Firewood? (2 Viewers)

[flintknapper]

This guy was felling for firewood, and using the tractor to push it the way they wanted it to go. Pushed too hard, and this happened. I’m curious what method they used to extract the tractor without tipping it over.

Bad things can happen fast when they 'Barber Chair'.

At that juncture....I'd probably just take my Pole Saw and continue the back-cut. Let gravity do the rest. Tree has barber chaired as much as it's going to. It's just got about three thousand pounds of tractor hanging off it now.

You know that was kinda 'trippy'. Change of underwear likely required.

 

[Big Ed]

That would be a jump off and get away from it thing. I remember the old barber chair gif with the sawyer running one direction, then another direction (as the tree went more than one direction).

 

[flintknapper]

That would be a jump off and get away from it thing. I remember the old barber chair gif with the sawyer running one direction, then another direction (as the tree went more than one direction).

Yeah, that tree just came all apart. Sawyer could see it starting to go, picked what he thought was the best escape route but had to change his mind.

I would not cut another tree that day!

 

[94SRUNNER]

Cut a little eastern red cedar today.

 

[flintknapper]

Cut a little eastern red cedar today.
View attachment 3178405

Love Cedar. Looks good, Smells good, Easy to cut, Easy on Saw and Chain, Lightweight wood (relatively).

Nice looking (well kept) drive....BTW.

 

[pb4ugo]

Eastern Red Cedar. I have, and cut a crap load of it clearing my lot. Reminds me of a Gerbil farm. They can be a lot of work to dispose of.

 

[1911]

Eastern Red Cedar. I have, and cut a crap load of it clearing my lot. Reminds me of a Gerbil farm. They can be a lot of work to dispose of. View attachment 3178605

I plan to use cedar for window ledges and possibly some shelves or other trim in the house I am building, but I will have to buy it - we have a sh!t ton of Mountain Cedar here on the property, but except for a few really old trees, the trunks are not straight and/or large enough to mill boards out of.

 

[94SRUNNER]

Love Cedar. Looks good, Smells good, Easy to cut, Easy on Saw and Chain, Lightweight wood (relatively).

Nice looking (well kept) drive....BTW.

Thank you!

I love working with cedar for all the reasons you mention.

 

[Big Ed]

This is what our incense cedar looks like. We turned this into firewood, but I also plan on having some milled. A friend bought the parcel down from mine last year, and he bought a sawmill. He’s going to mill wood for us.

I think this is pine he milled.

 

[greenbeast]

Obviously some seriously knowledgable folk on the thread. I’m looking for some recommendations how to get some dead trees down where I need to clear fence line next to house.

I’ve cut trees down before and cut firewood but usually just cut up downed trees so no shame saying I’m an amateur on my farm. With these trees mostly being dead I’m pretty concerned about something breaking on top.

I’m looking to cut them above the trunk where each splits letting the lean help me then work to get the trunk cut up after. I’ve got a skid steer and large cab tractor which could be used also. However I don’t want one to sway towards equipment and break something up top.

Is preferred way to cut and create the hinge with good exit or are there good tricks of the trade someone could share?

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

Obviously some seriously knowledgable folk on the thread. I’m looking for some recommendations how to get some dead trees down where I need to clear fence line next to house.

I’ve cut trees down before and cut firewood but usually just cut up downed trees so no shame saying I’m an amateur on my farm. With these trees mostly being dead I’m pretty concerned about something breaking on top.

I’m looking to cut them above the trunk where each splits letting the lean help me then work to get the trunk cut up after. I’ve got a skid steer and large cab tractor which could be used also. However I don’t want one to sway towards equipment and break something up top.

Is preferred way to cut and create the hinge with good exit or are there good tricks of the trade someone could share?

View attachment 3179642

View attachment 3179647

Toss a rope up high, hitch it to the truck and see how stout those upper branches are.

 

[greenbeast]

This

Toss a rope up high, hitch it to the truck and see how stout those upper branches are.

Has crossed my mind but first pic pretty rotten all the way to top. If I could train a squirrel to take some Tannerite up there then I could blow it apart but that could take a little time.

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

This

Has crossed my mind but first pic pretty rotten all the way to top. If I could train a squirrel to take some Tannerite up there then I could blow it apart but that could take a little time.

One of my wood cutting buddies does this with trees that have an awkward lean to them, or to persuade it to fall another (safe) direction.

He tosses a 2lb donut weight up into a tree as high as he can get it, sometimes he'll just tie the rope off down low, other times he'll tie on a large branch and heave it up into the top with some assistance from the truck.

 

[Big Ed]

What type of tree? Why are you concerned about them falling on you? Are they brittle and breaking off already? Something falling is always a possibility, buy why are you especially concerned about it?

Edit: Now I see that the first tree is rotten, that answers my question at least for that tree.

 

[Big Ed]

Pulling on it with the truck could cause its own problems. If you do that, wait until the cutting is complete. Unless it starts moving before the cutting is complete.

Here the tractor was pushing too early and caused the tree to barber chair, pulling too early can cause the same problem.

 

[greenbeast]

Well no intentions of doing that for sure. The oak with leaves still on it is dead in many areas, that's the one that concerns me the most. I have tons of chain for hauling the tractor back and forth from Colorado. Maybe I set out enough and pull down what I can with the big tractor (with plenty of distance from the top).

 

[Big Ed]

The best way to have it not reach whatever you’re pulling it with is to use a cable and snatch block, have the rig 90° to the snatch block.

 

[flintknapper]

Well no intentions of doing that for sure. The oak with leaves still on it is dead in many areas, that's the one that concerns me the most. I have tons of chain for hauling the tractor back and forth from Colorado. Maybe I set out enough and pull down what I can with the big tractor (with plenty of distance from the top).

These trees are in a fence-line? What is the diameter of the largest one?

It looks like the oak (with leaves) is the largest and most stable. The others (in the corner?) are already sloughing bark off.

You don't have a safe way to cut any of them from the top down.....but with enough Chain/Cable you should be able to get an attachment point up as high as possible (length of Chain/Cable long enough to prevent falling wood from hitting machinery).

With enough cable and a snatch block you can pull from a safe angle (if you are so equipped).

Whether a straight pull or offset, the danger is dealing with standing dead wood or perhaps even rotten wood. It can be very unpredictable, so an abundance of caution is needed, I'm sure you know.

Will you be working alone...or have competent help that can drive/operate equipment? It is important to know...since it rather dictates what type of felling technique might be used. I use the word (felling broadly) since you will more likely be pulling these trees over (for safety sake) rather than standing at their base making a final cut.

 

[greenbeast]

Good info! I will have someone observe for sure and to make sure everything goes safely. More and more I think I have plenty of chains to try and get to upper sections (within reason). Using the big tractor (110 hp) or skid steer. I can safely attempt to pull over with plenty of safety distance. Gonna try this later in week since the rain Saturday has soaked the area.

I have been cutting old panel fence and barb wire around all these to make life easier also. I don't want any uncertain variables that could change the direction of anything unexpectedly.

 

[flintknapper]

Good info! I will have someone observe for sure and to make sure everything goes safely. More and more I think I have plenty of chains to try and get to upper sections (within reason). Using the big tractor (110 hp) or skid steer. I can safely attempt to pull over with plenty of safety distance. Gonna try this later in week since the rain Saturday has soaked the area.

I have been cutting old panel fence and barb wire around all these to make life easier also. I don't want any uncertain variables that could change the direction of anything unexpectedly.

IMO you are well equipped to handle the job safely. 'Chain' is a good idea because it doesn't 'store' energy to any degree and won't come flying back at you (if you pull steadily) should anything break or come loose.

If you can wrap it around the trunk at a reasonable height, make a simple back cut about 1/2 way through the trunk (no face cut) and just pull with your large tractor (NO jerking), you might be able to pop them off at the cut. We really don't care if they split or anything else since nothing is around them to be damaged. You just want to get the tops down.

DO NOT apply any pressure to the tree when making your back cut. You don't want anything unexpected to happen while you are near it. You can use the lean of the tree to your advantage, but remember that puts tension on the wood where you back cut so don't go too deep. You can always cut a little more if the tractor won't pop it off.

Anchor Point on Tractor:

Chain needs to attached BELOW the rear axle (draw bar would be best) or you risk flipping the tractor backwards!

***Since you have large equipment...you probably know that. But others reading here might not. If you don't anchor BELOW the center-line of the rear axle then forces will cause rotation about the axis of the axle. (Meaning you will lift the front end...or flip the tractor).

And of course don't 'jerk' the tree for any reason.