Smokindodgew101 said:
Welcome to AS Phil!
What kind of equipment do you have to deal with this? Do you have a chainsaw at lest big enough to buck the trunk once it's down? What kind of saw experiance do you have?
Do you have a tractor or other large piece of equipment?
What is the winch your thinking of using? How long is the cable?
I know how I would handle it but we don't know what you have availible to do the work with.
And if at any time you feel you might be in over your head about any of this, please stop and ask yourself "Should I get a Pro for this?" Any one can give advice on the internet!
We own a MS290 and a Husky350 that have bucked all the trees we pushed down in clearing for our house. Maybe I should post a few pics of the aftermath of all that work
The last 5-6 months using the saws, reading up whatever I can and advice from a good friend who also helps us out there is the experience I have. (he runs a Stihl as well) I know I'm still a newbie to you guys but I feel pretty comfortable with what I have been doing. The big thing I guess I should reiteirate is that we haven't felled anything with the saws. Only limbing and bucking. Felling is something I know I will need to do later on but have not gotten into yet. We will thin the woods once the house is done and we are living there. (7 acres)
All that "pushing" was done with a rented excavator and a contractor driving it. We don't have the excavator onsite anymore. Please understand that I don't really intend to fell this tree as it sits now. I may have said I'd like to, but that's just talk. One day we showed up for weekend duty and this tree was sitting like it is now. So, naturally I am frustrated with myself for not having it pushed down with the rest of 'em. Our thoughts behind leaving it standing were that it would be a great perch. We have hawks and owls in the area. Oh well, lesson learned I guess. Had no way of knowing how bad that tree was inside and the clearing was done in winter so none of the trees had leaves. So this one didn't stand out as such a sick one.
I personally don't own a winch but could get someone who does have one to come help. That said, no idea how long it would be or what it would come attached to.
In my mind I'd like to just tie it up to the hitch of my truck and yank it loose. But we all know that depending on how it falls it might just yank back and take the frame of the truck with it.
So, here we are. That tree is just sitting there waiting to fall or be dealt with. It isn't threatening any structure or the area where the house will be built. It's just a hazard sitting there the way it is. Kids, dog, etc in the area. The kids know better since we have told them to stay away but the dog doesn't know any better. I'd just like to get it down and cut it up like the rest of it, split it (or what's worth splitting after all that rot inside) and sell it with the rest of the ones we already processed.
There will be heavy equipment back onsite eventually once we start building. That might be a few months though. If it's easy and safe to do it the right way I'd like to get 'er done now.
Thanks to all who have replied (or who will)