Tree Cuttin Experts

BANDITFARMER

Well-known Member
I have this Pin Oak that needs to be cut down and I'm not sure how to drop it. As you can see the lowest limb is sticking strait out about 45 to 50 feet from the tree. The tree itself has grown out from the fence line and is leaning out about 8 to 10 degrees up to the first limb and its grown to the left side of the tree and the rest is strait up. I was looking at it today and for the life of me I cant figure how to cut it without falling and kicking back at me. I have cut a lot of trees down over the years and this one has me worried, Its one I wish I didn't have to cut to tell you the truth. Its really hard to fight gravity and drop it wear you want to. Anyone have any ideas on how to cut it? Bandit
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Put a ladder up against the back side. Reach around with the saw and cut that limb off.

I would then leave the rest stand.

Gary
 
why is it going to kick back at you? It should be cut to fall the way it leans, into the field. It will fall on the long limb, breaking it off and hardly interrupting its fall. Unless the limb is a lot bigger than it looks. In that case the limb will not kick the tree back but throw it to one side or the other. If the limb is a worry, stand in your tractors loader bucket & lop it off.
 
I thought about doing that but its about 22 inches across, Hard to hold the Sthil 391 up around the tree. Plus its about 24 feet up and I don't do ladders and chain saws anymore. If I was younger I might try but I'm getting older now and don't heal up as fast as I use to. Bandit
 
The tree is bigger than it seems in the photo then.

22 feet would be to high for me with a saw as well.

Gary
 
I would cut and pull the brush out of the way on the right hand side first to have a good escape route with no trip hazards then underbid on the left (heavy side) and back saw deep from left to right, tree should twist left as it starts down and roll off of stump.
 
How about notching and dropping the tree towards the camera position? As with any tree step back when it begins to fall. Just my thought based on the pictures. Paul
 
I would try to fell it diagonally rather than straight onto the branch, and have a good escape route. On a tree that I am nervous about I will leave as soon as I think it is starting to go, sometimes I am wrong and I have to come back and cut a little further but that way I have time to be as far away as I need to be to feel safe before the tree goes very far.
Zach
 
wish i was closer,i"d drop the nasty thing for you.notch it on the southern most side and leave some holding wood on the pull side.really hard to explain but not hard to do.make sure you have a good escape route and run when it starts to go.i"ve had to cut some ugly ones and broke some bones but im still standing and the trees are not.
 
It might be a little costly but a whole lot safer. Hire someone with a bucket truck to take it down for you.
 
Find a buddy that has access to a bucket lift and likes beer. Only a few minutes work to drop the limb, then cut it like any other tree. Danger of the limb is if the limb hits the ground and the tree rolls toward you could be trouble, once the limb is gone it should be pretty routine, clear a good escape route and notch it, then make a back cut, using a felling wedge to drop it.
 
Look up bore cutting on the internet. It is very important to understand the reaction the saw makes while doing this. When you practice this methood a few times you will see how the hinge and back straps will hold the tree and you can get it to fall where you want by driving in plastic wedges. I am not an expert by any means. I had to go to training for my job. They taught us to have 2 escape routes and look up look down look all around. I no longer have the cut and run methood.
There is a sight line on most good quality saws to help cut the wedge in which direction you want the tree to go.
 
I have a guy that is going to cut the limb out with his bucket truck but it may be 2 or 3 weeks before he can get to it. That might be right in the time for field work. So I may have to do it myself. This is just one of those things you got to do sometimes. Bandit
 
ah! the rest of the story. 22" dia. limb 24 ft high. Do as they say below, roll it to the right or left so it doesn't hit on the limb & bounce. Just notch it as usual in the direction you want it to fall, make a normal backcut with a clearcut escape path.
 
If all goes well with the ladder and limb it will be fine, if not this is going to be a bad situation. To me this is a set up for failure. I wouldn't attempt this on a bet, but everyone has an opinion.
 
Notch it so it falls to land on that big branch... and don't cut all the way through. Just get clear when it starts to go. It's probably going to spin when it lands... but as long as you're gone... no big deal.

Rod
 
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The reason I am uneasy about cutting it down, If you look at the end of the field you can see a stump. This was 36 inch across (at the cut) with the top broke out with one big limb sticking out low out in the field. I cut the notch out started cutting the back cut and it started coming down slowly. It came down on the limb and twisted the log to the left and coming at me. The log landed 6 feet to the left of the stump and 2 feet behind it. That's why I am nervis about this one. Bandit
 
If you lived close by I would bring my bucket truck and nip off the overhanging branch for you. Actually make escape path and notch then use wedges to control the direction of drop. pretty easy if you study it. I bet there is a (you tube ) demonstrating how to do it.
 
Notch it a full 90 degrees with a 45 degree down cut and a 45 degree up cut. The tree will be controlled by the hinge during the fall and will be still tied to the stump when the tree is lying on the ground. The deeper the notch, the better.
 
Nothing wrong with a concern about that, trees definitely command respect. The object is never be under anything that can fall on you, and sometimes that is hard to do. If can't be done, its unsafe to do. I do like onefarmers method, I practice the same thing. Once you look it over and figure you can cut it safely, I often times will secure a ladder to the tree, not have to worry about it kicking out or moving while I rig, using a 3" ratchet strap, then attach the choker, and a length of chain, adding more at the bottom, to get enough distance to make sure the tractor is out of the way. Sometimes I'll test and see if it will pull over, if its good wood high up and I can get a good angle, some trees pull right over, however, things could also snap, that ant colony way up high you don't know about, which is the part I particularly just don't like.

I did one this winter, hard maple and it was hollowed out, rotted beyond belief or maybe the other way around, in measurable disbelief that it was still standing. Photos above, last summer, nice fracture showing. I put a line on it and thought it would snap off at the crack, not going to happen, stopped the tractor, or traction gave out, so seeing where I had to stand and cut, nothing was above me, I plunged into it to see if there was any decent wood, sure enough there was, top was healthy, so I put some relief cuts on each side of the u shaped hollow of it, it then just pulled right over, did take out a cross brace on the gate, thought I'd get it in between, nice firewood it made. Now previously, another large limb, small trunk came off, high winds likely, if that was still on there, it would have complicated things.

A few years back I cut a 30" oak, the kind that smells like whiskey, brown heart wood, leaning way out into the field, been like that for years, but with the inevitable being a leaner, it had to come down, and the limbs sure make nice springs, the butt, bounced up and over, then slammed into the ground, I was a bit too close, but back, did make sure to clear all around before hand, knew it was going to make a funny hop, if it barber chaired, would have came towards me, made sure to cut enough before withdrawing the saw.

The limb on yours, be nice to have a saw on an arm like the power companies or tree service, I find one has to undercut though the bark on the underside, then cut from above, usually drops instead of hinging inward, they can do all kinds of things, have to really focus on what you are doing, and of course a bucket truck would just seem ideal LOL !
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What I would do is get a ladder and cut that first big limb off. Then saw it up. Come back the next day when you are all rested up. And drop the tree as follows-----
1. It looks like it is leaning towards that clearing. So....Make a notch 1/2 way in 2 feet up from the bottom.
2. Then cut back side, with a pathway to run 90* away from the base of the tree. Tree falls into clearing, cut up from there. Have lunch and call it good.
 
Some trees should be left alone.Whats the rush?How long has it been growing that way?Why not wait for the bucket truck .
 
Most replies are EXTREMELY Dangerous. I wonder how many have cut such a tree. The bucket truck sounds best but the ladder is the most unreasonable. i guess leave until windstorm is the safest and the bucket truck is next safe. What if the saw pinches? BTDT
 
Of course if you get hurt, the field work will not get done on a timely basis. Use your head on this one and wait for the bucket truck!
Andy
 
Since there will be no collateral damage when the tree falls it should be easy to cut the tree down. With the tree leaning and all that weight leaning to one side it's certain the tree will fall toward the pasture. You don't even have to notch it, just cut it on the opposite side of the pasture and make sure there is a clear path and run toward the woods when it falls.
 
Can you drive your combine under it and put a ladder in the grain tank and block the limb off? If you let the blocked wood fall in the grain tank you will need to open the flutes on the unloading auger so it will feed out. Just being dumb. That limb is a potential problem. You will not get enough crop off of that spot to pay for even a small mishap. Farm around if you must.
 
Find some young feller with a light saw and a long extension ladder and cut the limb back one short section at a time. We old folks remember when nothing acared us. Save the rest of the tree. No need to take it all down.
 
Lot of good ways to get killed there. Mainly by listening to the advise on this board.

Since the tree is going to go into the field regardless what you need to avoid is
1) the limb breaking and driving itself into the field they can then be a bear to cut off and pull out
2) and the big one: is the tree hollow. With that much weight and lean it could "barber chair" or split several feet up and swing back at the sawyer.

I have attached a picture of how I would cut it. By leaving a heavier hinge on one side it will cause the tree to twist slightly on the stump as it falls.

It will spin the opposite direction of the arrow in the picture. With that overhanging weight it won't spin much, but enough so that limb lays down rather than hitting direct and bouncing the but or embedding itself in the ground.

I would also recommend bore cutting your back cut to take some of the risk away from it splitting it also makes sure you are on the side of the tree when you finish the back cut especially if your bar is not long enough to completely pierce the tree.

It does not look too bad, but I'm not there in person. I've cut professionally for twenty some years. If it scares you have a pro do it. Otherwise just make sure you have a clear escape path, and a saw with enough nuts and bar to get it and get out with out having to screw around. Heavy leaners are second only to wind damage as killers in my book.

If your not comfortable have someone else do it.

But if your careful, that isn't a bad fell.

Good luck, let us know how it works out.
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All that needs to happen with this situation for it to be a disaster is the limb doesn't drop directly straight down. Then whoever is on the ladder is 20 plus feet above the ground with no contol over anything.
 
There are 2 "big deals", actually- first, with that much lean and that big branch to boot, it will probably "barber chair", and you don't know which way it will jump off the stump; and second, when that big limb hits the ground, the whole tree will pivot on the branch and pole vault one way or the other. You have a 50% chance of guessing right, and being somewhere else. Not good enough odds for me, thanks.

I'm with the bucket truck crowd- just cut back the branch, leave the tree.
 
Bore cutting takes a lot of the stress out of cutting hollow trees and prevent barber chairs but its not something to learn on a big one. I'm not a hardwood felling guy at all, almost strictly softwood here and heavy lower limbs are never fun when they can make the bole jump the hinge.
 

I'm with MN skinner and Matt E dust leave more wood on the pull side so that it will bring the limb down in the best place and make the butt go where you will not be.
 
No notch? Which way do you run when it barber chairs and jumps off the stump, before it falls? It'll do that suddenly, while you're cutting it, so it isn't like you can watch it start to fall and move accordingly.
 
Put a chain around the limb and a ladder rung. Start out on the thin end and work towards the tree, cutting short blocks that can't tip the ladder. You will be up & down quite a few times but should be safe. Then notch & drop the tree as usual.
 
Always notch a tree to have some control. Without a notch you have no control. The notch is the most important part of cutting. You can take a high line pole that is standing perfectly level and fell it in any direction you want by notching it.
 
This is like getting advice at the "Long Branch" saloon. (sorry, couldn't resist) How about just renting a man lift so you can cut off short pieces without worrying about it hitting what's holding you up?
 

Not sure about tree cuttin, but I had some kraut and sausage for lunch and I been cuttin farts all afternoon
 
The only time you need to notch a tree is when it's straight up and you need to direct the direction it's going to fall. On a tree that is leaning that much of an angle it's only going to fall one direction so the notch isn't needed. In fact with that much weight on one side you run the risk of getting the bar stuck in the tree making the notch.
 
The tree will start to fall long before you cut is all the way through so it won't slip from the stump. I normally have to come back and finish the cut as I'm cutting up the debris. I don't understand how someone could not tell when the tree is starting to fall. It normally makes a lot of noise and you can see the cut you are sawing opening up.
 
I'd notch it to fall at about a 45 degree angle to the edge of the field. Or get someone with a backhoe or trackhoe to push it that way, while I cut it. A good stiff breeze could help with that as well.
 

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