How would you safely remove this leaner?
- Thread starter cameltoefriend
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well, I wouldn't use a ladder for starters
but to get the stob down, undercut it until you see the top start to move (stop before you pinch your bar) make a bit of a face cut for relief than with a fast sharp saw cutter off from the top
but to get the stob down, undercut it until you see the top start to move (stop before you pinch your bar) make a bit of a face cut for relief than with a fast sharp saw cutter off from the top
cameltoefriend
New Member
The height of it is kind of misleading from the picture (I'm 5' 10") and I can't get to the low part of the trunk due to it sitting against the neighbors fence. The top of it in the back is my height but i'm not exactly comfortable cutting it at face height. I used the ladder to mount the tree and cut it while on the tree in sections but even that is uncomfortable due to the chance of falling off.
How much clearance to the tree next to it?
Can you afford to rent a lift to safely chunk it down?
Does the back of the tree have room between it and the fence?
Using the ladder seems like a bad idea from any angle here.
Can you afford to rent a lift to safely chunk it down?
Does the back of the tree have room between it and the fence?
Using the ladder seems like a bad idea from any angle here.
wait, so which stem are we working on here? the skinny one rope it and pull it, the fat one, do as I said above, its not going to hit anything that I can see, except that ladder.
That's just it. It's hard to figure out from a picture.
I wouldn't even hazard a guess. Perhaps on the Homeowner Helper thread?
However, if I had to ask how to get it down, it is a hint that maybe I should hire somebody who makes that a business.
You used uncomfortable twice in one sentence... that should really tell you the answer right there. Some things can be learned on the internet, and some just can't. This tree is actually procedurally simple, much like driving 500 miles in an oval is simple, when you think about it, lol.
I’d probably use an excavator with a thumb to provide some lift while I cut it with a saw.
If you don’t have one, or a crane, or something similar, I’d suggest you hire the work done.
If you don’t have one, or a crane, or something similar, I’d suggest you hire the work done.
Which can pose its own dangers. It's very easy to put unknown tension on something like that with a piece of equipment.
I was outside Houston running a saw for a lot clearing company. They were just pushing the trees over with excavators, then I would limb and buck them for the burn pile. Operator honked, needed a tree cut off the stump after he had uprooted it. He had it clamped with the thumbs, but I didn't realize he had been wiggling it, and had side tension on it. When I cut it free it sprung into me and threw me 20 feet and cracked 3 ribs... lesson learned.
It can absolutely pose its own problems. I make an effort not to cut on anything the hoe has grabbed and is touching something else.
That said, it’s also incredibly important to say that when I say excavator I mean a 335, 336 or 349, and I’m pretty sure I could just yank that whole thing out of the ground with any of them. Working around big machines is liable to color someone’s view of how to do things, mine included. Something like a 313 or 315 that doesn’t have as much weight or power behind it is more liable to allow a log to move around, and less likely to be able to pull a log free of a bind.
That said, it’s also incredibly important to say that when I say excavator I mean a 335, 336 or 349, and I’m pretty sure I could just yank that whole thing out of the ground with any of them. Working around big machines is liable to color someone’s view of how to do things, mine included. Something like a 313 or 315 that doesn’t have as much weight or power behind it is more liable to allow a log to move around, and less likely to be able to pull a log free of a bind.
windblown
ArboristSite Lurker
Agree with getting the ladder out of the equation and doing an under cut on the compression side as far as seems appropriate then coming down from the top on the tension side an inch or so outward from the initial cut, it should just snap off (I think...)
I understand your concern about not wanting to be standing there on the ground when all that weight comes down. As a non-professional I would not trust my knowledge of what will happen when it breaks loose enough to put my body anywhere near the landing zone. Yet a ladder is doing the same thing. If you are depending on that ladder and the ladder gets hit... it's going to suck, a lot.
From the safe distance of Virginia with the advantage of not getting any closer to that tree than a photo I think that if the other portion of the tree is sound enough to be trusted I'd string a rope in it and do the cutting from a saddle because I have no desire to play chicken with the massive amount of weight in play.
I've had a few trees that I had to "ponder" for awhile before taking action. One was a massive oak next to the house I lived in at the time. I pondered the steps needed and modified my plan of action multiple times for a year before taking a saw to it.
I try my best not to be in a rush to be dumb, or dead.
A barber chair is not my primary worry with this tree, at least what I can tell from a single picture. The truncated stem extending off to the right looks pretty straightforward - a small notch up from the bottom side, bore cut and release - be prepared for it to release itself if the strap gets thin enough. The stem going upwards is the one that scares me. It looks like there is only the most tenuous connection where the vertical stem veers off to the left. I'd be concerned that any stump movement caused by dropping the low "arm" would be enough to make that (apparently very) weak connection to fail. Without being on the ground to see how all the tree parts relate to each other and to the infrastructure (fence, house, who knows what else), That's the best I have.
Bottom line - see slowp's response.
Campbellcontractlogging
ArboristSite Operative
Bout what I would do use a big fast saw bore it small notch cut the back fast
Fireman Bill
ArboristSite Lurker
Throw a rope in the tall one and notch the tree. Have some pressure on the rope just enough to pull it tight. Bore cut it and let it loose from the backside.
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