Trimming branches with a shotgun?

[R Schra]

Coming soon to your local autorized dealer....
Best laugh I had today. Thanks Y'all!!!!

i had some time left.....

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

I also posted the same question on shotgunworld.

Let me summarize the majority view of the responses: First, what I'm proposing to do is safe, if you leave enough room for the shot to fly (which is clearly the case at our house, as we have 1/2 mile clearance).

If this is true, there are a lot of complete idiots on shotgunworld. 1/2 mile is NOT safe.




"You'll never go broke overestimating human stupidity."


Un-be-liev-a-bul!

 

[Chucky]

Go rent a man lift and use a pole saw

Go rent a man lift and use a pole saw

Or just hire a tree company with a bucket. Tell them you only need one man on the site for pruning only, no cleanup. At $67/man-hour, in 3-4 hours a whole boatload of pruning can get done. No rental and towing hassles of the manlift, and all you gotta do after is drag brush.

 

[xring]

I know almost nothing about trees but I know a bit about firearms. Here is the way I see it. Birdshot is small and loses velocity and energy very fast the smaller it is the faster it loses power . # 9, 8,71/2, 6, 4. shot all lose power pretty fast the higher the # the smaller the shot and the faster it loses power. When shot at an angle it uses power to get altitude of course it gains some on the way back down but round objects are not very aerodynamic and friction slows it down a bunch. Energy is Mass x Velocity squared. Very light objects traveling pretty slow don’t pose a large risk. (not talking about being right in front). Large shot Buckshot has more mass and is more dangerous down range. I have been pelted with birdshot in the field if it comes down on you no problem unless hit in eyes shallow angles at closer ranges are more dangerous. Of course large shot would work better on a limb. I have been in shooting matches where the intent is to shoot a post in two, birdshot doesn’t work unless you are very close. Lead shot doesn’t ricochet much. Ricochets occur when hard objects are struck at an angle, the more acute the angle the more chance of ricochet.. Soft objects shot into other soft objects don’t ricochet much. Lead has a brinnel hardness of about 4.0, a hard alloy composition is 2% tin, 6% antimony and 92% lead. is about 15.00 ( cast handgun bullets are made of this) Tool steel is about 650.00 to 700.00 Hardwood 2.6 t0 7.0 softwood 2.6 Mild steel 120.00. Hard to think that lead or a lead alloy would dull a blade very fast. Steel shot will both ricochet more and dull steel tools faster than lead. Now a fast moving blade could sling shot pretty fast. Your eyes have a brinnel hardness of about .000000000001 so expect to blind yourself it shot hits your eyes. ( wear eye protection) all that said it can’t be very good for a tree but if you are trying to trim a tree on a steep hilll where you cant put a ladder or a truck or use a polesaw or a wire saw then what is left. I remember seeing a film ( you remember film) in school where a forester shot a limb off a tree why I don’t know. I don’t think it is more dangerous than climbing a tree with a chainsaw and not very effective but it sure would be fun to watch. 

 

[ray benson]

Would shotgun trimming be a Beverly Hillbillies trick? Elliemae and jethro could pull it off.

 

[treeseer]

Would shotgun trimming be a Beverly Hillbillies trick? Elliemae and jethro could pull it off.

Sounds like part of the traditional shotgun wedding ceremony. Git em hitched, get a bellyful of white lightning, and do some hillbilly arboriculture. If you use iron shot instead of lead, you could also do some root feeding with that firearm. Or trunk injections, pest control, :blob5: the possibilties are endless!

 

[Tree Wizard]

Back in the old days when I worked for the USFS in northern Minnesota we would use scoped .22 mag. rifles to shoot upper branches out of 90'+ "superior" white and black spruce trees. These branches were then grafted to root stock in the nursery and in a few years you ended up with 4' spruce that were heavy cone bearers. Cones were easy to pick and the seeds were all at least 50% genetically superior.

We tried to shoot 1/2 to 1 inch diameter branches. Even with a scoped rifle we would probably get 1 branch for every 20 shots or so. We were also doing this in a semi-wilderness area in the middle of winter so we didn't worry about where the "missed" shots came down.

Based on these past experiences I would have to think that trying to shoot 4" diameter branches off a tree with a shotgun, even using buckshot, would be an exercise in futility and perhaps stupidity.

 

[xander9727]

I would use a Barrett or McMillan 50 caliber for pruning on a steep grade. This results in less ammo waste. For removals I recommend at least 1 pound of explosives for each 5 inches DBH for soft woods and 3 inches DBH for hardwoods. I think the P on the GTA card meant plenty.

If were not going to concern ourselves with tree health then why should we worry about personal or property safety.

Let's just be completely rediculous.........Troll, troll, troll your post, gently down the thread..........

 

[chowdozer]

Weyerhauser used to prune trees with shotguns. I don't know what kind of shot they used. I watched a movie on it in the mid '70's.

 

[ArtB]

NFS and Weyerhauser often go after cone laden DFir branches in select trees for starting batches of genetically superior trees. They use scoped 7mm Magnums (this is out in really wide open country in pac. NW). Apparently one shot for a 3" dia branch.

Tacked up a few targets to a 10" dia red alder for target practice with 357, 30-30, and 7mmMag. Went thru 50 rnds 357 and 20 ea 30-30, 5th or so 7mm dropped the tree, actually had not intended to drop the tree either..

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

I would use a Barrett or McMillan 50 caliber for pruning on a steep grade. This results in less ammo waste. For removals I recommend at least 1 pound of explosives for each 5 inches DBH for soft woods and 3 inches DBH for hardwoods. I think the P on the GTA card meant plenty.