pulling out a tree

I would like to pull out a fairly good size tree maybe 50-60 ft tall. Is it any help to connect the cable or chain up high? Will that give more leverage? Thanks, Stan

Something that big you will be digging out, not pulling out. Chain it as high as you want, but you won't have any traction. When the chain gets tight you won't have any down force on your drawbar.

If they are that tall I cut them down. Let the stump cure for a year, soak the stump in diesel with just a splash of gas in it, and light it. The last one smoldered for 15 days. Would have been longer but it rained and put it out. Put dirt in the burned out hole and you are good to go.

Think it depends whether you would like to be crushed by big or little limbs.
Might be more fun to use one of those bungy cords and see how far you could go in the air backwards. LOL

That's quite a tree and it would have its toenails dug in good. Cut it off and burn, grind, dig the stump out.

You didn't saw what type of tree. If its a tree with no tap root get your cable or chain up about 30 ft if you can and make sure chain or cable is way longer than the tree is tall. Then put a large tractor on an chain or cable. Then dig on back side of tree and cut roots with tractor tension on cable ( you should have help while doing this).We have taken as many libs off back side as we could useing the weight on other side to help take it over and they don't down come down with a thud like cutting them down. If it has a tap root cut it down and grind stump, burn it or drill holes in stump and let rot out. .

You'll most likely need a big excavator to dig it out. Its gotta be a pretty big diameter to be 60' tall.

Be careful!

<img src = "http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u125/27Grainfield/Stuff/slap_zps3c65cd28.gif">

37Chief,
The suggestion to cut the tree down soak stump is a good idea. My suggestion is from experience pushing the whole tree down. One thing to remember is the root package diameter is 3.5 times bigger than the tree shank above the ground. The solution is to dig on the opposite side of the tree where you want it to fall. Tractors are not meant to dig,however it has been done,but wears the heck out of the tractor loader. If the loader is a high lift loader fill the bucket as full as you possibly can and push against the tree on the opposite side of the hole. I've seen it done and I have done it but remember, without a ROPS you're inviting trouble,either by visiting hours in hospital or large funeral procession. Another way I've seen it done is raise a person in the bucket tie a rope around the highest point that can be reached by the individual, string the rope out to the farthest tree away, tie the end of the rope taught to the tree,make your V cut in the tree to be felled,and when you are ready to make the final angle cut above the V notch, have the person keep pressure on the rope to pull it in the direction needed to fall. Make sure the way is clear for them to run like heck when the tree starts to fall.

Before you start anything look at the tree closely to make sure there is no limbs or weak spots that can break off and come down on you, its known as a widow maker. I advocate hard hats,just as a safety precaution.If you are fortunate enough and have a friend close by with a dozer and ROPS, I would have him push the tree over,money and time well spent IMO. Finding a place to push the tree over is a chore and chance for additional problems for the saw operator if it hangs up into surrounding trees.
We've had that happen more times than not,which requires undercutting the leaning tree that we pushed over.Just be careful if you try it,what we described above is only meant for information and not suggestion for you to do.Remember be careful,injury,death is not worth the tree removal.Links and videos shows some ways of tree removal better than explainations.Hope this helps
LOU


http://www.familyhandyman.com/landscaping/how-to-cut-down-a-tree/view-all

Video on youtube,should have cut deeper around tree stump on the backside.would have made it easier on equipment and faster falling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvE5V2aT_bg
poke here

We edited our post where we were describing the root package.Please note, root package includes feeder roots plus tap root. Feeders can spread out a great deal away from the base.Some trees have extremely strong holding power especially in clay soil thats what makes it necessary to dig the hole so it cuts them.Sorry about the need for us to edit,but it was required for an accurate description.
LOU

I use my Wheel loader and push them over,then put the bucket under the roots and break them out.

Years ago a doctor got killed doing what your picture shows. He did not have that back blade on it though.

Pulling a 60 ft tree with a chain can be dangerous.One of my neighbors who was
over 75+ was killed as his chain wasn't long enough.In our area depending what kind of tree, people will cut and remove it for firewood.

Bob you're hilarious.

In spring, when the ground is soft and wet it's a lot different than in high summer when the ground is baked hard. A 60 foot Poplar is going to be a lot different than a 60 foot White Oak or Elm. IMO the safest bet is cutting it then grinding the stump. Excavator is 2nd, big hoe 3rd and bulldozer 4th. Pulling a tree that size over is going to be a project and half.

If it were me, I"d us a 150" cable & a block
for a 2 to 1 pull. Get a ladder hook high on the
main trunk. Less apt to have the tree coming
directly at you this way. & Your going to have
a big hole unless it"s a tree with short roots.

No big deal. All you need is a ig enough machine, LOL.

Get videos, we like pictures

Cut it off and grind the stump will make a lot less mess.

Hook a cable or chain as high as you can in the tree. Hook the other end to a 2-3 ton com-along and attach to the base of an adjacent tree. Tighten as much as possible and every day re-tighten. In a few weeks, the tree will be on the ground.

Be really careful, Chief.

My dad pulled over a big tree like that. Even with a big notch cut into it - it still went were it wanted. Landed toward the tractor... he was lucky he didn't get knocked in the head with a large branch, and good he had a long chain - or the trunk would have smooshed him and the tractor.

And if the chain breaks and hits him he'll be undergound.A chain thats high in the air and breaks is a deadly weapon.

Picture 3 and 4 is the way to do it. Have did many that way.

If you are getting all the rain, causing mud slides, and your ground is soft enough it might work, very dangerous.

Every time mother mature takes a tree down for me, it's been raining and then very windy.

I know a guy with a dozer, thought he gound take a tree down. Killed him.

Just be careful, Chief.
George

Unless you have a 300+ horse tractor a chain saw would be your best bet. We pulled some 40' Con color Firs down but it took a pretty good sized 4 wheel drive tractor that had to make a run for it. Con colors don't have much of a root system and it was sandy ground. After the tree hits the ground there will still be roots attached on the bottom side that can be a real bugger to get pulled out. You have the dead weight of the root ball that is still anchored to the ground by those roots. Jim

I have a method I use all the time mainly to control exactly where the tree lands. Like rla says; I have an old compound bow that I use to shoot a heavy fishing line over some branches as high up on the tree as I can. Use that to pull heavier ropes up. Then hook up 2 snatch blocks (to multiply power) on about 150' worth of 3/4 nylon rope with the bottom block enabling a right angle pull. That way when I'm pulling with the tractor I'm farther away than the tree is tall and as much away to the side from falling/flying objects. Works good, very safe.

BE CAREFUL!! I got ripped off of a tractor and smashed to the ground when a 3 inch branch caught me on the way down... I don't pull trees anymore.

I now have my big back hoe, and if the tree is so big that I can't PUSH it over, then it deserves to stay there!

I personally would just cut it down and mess around with the stump, but if you do decide to pull it, get a LONG chain/rope! Bryce

If this tree is around buildings or power lines, I would suggest gritting your teeth and hire it done unless you have had a lot of experience with this sort of thing. The fact that you are asking here about it suggests you don't have much experience with tree felling. Hire it done!

If it's out in a field just saw the darn thing down and worry about grubbing out the stump after the tree is safely down. If you "think" the tree is 50-60 ft tall then you need at least 150 of chain, cable or rope and 200 ft. would be safer. If that tree has any dead branches in it, you are attempting a VERY dangerous thing. A two or three inch diameter piece of dead branch flying across the yard could easily kill you if it hits you it the head or chest.

When I was about 16 some friends needed to take down a big oak by the house. They chained up a NEW Toyota Land Cruiser. Totaled the truck and badly damaged the house.

A good Backhoe will take down most any tree that is not in a bad location to cut roots on one side and push it over with the rear Hoe..takes the whole tree out, stump and all.
Dead trees are the most dangerous.

Otherwise, a GOOD Dacron line about 1 1/2" Dia. and plenty long, attached to a Backhoe or Large tractor, thru a Snatch-Block will PUT it where you want it (you still need to Notch and Back-Cut tho).

Ron.

I've done it many times in the past. Sometimes they pull over, sometimes not. Crawler would provide more traction and likely more pulling power. Sometimes there is slippage with the tractor, and that's probably a good thing. Considering ones rigging and if it were to fail, I find using care is important, so as not to put oneself in danger, every situation is different, every tree is different, priority is safety first. The first shots are of a black cherry tree, dead, in what was the old hedgerow. I logged off all the dead trees from this old hedge/fence line and many I had put a line on to secure the direction of fall, like the one in the photo, that wanted to fall in the neighbors yard, given the lean it had. I got a nice pile of black cherry out of this, then with the clean up from that ice storm in Dec '08, I hauled in 3 more truckloads of hardwood, which I still have some oak in my shed, provided me enough wood for 3 years, whats shown is just 1/3 of what I had piled.

Sometimes the line is just set to secure the tree, I'll put relief cuts in it, have enough line to be out of its path and I walk clear around to get to the tractor, then pull them over. I sometimes will ratchet strap the ladder to the tree so I do not have to worry about it rolling out from under me. I then set my wire rope choker and clevis, then hang a shorter chain, so I can connect the big chain on the ground. Yes, I'd prefer better rigging like has been mentioned already, snatch block 2 to one line or similar, be nice to have a crawler on the other end too, but the tractor and direct line is safe if you do not push things beyond their means, if it don't want to go, then I just cut it and use the line to secure its fall. Once set I'll tug on it a few times to get the feel of it, sometimes they will come right over. In this photo of the dead black cherry, tractor was headed downhill, nice slope so I had that in my favor, yet not all would pull over, most were felled with relief cuts or some tension on the line, just enough to insure they fell where I wanted, opposite the neighbors backyards.

The old hard maple in the photos, I had observed for awhile, it was the backyard of our old house, and was hollow, top fractured, already lost a huge limb, I figured a storm would take it down, well it would have taken years I think. I put a line up top on that one, pulled on it, couple of decent quick little jerks, was a boat anchor, so I put the first relief cuts in it, no dice at all, held tension, walked clear around the back of it, nothing above me, and the lean in my favor, cut further into it, but left it standing, then got back onto the tractor, it pulled over easily, broke right off, I had removed a gate, but it took out brace on the side anyway LOL.

Now, all of these, I made sure to be clear of tree, canopy and everything before even considering doing any of it, also made sure to never take my eye off the tree once I started work, as well as having clear paths to where I needed to be, and always enough line to be well clear of the tree, these things are paramount, if any were not available, the trees would be left standing. That maple my friend would park near when hunting, I warned him repeatedly, kept doing it but finally stopped, I was by a gate, so who knows when or how it would come down, was nice to have it on the ground and not worry about someone getting hurt when passing by, including me LOL ! You can see its rotted, hollow, fractured, already lost that big limb, yet no tractor, maybe a crawler, then maybe not, would have broke it off, forget pulling it with the rootball.

I have straightened chain hooks with dozers, and I narrowly missed being taken out by shrapnel of a broken chain link on a site job when I was an operator, hit the upright of my OROPS on the dozer, put a dent into the thick steel, was right past my head. Needless to say when one of the fools mouthed off at break time about what happened, I settled it quickly, by pinning the jerk on the ground and teaching him a valuable lesson, foreman said "did you get him good or what?" while he was writing me up for fighting on the job LOL ! I should have walked away, but sometimes it does not work out that way. Snapped chains are no joke and the will kill as fast as a bullet, and is the reason I share that story. Jerk was pulling out a vibratory roller out of deep mud, dumb operator thought he could make it through that stuff, then tweedle dee and tweedle dumb start pulling on it, I should have known to get away from them, almost cost me because I did not. Will never forget that moment when it hit the upright.

I think the guy with the wheel loader had the best idea, I cleaned a lot of them out with a track hoe/excavator on our spray field. If you decide to use a rope, chain or strap for gosh sakes make sure it's long enough, like 2 times longer than the tree is high, you want to be in the next township when it comes down. As others have said once you get it tied off put a back cut on the log so YOU control where the darn thing is going to break.

I have seen my dad take one over like but used a fence stretcher,1"cable and heavy chains. When you use this method you don't pull the cable as tight as you can you just keep taking tension up a liitle every day. Also mother nature helps with wind helps loosen up rooots with tension on tree.

I have a Masdam come-a-long with a long rope in it so I hook on fairly high and put a good strain on the tree. Then I go to the other side and start digging and chopping, then pull a little more. Then I cut most of the tree off and pull the rest of it the other way, shovel and chop a little. Pretty soon I can pull the root ball out of the hole and fill it with dirt and plant grass! I have done ash and poplar up to 12 inches in dia. this way, very safe, and when I'm done, I'm done.

37chief,

So, what kind of tree is it?

Are you actually trying to pull the tree out by its roots, or guide it as its cut down?

There are some varieties that get tall, but not that big around, and have fairly shallow root balls. With a long enough chain or cable so as you don't get whacked on the head, you can use leverage to tip them over with a fairly small tractor.

Something like a maple or oak, forget it. You won't move it with a D8 dozer, let alone your little 8N Ford.

Also, not a good idea if the tree is at all rotten. They don't call 'em widowmakers for nothing.

You would be amazed at how tenacious some trees are. I've seen Dad push over 30' tall beeches with the loader tractor, and I've seen 12' pines that we couldn't budge with the 1066.

The tree is a Eucalyptus. I doubt there many back east, or mid west. They came from Australia. They are about the best fire wood we have in my part of Calif. Update on on tree removal. I just got off of the phone with with contractor who is going to grade my lots. He said there will be enough power there to remove the stumps. So I will just cut the tree down. Less hassle, and probably a little safer. Stan

now that's a funny video, thanks for posting Bob.