Advice on tricky tree felling?

[gwandsh]

At a remote location we have a couple of large oak trees that partially ove rhang or lean towards our cabin roof. These are tall, narrow profile scrub oaks, but are 50'+ high and have trunks about 2' in diameter. The terrain is sloped, so essentially I am looking to fell these trees "uphill".

I was thinking they could be safely taken down with minimal pre-pruning by attaching a grapple at a fairly high location (20-30' up), roping to a bloc k on another tree, and applying a lot of pull on the line as the trunk is c ut.

I realize a pro would be the best option, but as I said, it is pretty remot e and cost is a large factor.

Wondering if anyone has taken a similar approach to removing trees that nee d to fall in specific directions. Would a standard block and tackle suffic e, or are there specific tree handling versions I could rent somewhere? No t seeing much info online.

Cheers

[DerbyDad03]

verhang or lean towards our cabin roof. These are tall, narrow profile scr ub oaks, but are 50'+ high and have trunks about 2' in diameter. The terra in is sloped, so essentially I am looking to fell these trees "uphill".

y attaching a grapple at a fairly high location (20-30' up), roping to a bl ock on another tree, and applying a lot of pull on the line as the trunk is cut.

ote and cost is a large factor.

eed to fall in specific directions. Would a standard block and tackle suff ice, or are there specific tree handling versions I could rent somewhere? Not seeing much info online.

Here you go...

[Lonesome Dove]

I felled 3 tall pine trees that were close to the house. What I did was climb as high up the tree as I could and tied a rope to the tree. Put a loop in the other end and attached a come-along. I then put as much pull on the come-along as I thought it could stand. From that point I began to fell the tree in the normal method and had a neighbor slowly crank on the come-along as the tree weakened. Everything worked out just fine. Now, how do you get rid of the stumps. Simple. After the tree is down you then cut the stump as close to the ground as possible. Get you a galvanized garbage can, or if needed 55 gallon drum. Cut the bottom out so it is open at both ends. Put that over what is left of the stump. Fill it up with one bag of charcoal, light it and a day or so later, all you have is a hole in the ground. It might take a couple of bags (one at a time) but you will see what you need to do after the first bag is gone. Easiest way in the world to get rid of stumps. You might want to wait until the stump appears to be dead, but I usually just grill 'em when I cut 'em. The most important part of all of this is to be careful, very careful. take your time and keep an eye on what is happening.

** Lonesome Dove

[Pete C.]

Putting it under tension and then cutting is a recipe for disaster. Even without tension there is danger of kickouts and whatnot, tension increases the risk of problems exponentially.

The safer DIY approach is to rent an aerial lift for the day, and take the trees down a piece at a time, putting the parts in the basket with you if need be so you can move off to the side to drop them in a safe area.

There are nice self propelled lifts with 50' working heights and ~2'x4' baskets good for 800# that you can tow on a trailer with a good pickup. They use outriggers instead of massive weight, so you can't move the base while up, but you also don't need a semi to deliver them. I rented one recently for about $250/day.

[Home Guy]

So you are fortunate enough to have some mature oak trees, but you're too much of an ass to appreciate them.

You're a tree-hater and it gives you a hard-on to swing an axe and destroy them.

We have too few trees and too many asses like you on this planet.

[nestork]

I'm with Pete C. on this one.

You can save 75% of the cost of maintaining your home by learning to do the simple repetative stuff yourself. Cutting down a tree falls into the other 25% catagory.

I'd either rent a cherry picker to do this or hire any company in the sign business because all of them will have cherry pickers. That way, you can do the job safely and not risk dropping the tree onto something you don't want to crush.

Either that, or hire a tree service company to cut it down for you.

I'm just thinking that at some point DIY becomes dangerous when you're doing things you don't know how to and the consequences of doing them wrong can be significant. This is one of those instances, and it's where a wise DIY'er would pay the extra money to rent a lift so that he can do the job safely or pay someone experienced in this kind of work to do it for him.

[clare]

How strong is the block and tackle?

[clare]

Felling under tension IS tricky - but if you notch it properly it WILL fall safely, where you want it. Notch it low towards where you want it to fall, then cut downwards toward the notch from the back side. That way it cannot kick back at you, and it won't jam the saw.

[Wes Groleau]

I remember when a "pro" was someone who could control the direction of fall by the angle of his cuts.

[clare]

After the last two weekends here in Waterloo Region where we lost a LOT of trees to downbursts, a LOT of people are taking a long hard look at some of the remaining mature trees that are within striking distance of their houses and deciding to have them come down in a controlled manner, rather than crashing through the roof. We only had a couple of small limbs come down from the Honey Locust on the boulevard, but I spent several hours removing half of a huge hard maple from a friend's back yard - just missed the house falling from the neighbour's back yard - and another large tree came down in my brothersa yard - torn out of the ground in his neighbour's yard - again JUST missing the house and deck - and there is a HUGE half dead tree 3 lots away that could wipe out his house if it came down the right direction.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, I had to do that once at my cabin but our cabin sits on a flat land at high altitude. Exactly that is what we did but I used 1 ton pick up with winch to hold the rope tight and enough away from falling trees. We attached heavy rope to the winch cable. After pruning, we notched the tree where to cut, we used big chain saw little above behind the notch.

[Harry K]

ly overhang or lean towards our cabin roof. These are tall, narrow profile scrub oaks, but are 50'+ high and have trunks about 2' in diameter. The t errain is sloped, so essentially I am looking to fell these trees "uphill".

ng by attaching a grapple at a fairly high location (20-30' up), roping to a block on another tree, and applying a lot of pull on the line as the trun k is cut.

remote and cost is a large factor.

at need to fall in specific directions. Would a standard block and tackle suffice, or are there specific tree handling versions I could rent somewher e? Not seeing much info online.

A sloping backcut is a sure sign of an amateur who has no clue about fellin g a tree.

Harry K

[Harry K]

Exactly. I have been cutting firewood and felling big trees since 1976. H ad a spruce tree (20" diameter with no appreciable lean) in my back yard th at needed to be removed. Simple job, tree could fall in a 270 degree arc w ith no damage. The other 90 degrees would be on the house. I hired a pro to fell it. The cost of rebuilding a house is far more than what a pro cha rges.

Harry K

[CRNG]

I've done this at least a dozen times with no problems. Use 1/2" rope and notch the tree in the direction you are pulling it with the rope. Do it like this after attaching rope and notchin:

1. apply tension to rope
2. cut a little (1") opposite (and above) the notch

Repeat above until tree starts to fall in the direction of the rope.

Of course the rope must be longer than the height of the tree.

[Creepy-Ass Cracker]

Trees are more trouble than they're worth. Neighbor got a Refuse to Renew notice from his insurance company unless he had 2 large trees removed from his yard.

[Pete C.]

That works only when the tree is reasonably vertical and balanced. No amount of angled cuts will get a tree that is leaning notably or significantly out of balance to fall the opposite way.

[Notat Home]

Assuming the trees are close to your cabin, you should do something to control the base of the falling tree so it can't kick back and hit your cabin. A rope to another tree, or even to the prospective stump would probably suffice. Trees partially overhanging a cabin is not necessarily a bad thing; they keep it cool in the hot summer.

[harryagain]

I was thinking they could be safely taken down with minimal pre-pruning by attaching a grapple at a fairly high location (20-30' up), roping to a block on another tree, and applying a lot of pull on the line as the trunk is cut.

I realize a pro would be the best option, but as I said, it is pretty remote and cost is a large factor.

Wondering if anyone has taken a similar approach to removing trees that need to fall in specific directions. Would a standard block and tackle suffice, or are there specific tree handling versions I could rent somewhere? Not seeing much info online.

If you do this you will find the tree falls along the slope due to the anchor. (ie it swings in a quarter circle as it falls.) You need a good rope and anchor or hitch it onto the back of a substantial vehicle and drive uphill as far as you can. Or better still two separate ropes and anchors, just to be sure You need a rope length at least four times the hieght of the tree. You need to fasten it on about 3/4 of the way up. on the main trunk. Higher, the branches are too thin. Lower, the leverage will be too great. Don't fasten to any dead wood, it may break. There is a strong chance of it "kicking back" (due to the anchor) as it hits the ground so be wary. Make sure you have a clear route to get away from it as it goes down. As soon as it starts to fall, get clear. Remember, it will rotate and fall at 90 degrees to your cut, don't get the chainsaw trapped.

[jamesgang]

verhang or lean towards our cabin roof. These are tall, narrow profile scr ub oaks, but are 50'+ high and have trunks about 2' in diameter. The terra in is sloped, so essentially I am looking to fell these trees "uphill".

y attaching a grapple at a fairly high location (20-30' up), roping to a bl ock on another tree, and applying a lot of pull on the line as the trunk is cut.

ote and cost is a large factor.

eed to fall in specific directions. Would a standard block and tackle suff ice, or are there specific tree handling versions I could rent somewhere? Not seeing much info online.

I've done that. I notch it as well. If the tree is reasonably straight up with equal branch loads it'll work for you. But if not then you need to t ake it down in pieces.

[heathcliff]

verhang or lean towards our cabin roof. These are tall, narrow profile scr ub oaks, but are 50'+ high and have trunks about 2' in diameter. The terra in is sloped, so essentially I am looking to fell these trees "uphill".

y attaching a grapple at a fairly high location (20-30' up), roping to a bl ock on another tree, and applying a lot of pull on the line as the trunk is cut.

ote and cost is a large factor.

eed to fall in specific directions. Would a standard block and tackle suff ice, or are there specific tree handling versions I could rent somewhere? Not seeing much info online.

I have taken down dead or diseased trees in the yard a few times that I nee ded to have fall in the right direction. Not as big or heavy as yours, tho ugh, I think the biggest was about a 16 inch diameter elm. I have been abl e to direct their falls using the right notching and cutting combined with a rope and one or two people pulling on it. My advice would be:

1. Do you really need to remove the trees? Oaks live a long time, and as others have said, provide shade. And they look nice.
2. If you are sure they must go, the next step is a good look at the tree and how much it leans and which way. Does the trunk lean, are there a lot of branches on side versus the other. Which way does it want to fall. Wit h trees that size, if it is leaning in a very bad direction, it might be ti me to call a pro. Are there other trees in the way?
3. I haven't tried the winch or come along method. I think a situation wh ere that much force was needed, would make me think about calling a pro.
4. Get the rope up as high as you can and still be around a sturdy part of the tree. You can start by tying a string to a rock or heavy bolt or somet hing that you can heave up there. You need the rock to come all the way bac k down. Then you tie the rope to the string and use the string to haul the rope up over and down. Make a loop in one end of the rope, feed the other end through it, and pull it through (the loop sliding up) until the rope i s well secured around the tree branch or trunk. Consider whether you would like to have two ropes.
5. Position your pullers. Cut your notch and start your backcut. You wan t to leave a hinge to direct the tree's fall. When it starts to creak/move you exit promptly and the pullers pull. The tree will do what it's going to do. Hopefully what you want.
6. Again, have respect for the scale of what you're doing. The tree's weig ht is measured in tons. You are releasing a huge amount of energy. Felling trees is dangerous, especially big trees like what you have. -- H