gas limb pruner

[micky]

Is this job too big for a gas tree pruner?

A tree about 10 feet outside my yard was at a 45^ angle over my yard for the last 6 months, and yesterday some time, it went down a bit lower, not it's maybe a 30^ angle with the ground. The tree is 35 to

40 feet tall, if it were upright, and now its trunk and branches 12 to 18 feet above the ground. The tree branches are resting on some 20' high bushes in my yard, and I think it's still held up by the roots too.

What is a good way to cut it up, while it is still up there?*** That is, cut off ends, working back to my fence (and then it can be cut off at the base.)

Branches are 2 - 4" thick and the trunk where I want to cut it is 3 -

7" thick.

I have a couple small and medium-small electric chain saws, but no way to get them up that high**.

They rent gas driven tree pruners, with telescoping poles, which I think will reach high enough if I'm 5 feet up a 6 foot ladder. Is this job too big for them. The engine is at the bottom and the chain is at the top. Maybe it will stall or won't cut for some reason?

Are there electric tree pruners that might be lighter, that maybe I can find for rent if I look long enough?

**Or could I tie one of my small electric chain saws to my own telescoping pole

Gas or electric, I guess the weight of the bar and blade (and electric motor) is what helps the saw to cut.

***I can't cut it off at the base in order to lower it, because then it will fall on my new cherry tree, whose cherries are just turning red, and on my fence.

Thanks.

[hrhofmann]

Is the base of the tree on your property, or who does it belong to?? That will affect somewhat what you do.

[willshak]

If you have to ask how to do it, you shouldn't do it yourself. Hire an experienced arborist.

[Attila Iskander]

1) Even though the tree overhangs your property, it's roots are elsewhere. In effect the tree is owned by the property owner where the roots are. 2) If the tree is damaging your property, then the owner is responsible for the damage So before you do ANY kind of cutting, notify the owner and see what the owner will do. If nothing happens following a personal contact, you now need to start a paper trail of your complaint as you escalate the situation.

If you just go ahead and chop away at the tree, the owner has recourse against you. YOU do NOT want to go there..

Finally if the tree is in effect :slowly falling down", then in effect the weight of the branches are what is causing the lean, and the roots are under pressure and countering. Removing the branches can cause a certain rebound effect. so if you do decide to reach up and trim, be prepared for the tree to spring up as the branches drop

[micky]

No, it's on never inspected, mostly neglected wild land behind my house, owned probably by Warren Buffet's company. I don't want its agents getting in the habit of walking behind my house, on my land, since their land is full of bushes, vines, and trees.

Why? Once a tree falls on a person's land, he has the right to cut it up. Even if they are willing, I don't want them messing with this. I don't want them coming on my property, and I think it unlikely they will hire outside contractors who will take adequate care of my cherry tree, or anything else for that matter (but even if they would, I don't want them.)

I took care of the previous tree that fell down, and there won't be any more after this one for 10 or 20 years.

What has the ownership of the base of the tree have to do with the power of a gas tree pruner, or any of my other questions?

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Get ready with a small chain saw you can handle with one hand, long ladder, helmet, goggles. Prune all the branches and then cut down the main trunk making sure let it fall where you want it. Safety is priority one. I even cut down ~100 year old spruce tree at the cabin myself.

[Stormin Mormon]

If you have to ask how to do it, you shouldn't do it yourself. Hire an experienced arborist.

[Percival P. Cassidy]

Did the US inherit English "Common Law"? It is my understanding that, in English law, if any branches of A's tree overhang B's property, B is entitled to cut off that portion of the branches that overhang his (B's) property. But if the tree is a fruit tree, the fruit on those branches must be returned to A, since they are A's property. IOW, the tree does not have to *fall* on B's property before he is entitled to cut off the intruding branches.

Perce

[micky]

Yes, the US did inherit English Common Law, and indeed, what you said is the law in the US. I didn't want to argue with whoever said otherwise. (I forgot about fruit, but what you say sounds right. This tree has none.)

New York State completely, and I suppose some other states partially, have enacted laws to replace common law, but those statutes more often than not say the same thing the common law did. Certainly on overhanging limbs they do. I'm not sure about overhanging trunks, but this tree can't be repaired except maybe and at enormous cost.

When I moved in 30 years ago to this townhouse, it was 4 years after the county government dug a trench and put a big sewer line in parallel to the stream, just 20 feet from my property. (New construction had been put on hold until the sewer was completed, but aiui, my own house and those near it were built illegally in violation of the hold.) Over the next few years, several trees died because digging the trench cut too many of their roots. At the same time grasses and bushes were growing, and then new trees. These new trees, especially those growing on the slope of the stream bed, are

30+ years old now, and they are either dying or falling down. Most die, but this one is still alive just about everywhere. The trunk is not split either. But if you look at the trunk where it goes into the ground, it used to be vertical, then a 45^ angle, and now about a 30^ angle. I think if my bushes weren't holding it up, it would be my 4o inch fence, and if not that, the tree would be lying on the ground. If not now, in 2 or 3 months. (It rained a lot the days before it fell down from 45 to 30.) If the property owners knew about it, they'd just call it gone, and wait to see what else grows.

Between me and the street on the other side of the stream, there seems not to be enough dry land to legally build anything, so I'm hoping they never do.

[jamesgang]

In NC once the tree falls on your property it's your problem. And your ins urance will pay if it lands on something of yours. The one exception to th at is if you see a damaged tree on adjacent property that you believe is en dangering your property and you notify the owner of the property where the tree is in writing then it becomes that persons responsibility if the tree falls on your property and damages something. It's still their choice as t o doing something about it or just accepting the liability though.

If you have a tree you can't just cut down while you stay on the ground I w ould suggest getting a professional. Chains saws don't mix well with ladde rs or climbing in trees. Leave that to the pro.

[dennisgauge]

For what it will cost you for a day's rent on the pruner, why not get it and give it a whirl?

Probably a good idea to rent a 10' ladder too. Standing 5' up a 6' ladder doesn't leave you much stability, and you will probably lose your balance and fall with the heavy pruner.

I have been able to easily cut off branches up to 8" in diameter using a cheap Poulan power pruner. A professional unit should do at least as well.

[sms]

What you probably want is this: .

These are in very short supply. I finally got one after about six months of waiting for the store to get some. They got two of them and they sold them within minutes of each other (I saw the guy in line with the other one).

[micky]

This advice is even more appropriate today, The trunk and all its limbs went down another 4 feet sometime last night (It's still raining, lightly). Now I can definitely reach a lot of it with a 6' ladder and a little chain saw, especially the part above the cherry tree.

Cool.

[repairs]

Is it a Box Elder? They have very shallow rots and are notorious for just tipping over. I have too many of them on my farm. Do you have access to a tractor? Can you drive on that other land? Toss a LONG chain around it about 8 ft from the ground, hook to tractor, and pull it onto that land. But be sure the chain is long enough or it will fall on you. That's what I'd do, but I own a farm tractor. Then I'd just cut it up.

You could also connect a long chain to a tractor, pull it toward the other land, and make the chain tight. Then saw it from your side of the land about 8 feet from the ground. When it's cut most of the way thru, give a good pull with the tractor. A pickup truck would work too on a smallish tree like that. But once again, make sure the chain is long, or you'll drop the tree on yout truck.

One other option is to use a long chain and a come-along. Connect the come along to the base of a larger tree and start ratcheting it toward the neighbors land as someone cuts the tree. I've done all of these things, they all work, but always be very careful. Trees can be unpredictable when they snap off. Once I underestimated the height of a tree and the chain was too short. I got the tips of the branches on my head. Luckily I was not hurt, but it didn't feel too good.

I've seen those gas operated long pole chainsaws. I've considered getting one of them for trimming. They look handy. But I'd prefer an electric one. Any of those 2 cycle small gas engines tend to need too much repair if they are not used often. The gas gums them up, even if it's drained, there is still a little in the carburetor and lines. I dont even own a regular gas chainsaw anymore. My electric one is great, and if I'm too far from an outlet, I have a generator. The generator is

4 cycle and is used fairly often. Never had any problems with that.

Another thing, those pole type saws are not something you can just lay down while it's running. So you will have to restart it for every branch you cut. That would piss me off in no time. An electric one seems so much handier. Just hit the switch. But I have not seen electric models sold.

[repairs]

So they do sell electric ones. That's what I need. But I wont buy it from Harbor Freight. The thing would probably be dead after 4 hours of use or less. HF sells junk. And that pole is too short for my needs too. I took a 20ft wooden pole and attached a hand operated bow saw to it. It's heavy and clumbsy, but it does do the job after a lot of sweat. A 20ft pole would be more my style!

[dennisgauge]

5 seconds on google would've answered that question for you.

[micky]

I'ts 8'10" but the pro ones are 12 feet.

I also need to do some trimming on a 25 foot fir tree.

I have a telescoping aluminum pole meant to hold a paint roller. I even used it to paint the peak of my gable (right word?) I somehow thought small chain saws were also threaded like a paint roller and I could just screw my small one or my medium small one (3.25 HP, 12", is that medium small?), but neither had threads, so then I spend some time trying to think how to attach with rope and bungee cords. No good answer yet.

>

[micky]

Wow, you're right, I do want that. Even though the tree fell lower and I'm 2/3rds done, I want it for next time.

Wow. And yet they put them on sale.

I think I saw one of those house brands of bicycle for sale for $100,

10-speeds, hand brakes etc. Now I'm pretty sure it won't last as long** as a Schwinn would but I remember in 1965, a new Schwinn 3-speed cost 65 dollars. So the price for A bicycle has gone up only 55 percent or so in almost 50 years. While everything we don't buy from Asia is probably 10x what it used to be. **Not sure. When I have things they seem to last forever. In fact I still have a Schwinn from 1965 or earlier (although I don't ride it.)

[micky]

give it a whirl?

It turns out that Saturday night it rained and the whole tree sagged another 2 or 4 feet (If I said something different in an earlier post, go with that instead) Anyhow, I could reach things by being up 3 feet on a ladder.

That is a good idea. I'm supposed to have a ladder rack that fits on my trailer hitch. I got a newer car that takes a 3/4? draw bar (instead of the rectangular draw bar the LeBaron took, back in '88) and I haven't got all the accessories for it yet, but I could have done that. (I use a big piece of foarm rubber on top of the windshield molding to hold the front end of the ladder (It's a convertible.)

probably lose your balance and fall with the heavy pruner.

Yeah, I was standing 3 feet up on a 6 foot ladder and it wasn't that stable.

Poulan power pruner.

Wow. I had no idea.

Can you give me more details, electric or gas?

So far I've only found th is one Poulan 1.5 HP Electric Pole Pruner $98.99

If this electric one is the one you mean, it costs less than two days rental of the gasoline unit. Rental for one day of the pro item, gas-powered, at one place was $65, and at HD less but they may not have listed all the charges (CDW, and a couple other things)

Yeah, but now I want my own!

BTW, for the record

Poulan Pro® Pole Saw/Trimmer ? 8in. Bar, 33cc Engine, Model# PP388PT (56) Only $229 They call it Pro, but maybe it's not what you meant by pro.

Husqvarna Pole Pruner ? 12in. Bar, 24.5cc Engine, Model# 327P5X (2) Only $569

[micky]

No, I just looked that up in wikip and they have the helicopter seeds I used to see all the time when I was little.

(Some tree near the front of my house has a small version of those seeds, but I don't know what that tree is called.)

The tree in question was about 50 feet high. Its "fruit" looks like long strings of green grapes, 4 or 5 inches long, 2 at each level, except they are less than half the size of actual grapes, they are hard, pointy at the unattached end, with a tiny bit of red-colored stuff at that end.

When they split open, they let out stuff that's lighter and finer than cotton, looks a bit like cotton, but they float. It looks even more like milkweed seeds when they are floating along, except milkweed has a big seed. This has a really small one.

Any guess what this is?

No it's a stream bed with little access. It's probably all mud now, and I don't have a tractor (not even a lawn tractor.)

I figured electric ones could barely cut.

And that's the problem with gas. (I eventually got an electric lawn mower for my 1/20th of an acre, including where the house is. )

Dang.

Me too.

There are other posts about it in this thread, including some info from me.