dead pines.

[rhunt13]

hello. i have 8 dead pines to drop. nothing around to hit, downhill drop basically in the woods. wondering if anyone had any tips, or stories etc. about dropping totally dead pines. i'm just wondering what the hinge will act like since there is no green wood to hinge with. thanks in advance.

 

[oscar4883]

If you are using a pull rope be careful. Possible to pull the tops out with just the rope if to much tension is used. Watch when pounding wedges too. The impact can dislodge limbs and more from up above. Depending on how dead they are the hinge wood is probably gonna be pretty crappy. If there is nothing to worry about hitting watch out for yor safety and your saw.

 

[capetrees]

Drop them all the time. Big turpentine beetle problem in the area. Depending on how long they have been dead, be careful when they start to fall. If the upper parts of the tree are rotted, anything they touch could make them break and double back, tops falling in the opposite direction, widow makers so to speak.

 

[rhunt13]

kinda what i was planning for. thanks for the responses. so i assume if i have a good acurate notch and back cut they will go in the direction i want, even with crappy hinge wood?

 

[treeslayer]

yes, CUT SLOW!

 

[pdqdl]

if the branches are really rotten, and likely to fall on you, consider a slightly different approach:

Get a throw ball and throw-line, toss it over a few branches that you think might be likely to break and fall on you, then see if you can pull them down. Every branch you break off with this method is one that will not be falling on your head when you make the cuts.

That equipment will be very useful for setting ropes in the trees, also.

 

[gwiley]

There are degrees of dead, or I guess of rot - the problem is that pine rots fast. Standing dead can be riddled with huge tunnels from the beetles so that the interior is almost hollow in places. The problem is that there is just no way to know where the trunk has been structurally compromised by beetles and rot.

I have dropped a number of dead pines - they like to break way up in the stem and fall backward on you. A 4" dead branch from 40' up can be a serious injury. A 16" wide 8' long chunk of the stem will kill you.

I prefer to push them over with my skid steer while I am safely under the cage.

If you HAVE to curt them watch the top while you run the saw - you have very little time to dodge falling branches.

The hinge is completely unreliable, don't expect it to direct the fall of the tree.

It can be done with a saw, and usually no one gets hurt - the question is whether you want to throw the dice for your own life - mine is too valuable to me to take risks for pine firewood (now good red oak might be another story).