Trees jobs gone wrong

[HUSKYMAN]

I often hear of guys talking about jobs where they were dropping a tree and it went in the completely wrong direction due to wind, type of wood, bad judgement, etc. I was wondering if you could share some of your experiences so the rest of us can learn and not make the same mistakes. I only do jobs now where there are no objects nearby but will be expanding in the future.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

My very first big removal was a pine in JAX, NC while in the USMC.

Ignorance was the worst part, ut the tree was so rotten my gaffs we sinkin into it.

Got about 60 ft up, had 15-20 ft above me and knotched it. Did the back cut and found that there was no holding-wood as the punky stuff parted and went backwards with the breeze.

I very seldom will pop a big top without a long piece of 1/2inch insurace tied high so a groundei can pull a little.

 

[Mike Starner]

When I was doing line clearance I had a terrifying experience. We used to ring trees to to kill them when they were growing under high voltagge powerlines out in rural areas. This one large Red Oak was endanger of breaking minimum clearance so I started to ring it. I didn't get half way around this tree with a half inch deep cut when the tree just exploded. It barber chaired about 20 ' in the air and came after me for revenge, I only made it far enough away to get layed down by brush. It turned out that this 36" DBH tree, even with no outward signs, was hollow. Only 3" of sound wood was present all the way around. My advice is never piss off trees!

Mike Starner

 

[monkeypuzzle]

Trees that I can just walk up to and cut are few and far between.

 

[Toddppm]

Where to start!
Yup the top is always the hardest part. I was doing a takedown of a pine a couple years ago in maybe Feb.? I had a baaad cold but said I'd be there and did it anyway(cold, windy day,freezing my a$$ off) Got to the top and even had a line in it with 2 guys pulling, nice notch and all. Had about 5 ft clearance each side between the house and fence , no problem, just as it goes over a nice cold blast of wind comes and pushes it into the corner of the house. If I wasn't sick , I probably would have taken more off the top before I tried to take it out(pretty heavy top).
Got more practice patching shingles and installing gutters

The guy I have climbing now just got a lesson on taking tops off when he tried to notch a top leaning the wrong way. He got lucky when it sat back on the saw it didn't break the holding wood, he was able to get a rope in it and everything turned out fine. I saw it coming and didn't say anything thinking he knew what he was doing, I will open my mouth next time! Could have turned out real bad.
I've done the exact same thing he did a couple times, scary stuff

 

[Kevin]

I have a problem at times dropping trees to mill.
They like to get hung up in the other trees.
This weekend I dropped a 20" cedar and I had a nice little lane through the trees to drop it and it looked too easy!
I could have used the wedges on it but why take the time eh?
Down it came on some small balsm nicely hung up.
Now I was wishing I had some tree climbing equipment so I could climb a nearby tree and attach a block to run a rope through allowing me to winch the trunk in an upwards and outwards direction from the base of the nearby tree.
I ended up under the edge of the leaning cedar tree cutting the balsms away to free up my cedar, not the best place to be but not too many options.
The tree dropped to a level where I could cut it at the 16' mark which is what I needed.
The message here is use the wedges when you can, it will save time and will help keep you out of danger.

 

[The Climber]

If you walk arround the tree and look at it from every angle you will have a better idea if there is a lean or a heavy side to compensate for.
You can often tell if the trunk is hollow by knocking on it with a solid object and listening.
If you have minimul back lean you can usualy compensate by hammering a wedge into your back cut while there is still enough holding wood on your hinge to keep the tree standing.
In touchier situations I go with a rope tied at least 3/4 up prefurably higher and pulled from a good distance away. If you still have reason for concern that it might go slightly left or right of your intended fall, you can use a second rope from that tree to another tree or verry stable object on the opposite side from your concern insuring that it canot go that way
Always consider the available footing or traction for the ground crew or truck doing the pulling.
The trick I use most for precision is to make sure I have an equal ammount of holding wood all the way accross the trunk as I make my back cut, then when the tree starts to tip you can make a last minute adjustment by cutting the remaining holding wood on one side or another to get a slight turn in the opposite dirrection. If you have never done this, don't rely on it until you have practiced on several that are not close to that millionaire's house. Good luck.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Stearing a fell by cutting holding wood can be dangerous, and violates ANSI. Not that I've never done it after pooching a face cut.

I allmost exclusivly use the plunge/ tab method of felling. Boar on line with the apex of your face, check the othe side, then set the hinge. Cut back and leave a tab of holding wood on the bacck side. Set wedges and cut tab.

I've taken some leaners down with this method, just have to feather wedges and pound alot.

If I have a good sawwlog I will boar our the face and leave only a few inches of hinge on each side of the log.

 

[Kevin]

I agree with the danger involved, the leaners I get are almost always off the stump and on the ground.
If you winch them straight on the butts dig into the dirt, it`s best to winch up as well as ahead in order to get the top out of the trees.
It`s even better if you don`t get it hung up in the first place.
If you have a skidder it`s not a problem but all I have is a come a long.
You need to be aware of the dangers and leave yourself an out.

 

[monkeypuzzle]

What will you guys do when there isn't a spot for the top to go,and you can't get a crane near?Blocks,Slings,and a Port-a-wrap.Don't forget the rope man who understands the ropes.

 

[Kevin]

I`m only making reference to saw logs in a stand of timber, you guys can have those big city trees.
My boss once told me ... if you`re looking for a hand don`t look any further than the end of your arm!

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Thats a nice looking Husky in that picture by the way Kevin. Thanks for the info, I like the method that Mr. Sanborn uses by leaving the tab, I am having a little trouble visualizing the whole process though. After you cut the hinge you go to the opposite side do a plunge cut from the side? How thick of a tab do you leave? Couple inches on a 30" tree, for example?

 

[treeman82]

Monkey puzzle, when I rig a top for removal and there is nowhere for it to go, I put a pull line up as high as I can. Then I take a size top that fits the area. set my notch, put a block below the notch, rope through the block to the butt of the top. Have a ground man down below on a portawrap holding a 5/8" or bigger rope. Have another guy putting pressure on the pull line, when the top goes over the pull rope guy pulls the top to a spot that it can fit in. Otherwise, if you cant fit the top in anywhere really, just cut from the tip back to the rope as it comes down where you can reach it.

 

[monkeypuzzle]

I hear ya, a lot of the guys that do removals have not learned to use a block and they don't really go to high up into the tree,so they will top and bomb everything on the ground,gotta start somewhere ya know.With all the slings on the market now tying knots is a thing of the past for a false crotch,at least for me it is.It takes a lot of practice and confidence in your equipment,a good rope man who has a nice touch is also important.Scary stuff.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Hus,

For a general fell.

cut the face

Make a plunge from the side a few inches away from where you want your hinge.

Once bored through cut to where you want your hing.

Then cut to the back side of the tree, leave a few inces of tab on the back. Enough to get good holding.

Drive wedgestil firmly seated and cut tab.

Straight trees usualy fall right away, leaners can take som pounding to jackup.

If you want to save the log of a sawyer, make a plunge into the apex of the face cut, inline with where your back cut will be. this will reduce the splintering and loss of log value.

This can also be used if the bar is too short to penetrate the log even from both sides. Say a 45 dbh being cut with a 20 in bar. You can cut the center 5 inch from the face.

I've done this on a few 5 ft willows using a 28 in bar.

 

[Mike Starner]

I'm curious, how do you cut the tab without hitting your wedges? Do you drive your wedges in close to the hinge and do they point to the sides to the middle or from the back towards the notch. Im not famialar with this technique, is there any body who could illustrate it?
Mike Starner

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

if the tree is small enough that the wedges get in the way, you can cut the tab gust a little low and the fibers will still break

 

[treeclimber165]

Also, many people are using the plastic wedges now. You still don't want to hit them with the saw, but it won't trash your chain if you do.

 

[Chain Gang]

Felling Techniques:

The techniques John P. Sanborn mentioned are further explained in this link by Husqvarna:

http://international.husqvarna.com/node51.asp

Be sure to keep clicking the "Next Page" arrow on the bottom of the screen to see all of what each link describes.

Not only does this link show how to safely and effectively fell nearly any tree, It also shows that a very short bar can drop some very large trees if the operator knows what he is doing.

Thanks to Husqvarna for hosting such an informative site.

 

[arborman]

I had about a 30 dbh maple come back at me once. i was working in a cemetary helping out a guy who works there. trying to drop the tree with out crushing a head stone The direction i was going to drop it in would have easily worked. . there was no real obvious lean in any direction on this tree. it was very Dead. So i was going to leave a good size hinge and bore cut it. Well i left what i thought was enough hinge about 5 inches or so . bored it and cut back. left a nice holding strap. before i could get my saw out to release it , the hingle pulled out and the holding strap crushed and the tree Was comming back at me. i gave a yank on my saw and said the hell with it and got out of there leaving my saw stuck in the cut. no saws worth what that tree would have done if i wouldent have gotten out of there. i had to give it atleast one pull to see if i could get it out. didnt happen though . however the tree ended up kicking my saw out and didnt land on it. also seeing as it was going the oposite way as i wanted it to it could have banged up a head stone. but decided to fall where the leads and stem were all nicely inbetween head stones.. i couldent believe it went like that.
Maybe someone was lookin out for me on that one..
i still dont know how that happened the way it did. if there was a wind i didnt feel it. and i checked that tree good for any obvious leans. And if my saw would have started to pinch when i was cutting out of the stem on my bore cut i would have used a wedge. I just didnt see the need for it at the time because it looked like an easy one to drop. i wont make that mistake again.