Need some pro felling advice on this one

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Laneman

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Hey folks, this one is on my land, marked in orange. I've been clearing various trash trees from an 8 acre stand of elm. Cut lots of heavy leaners, some with decay, including about 30 Hackberries, 2 Bodarks, and 12 Chinaberries so far. I'm trying to do things right and follow all the safety guidelines. This next Chinaberry is dangerous for several reasons, so I thought I would post here for some pro advice. It's leaning over my fence, and I'd rather not take the fence apart. Can I pull it back against the lean with the tractor (note decay about 15 feet up), or should I drop it with the lean and hope it hangs up in the other trees then pull the bottom away? Last option would be open up the fence, cut the hanger trees and just drop it.
InkedChinaberry 1_LI.jpgChinaberry 2.jpgChinaberry 3.jpgChinaberry 4.jpg
 
Hey folks, this one is on my land, marked in orange. I've been clearing various trash trees from an 8 acre stand of elm. Cut lots of heavy leaners, some with decay, including about 30 Hackberries, 2 Bodarks, and 12 Chinaberries so far. I'm trying to do things right and follow all the safety guidelines. This next Chinaberry is dangerous for several reasons, so I thought I would post here for some pro advice. It's leaning over my fence, and I'd rather not take the fence apart. Can I pull it back against the lean with the tractor (note decay about 15 feet up), or should I drop it with the lean and hope it hangs up in the other trees then pull the bottom away? Last option would be open up the fence, cut the hanger trees and just drop it.
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Hard to tell from these pics, but if it's leaning towards that wire fence, I'd take the fence down.
 
Tie a tag line in another tree and put a working Dutchman in the notch opposite the side you want it to go and it "should" go where you want it but if your unsure take the fence down
 
rope it up high right just below where the decay is. There's really no weight above that to be concerned with. Tie it off to the tractor, notch it toward where you want it to go and pull. doesn't look very tall.
 
Tie a tag line in another tree and put a working Dutchman in the notch opposite the side you want it to go and it "should" go where you want it but if your unsure take the fence down
Unclear from giver’s advice on where the tag line should go. I would put the tag line 180 degrees from the lean to offset it, pull it tight and tie it off. Then fell the tree towards the viewer based on the pic. Trying to pull a tree in the direction of the face can go wrong if there is a lot of sidelean— the tree will tend to fall with the weight after the hinge breaks, and fall faster than you can take up slack in the rope.
 
Yes the tag should go opposite your lean, less than 180 degrees though to the direction you want the tree to go. This will sort of pull the tree in the right direction and keep the tree from setting down on your bar. Tie the spar tree side lower than the tree your cutting so it doesn't end up hanging in the air after it is cut.
 
I hope this makes sense lol I've done it many times, but like I said if your unsure don't take a chance! Take your time and don't cut off you holding wood!
 
Welcome to AS Laneman.
What equipment do you have available to you and how much cutting experience.
I wouldn't recommend someone with little experience or not having proper equipment to try this one, things could go south in a hurry. As was suggested by others(if you have the experience) move the fence and drop it. When making the face cut I would go very shallow at first just in case the wood was bad from rot, you want the hinge to be good live wood if possible. If you have a good bit more experience and the equipment needed to set a rope(5/8) in the tree, know how to set the rope up 180 degrees against the lean(so the tree cannot lean to one side or another before making the pull), know how to notch and back cut this particular tree(I like to use a step cut for back leaners), the equipment to over power the lean(always check before making a cut that you can pull it over), and a helper who you have worked with you can trust to run the equipment, then go for it, it's a walk in the park :).
 
Thanks everyone. I'll play it safe and open up the fence so I can fell it with the lean. Will post an update when done.
You may not need to cut the fence. Being basic field fence (called hog wire in my area) attached to T-posts, if you cut the wire clips far enough both ways from where the tree will fall the fencing may lie close enough to flat on the ground. You might pull a few T-posts that are sure to be smashed, or you might just wait and deal with any damaged posts afterwards. When the time comes to reattach the fencing to the T-posts, you know how to re-tension it? By using pliers, or the like, to add twists to horizontal wires to take up whatever slack has developed.
 
Another option: if someone with heavy equipment or a truly heavy duty winch on a large truck, (for example, I have an F-350 with a 16.5 thousand pound winch with 5/8 wire rope mounted on a custom bumper fabed from 1/4 in plate steel) put a line in it and pull it over leaving twice the usual holding wood and a high back cut. You can add a redirect through a block at the base of a large sound tree for more mechanical advantage.

However, I would not do this unless you have a lot of experience or the guy with the equipment does. This would probably only be justified if you had few options for getting a large hazard tree down. If I had the room, I would have done this to remove a cottonwood that was mostly dead and really hollow at the base. So I first had to climb it and cut out some big leaders, and pull over a 30 snag. Still a nail biter.

That is because you are loading the system with a lot of energy, and you have to be very careful. The person with the equipment needs to have an ear for how much it is being loaded — a snapped winch line is no joke, or the tree might get jerked off the stump and fly through the air. Plus the tree could be rotten , causing it to break at the tie- in, uproot, or cause it to “explode”. Unpredictable outcomes are always more dangerous.

So I wrote this comment, in a way, to warn you away from attempting this.
 
I do have room CacaoBoy to remove some clips and let some slack into the fence, that's a good idea. I was thinking the same thing last time I looked at it. I have another Chinaberry about10 feet from this tree, also leaning over the same fence, so looks like I'll be undoing some of the fence anyway. I appreciate all the advice everyone.
 
I had a leaner pine beetle pine to drop. I pulled field fence off wooden posts. Good call to pull the wire down and let gravity help with the chinaberry.
 
Hey folks, this one is on my land, marked in orange. I've been clearing various trash trees from an 8 acre stand of elm. Cut lots of heavy leaners, some with decay, including about 30 Hackberries, 2 Bodarks, and 12 Chinaberries so far. I'm trying to do things right and follow all the safety guidelines. This next Chinaberry is dangerous for several reasons, so I thought I would post here for some pro advice. It's leaning over my fence, and I'd rather not take the fence apart. Can I pull it back against the lean with the tractor (note decay about 15 feet up), or should I drop it with the lean and hope it hangs up in the other trees then pull the bottom away? Last option would be open up the fence, cut the hanger trees and just drop it.
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I have a 3/4 double braided nylon rope 150 feet long for stuff like this. After years of doing this work for me it's easy BUT. First, I'd not trust just any rope. At the minimum a 1/2 inch climbing rope but for that tree is like bigger. I'd attach up high on the leaner and also remove any tree that might be in the way of my intended lay. I'd NEVER JERK on the rope that can cause spring back causing the tree to fall the wrong way and break a rope. A slow steady pull and checking as you go. I'd tie off on my Tractor far back so the falling tree could not fall on me nor break a limb "widow Maker" out of another tree to kill me. I'd pull from the front. I'd have a helper chock my tractor when I backed up enough to take slack out of my rope because I don't trust brakes. Once the rope slightly shook the tree and was locked and chocked I'd knotch my tree for my fall.
Using a tractor I'd skip the plunge cut and make a proper back cut not angled. A little deep then about 1/3 into the back cut I'd gently pull the tree watching the top for give. Lock chock cut some more 3 inches back from my hinge Is slowly tighten my rope watching the tree top to see if she would lean toward my Lay. Lock chock and cut a little more test again rinse and repeat
I'd not allow the tree to fall from the saw cut. Eventually the tractor should draw it straight up. Chock. Access. If it looks like it will pull toward the tractor. Slowly pull and chock. Spin a wheel and she may flip back. To much pull the rope breaks and she flips on the fence and may kill someone. Your tree, your call. I'll say what ID DO but I'm not going to be responsible for what you do. Before you cut you can always hire someone to take the chances for you. Have a great day
 
Hey folks, this one is on my land, marked in orange. I've been clearing various trash trees from an 8 acre stand of elm. Cut lots of heavy leaners, some with decay, including about 30 Hackberries, 2 Bodarks, and 12 Chinaberries so far. I'm trying to do things right and follow all the safety guidelines. This next Chinaberry is dangerous for several reasons, so I thought I would post here for some pro advice. It's leaning over my fence, and I'd rather not take the fence apart. Can I pull it back against the lean with the tractor (note decay about 15 feet up), or should I drop it with the lean and hope it hangs up in the other trees then pull the bottom away? Last option would be open up the fence, cut the hanger trees and just drop it.
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Smash the fence ! the money and effort of fixing the fence will be much less than dismanlting the tree. Besides it'll be fun. Not to mention safer. I know i'm going to hear about this one.
 

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