Preseason opener.

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haveawoody said:
rwoods,

Looks like it's coming along nicely.
Going to get quite the quantity of firewood from that beast.
Pretty soon though you will be into the weight shifting cuts so be careful on them.
Bet it drops off the stump at some point so every cut i made now i would expect that to happen or atleast keep it in mind as a possible.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll be on my best behavior for sure. There's not enough wood to justify getting hurt. While I think it is going to stay on the stump only time will tell. If I get any significant movement, I'll regroup. My current thinking is to attempt to get it down to the stem with side to side stability. If it the hinge has any lift to it, I will consider hooking the deuce to the tip end and see if with all that leverage I can pull it to the side until the hinge breaks. If the hinge is too stout, I don't know just yet what I will do as I don't want to buck such heavy rounds that will be dropping at my feet while increasing with each buck the possibility that I'll get slapped by the stem. If it gets too dangerous for my limitations, I'll let somebody else finish it. Ron
 
rwoods,

Might even be a good time to throw a chain around it near the connection and see if the truck can move it off the stump.
Either way if it moves or don't it will tell lots on the stability of the connection.

The darn thing is so far off the ground doing an upcut on the main is going to be a less than fun adventure.

If you have no luck pulling it with the truck then all you can really do is what your doing.
Tackle one weight bearing limb at a time now and expect some movement on each, plan as if if was going to drop off the stump on every cut and it will make you safe.
 
That idea of hitting it hard with a chain in the deuce up at the break seems like a great idea! If it don't move I'd get all I can off that tree and let it stand on it's make shift legs. If you can go up the back side of the break with a ladder (and I hate ladders) you can chip down that break-off some. Have your deuce ready hooked and waiting to hit it hard again. When she does come off it should twist and roll enough to uproot those legs or snap them off. after that you got nothing but tons of firewood or maybe some nice boards if the chainsaw mill attacked it.
 
Yup...that's a pretty big tree rwoods.

I'm just waiting for the leafs to fall off before I start the winter grind of cutting. Can't say I'm really looking forward to it either but getting seasoned splits to burn beats sitting in front of the Boob tube fighting atrophy. The dogs really like fall winter cutting though.
 
rwoods,

Got a rental place near you that has a 20-30 ton come-along or winch?
If so loop the chain round the base of another big tree and near the connection.
I bet 20 tons would move it even if it's semi connected.
You might even find a 5 ton non comercial come-along does the trick, maybe 75$.
Bet just a couple $ to rent for the day.


At worse you get a second tree to clean up LOL
Maybe something wrapped around tree #2's base so the winch or come-along doesn't kill tree #2.
 
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More whittling.

Ended up working solo again today. Here are a few shots from this morning:

First two cuts on main stem after taking the other four legs out:

attachment.php


Partial cut - bar too short for a single pass:

attachment.php


Pinched bar - one of several - new appreciation for sprocket on outside:

attachment.php


Wider angle:

attachment.php


Final cut on stem - time for lunch as well - 11 foot high section now down to 6 foot:

attachment.php

View attachment 255856View attachment 255857View attachment 255858View attachment 255859View attachment 255860

Ron
 
I had some other pictures but somehow I lost them. A shot or two that shows how a cut can change from tension to compression quickly when you are cutting long sections resulting in a pinched bar. I also had a picture showing an overhead section that twisted and pinched my bar and also showing that you can save time sometimes by tying your saw to the supporting limb and cutting it out with another saw instead of removing the powerhead.

Thanks for all your comments and advice. Would I have done anything different (except pulling the saw out just before each pinch)? Yes. I intended to lay out logs for the stem to land upon to make for easier bucking but in the drizzling rain I forgot :bang: so I guess I'll have to bring the tractor just to keep the 125 out of the dirt. Ron
 
rwoods,

Nice job on getting that beast down to the ground.
The tree sure didn't leave you many options.

It must have been an interesting experience whittling away at the stump with that giant twisted siter above you.
Even more fun i bet when it started to go?
 
haveawoody said:
rwoods,

Nice job on getting that beast down to the ground.
The tree sure didn't leave you many options.

It must have been an interesting experience whittling away at the stump with that giant twisted siter above you.
Even more fun i bet when it started to go?
Click to expand...

Thanks. It was like peeling a long skinny onion - ten foot pieces at a time. Although you couldn't budge the stem even with a running start, it became apparent that there actually was very little holding wood left (in fact the sub and the stem completely severed when it hit the ground). There was a long splinter attached to the stem which I couldn't reach directly overhead. What added to the excitement, is not knowing for sure how far the stem would go with the stub before coming down (that is why I tied to the stem) nor how far it would fall towards me as it arched down. Due to the splinter there was only one safe exit path. So my plan was to get out of there as soon as there was any movement. I moved all my tools far away except the gas can and oil jug which I thought were okay where they were. Couldn't tell what hit them but something did, drove the spout into the ground but no damage. The touchy part was the stem was pretty happy to just sit still. I had to keep at the hinge far longer than I wanted before it moved. When it did I left the saw in the cut and ran, thus I missed seeing any of the falling. The stump almost looks like I cut completely through the hinge but in fact the stub pulled the remaining hinge out of the stump - a reverse fiber pull :msp_smile:.

I had a lot of fun considering and getting this tree down. I am a little sore from fighting pinched bars and from peeling off all the splinters but heck that is part of my exercise program. Ron
 
Good work on that nasty tree! That's a scary looking one. Lotta wood there, too, have fun! Maybe you can jack it up somehow and hammer some chunks under it for better cutting.
 
Thanks, guys.

I guess I should add for the benefit of the less experienced viewer, that the rope was more than an anchor as it was preloaded with all the stretch a 5800# 4wd suv could give with a truck length free running start. The rope used was a 100 foot three strand 1" nylon with a 1/3 or better stretch factor. All of which resulted in considerable pull in the direction I wanted it to go.

Ron
 
rwoods,

Yeah those blowdown trees that keep the top on the stump usualy have very little keeping them that way.
I see lots of guys climb up to the top and start hacking away and the hair on the back of my neck stands up.

To bad a good tug wouldn't move that brute for you.
Sure would have saved you having to be in a dangerous cutting location for i bet a good hour.

Atleast you got it down and have all your parts so it was a success. :)
 
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