple of branches on one side. so the weight is distributed towards the fall site.
its clear to land in the paddock, nothing to flatten if we move the steers.
its on a slight rise.
theres no tangles in the other standing trees.
theres good escape access.
its very dry- wind blown and a fair few years too.

we have, saws, largest is 80cc, wedges, tractor, 50metres 22mm rope, 5ton comealong with 20metre wire rope. large steel pulley for 22mm+ rope, various huge tractor chains- total 10metres ish. large 4x4. various construction/farm/inventor minded stuff!!!

look at the photos, what do you think. too much too fast or proceed with caution?
im pretty good with a saw, far, far from pro or even in that ballpark but i can handle a saw well.

is there a particular set of felling cuts for very dead trees?
is there a big risk of a barber chair as its so dry and loaded on one side?
is there a rig using the above gear and any i dont have (i can source things i need, im in no real rush) that i should/shouldnt use to pull it over?
is it worth (i think i know the answer here) putting some plunge cuts in to assess the possible rot/insect (white ant/termite) damage?
these should be vertical to avoid unstabilising too many vertical fibres? should be horizontal to, i dont know! tell me!
there is evidence of insect activity but not anywhere near as much as on other trees here that are far more newly dead.

give a hack some input.

View attachment 303768View attachment 303769View attachment 303770View attachment 303772

any more info required, just let me know. open to any input thats at least a BIT constructive!

thanks for listening.

i have read this site till my internet thingo goes into melt down and i run out of cider or rum, often at 4am to be re read the next night!!!
although ive seen similar posts id like a more personal support/bashing to really get a little more educated as i go.

thanks.

bushy

 

[haveawoody]

bushy79,

Gday mate.
It looks like a pretty easy tree to drop.
As long as you do your fell cut on the side that has no limbs above it and be very careful making the hinge cut on the other side it should be pretty good to go.

With any dead tree keep an eye up all the time, things falling from a dead tree as you cut are quite common.
If the tree is rotten the hinge cut it will tell you as you cut it.
If your hinge cut was a bit rotten then be extra careful on the fell cut and plan for the worse a collapsed hinge.
It probably wont happen but expecting the worse will keep you watching the tree carefully and be expecting the worse.
A second set of eyes and that person with a rope high up pulling when you make the fell cut to help things get going in the right direction would make it a much safer day.

 

[bushy79]

Ta Muchly

I did first think it was an easyish drop but after reading on here im now more aware and far, far more carefull than i have been in the past. its good to be carefull but it really can knock your confidence after a while!

being so dry and still LOOKING so solid, were hoping to mill some of it for use in the shed were building, bloody good timing huh? otherwise it'll keep the homefires burning for a while.

I forgot to put in the post, its Blackbutt or Eucalyptus pilularis.

Watch this space for the next exiting episode of 'bushy gets paranoid around trees' next job is to drag out about 25 widow maker hangups in a peppermint stand, where a lot of our firewood comes from and is now too dangerous to enter to do anything other than chuck a throw line !

thanks haveawoody, very greatfull for the first reply to be a polite and helpfull one! wasnt expecting that!!! nice one fella, much appriciated.

 

[bushy79]

er....

can i just add, the hang ups are wind generated over the past 12 months, not a gigantic bushy ballsup!!!

 

[haveawoody]

bushy79,

Your most welcome.

It's good to be careful on every tree you drop.
First one you are not is usually the first problem that happens.
Dead trees just take a bit more planning since dead trees can be anything from standing stones to rotten poles.
Most dead trees come down just as you would expect, the rare rot beast can crumble a hinge and go down as it likes but the main reason people get hurt on dead trees are limbs above coming down with no warning.

I bet the ute will come in handy to de-widow maker the rest
Nothing like a ute a chain and some tugs to remove limbs

 

[woodman6666]

I just cant get over the nipple height measurement.

 

[savageactor7]

I always look up when cutting a dead tree like that, cutting vibrations can cause a limb to drop that could break your neck. Truthfully I don't know if I'm faster than a falling limb but I want that last chance. Cutting dead trees are a menace to life and limb if not given proper respect.

Other than that it looks like an easy take good luck.

 

[stihl sawing]

Shouldn't be a problem, make sure you have a hard hat on and a sharp chain. Most likely it's harder than times in 29.

 

[CWME]

If I have to cut a tree that I have any question about I put a rope in the canopy. After a glancing blow to the helmet by a widow maker a few years ago I never cut without a helmet on my head. About all I can add for advice.

 

[zogger]

Don't know if you want to or not, but if you are concerned over those dead branches you could try roping them off one at a time and busting them off with your truck or tractor.

On felling it, if you bore the back cut after a regular face cut, you would find out fast if it has rot in the center, while leaving a lot of holding wood.

 

[bushy79]

ta again

to all of ya.
will defo cover me scone and will have a watcher on/in the pull vehicle too, ill get him to toot if anything drops without me seeing. i caught a facefull of rotten peppy the other day, hence the ute-drag-hangup-clear-smash-n-crash coming up!!! glad that bit was as buggered as it was, could have been very different with a solid bit!

do you need a leg up woodman6666, bit on the shortside, are ya? haha! jus kiddin, i dont always use the correct terminology when i ask questions on a topic im not as well versed on as those around me, i feel a bit like a wanna-be. when i know a bit more ill start using all the fancy abbv. ive learnt on here!

i can verify that it is harder than a bloomin hard thing. good work out for my new, tip find saw then!!! i think ill keep the ol trusty nearby, just incase!!

ok, organise what mill we'll use, wait for a still day n we're off!

ta!

 

[Whitespider]

From what I can see in your pics, putting that tree on the ground looks pretty straightforward. Like everyone else has suggested, a hardhat would be pertinent; something can "go wrong" felling any tree, live or dead, small or large... but standing-dead do have a propensity for dumping limbs, sometimes on the guy running the saw. I doesn't hurt to stand on the side of the tree less likely to drop a limb on you (like the limbless side) and give the trunk a few hard whacks with a maul or sledge... that won't eliminate the threat, it doesn't emulate the vibration caused by a saw, but it should cause anything hanging by a thread to come down.

Whenever I'm a bit "nervous" about a felling, it makes me feel better (shrug) to make my cuts at a comfortable level (about belt high) while I stand erect, on full alert, ready for a quick exit and able to make quick, easy glances up at the tree and down at the saw... I figure I can always cut the stump off later. Take your time and do a good, clean, level job of making your face-cuts, but don't be timid when making the back-cut... once you start the back-cut you've pretty much reached the point-of-no-return, and the quicker you do it the less time there is for something to "go wrong". I'm not sayin' you should get in a dangerous hurry... just realize you are now committed and being timid is just as dangerous, if not more so, as getting in too big of a hurry.

Seriously though, if it helps your confidence, from what I'm seeing in the pictures, I wouldn't be one bit nervous about that tree, I wouldn't even bother with a rope and pull vehicle... but I would put on my hardhat and stay alert.

 

[bushy79]

haha!!

been belting it with the sledge today!!! diddnt think it would make too much difference but thought it was worth a shot! nothing came down and at least its not a karri! will defo cut it fairly high, ie at waist or just above, theres a good protrusion on the fall side i wanted to clear and as im not selling the timber and will get all i need, should it be good inside, to do what i need.

thankyou all for being so kind and supportive. theres a lot of work to do here and as always, im learning every day.
over the years ive run some horribly dangerous machines and put myself in some silly positions, working and playing, and got away with some lucky but serious scrapes. i dont want moving my tree size limit to be my undoing!

nice one guys.

 

[deepsouth]

Having done some reading on Aus trees a lot of good info here, especially the hard hat and face cut, then bore cut advice.... As you want that approach if it has a big termite pipe up the guts.

And would be good to have another saw handy as a termite pipe will dull a chain quickly..... You may even need to swap saws just to drop the tree on the bore cut back to the outer holding trunk.

Don't forget to have wedges etc handy too in case you leave a bit much holding wood when you bore cut.

 

[groundup]

I just cant get over the nipple height measurement.

The fact that it's a blacka$$ tree helped me

 

[Steve NW WI]

Bushy, I don't know if you read http://www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw-stickies/175005.htm , but there's a bunch of your fellow countrymen that hang out there. Some have a lot of knowledge of how your local trees will behave, and there might even be a member close by that would be willing to help out. It's sure worth a post over there to introduce yourself and ask away.

Local knowledge is hard to beat.