That kind of a Widow Maker is a tough tackle. A Man gave me batter than 7 Cords of Black Walnut that had been Dropped for the Straight length of Trunks. There was still plenty of 20" plus diameter wood there and a ton of topping/limbing to be done. Well, there was also a Hanger wedged tight in a tall maple. I didn't feel right Taking the Ground worked wood and leaving that thing hanging in a smaller tree.(he has 3 young children and they live on the property) I'm 70yrs and not in great health so it took a lot of thought and planning before I could convince myself I could safely handle dropping it. I had Cut the Trunk back, like you were working on, continuing until the Black Walnut swung almost vertical to the maple. I let it stand there as I finished the Ground work in that area and got everything stacked for loading. LOL - when I returned after a rainy weekend, the Top of the Maple was laying across all the wood I had stacked about 30 feet away. Now I had (2) hangers to worry about and a mess to clear out. After Cutting the Maple trunk upper back to the tree(still attached by some wood and inner bark peel) I hauled out all the Black Oak rounds. So How to get those hangers down. Harbor Freight adjustable 17' Ladder, Ratcheting Strap to Secure to tree(opposite of Hanger), 60' Braided rope Tied high to the Maple hanger and my F150.(rope under tension) My Climbing Belt and Strap to keep me secure n matter what the ladder might do, and I chose my Kobalt 80v 18" chainsaw to do the work. Light and instant stop when released. Releasing the Maple was easy from the ladder top and dropped exactly where it should. I then unhooked the Rope and moved the Truck as far away from danger as possible. The Black Maple would have to Free Fall. Ladder adjusted to opposite the Crotch/limb hanging it. I reached around, Cutting a relief on the bottom of the limb, then carefully and slowly cut from the top 1" out from the relief to keep from pinching the Saw. I heard the Cracking and keep the Saw Stable while bumping the trigger. Then came the snap. The Limb/Crotch section and Walnut instantly vanished from View. Looking around and down, the Walnut was laying directly on top of the Dropped Maple upper Trunk. *I don't think I will be doing that again. I got away without incident but was a bit panicked the whole time since I was alone out there. Always be safe and if it doesn't feel safe - Don't take the risk. EDIT: I had paused this just before the end to type the above, but after finishing I have to add this. When the video cut to you sitting on the felled pine my heart Skipped a beat. You look almost exactly like my Father who passed on back in 2016. I miss him and my mother greatly and just want to thank you for lifting my heart for a few minutes.
It’s called using your head in a difficult situation that could have been disastrous. You took your time and got it done without getting killed good job ! 💪😎
Wow. That was a pickle. As others have stated, good job taking your time and be cautious. I had a dead pine at the edge of my property next to the road, probably about 8 inches across and about 30 feet tall, that was leaning towards the road. I roped it to another tree in the opposite direction with my 4 ton come-along. I was 'sure' that it wouldn't fall in the road when I cut it. Well, Murphey was helping me that day and of course, it fell across the road. A neighbor was just coming down the street in her car when the tree went down. Luckily it missed her by a mile, but I had a pucker factor that was about a 10.5 on the rectal scale. :) I was so pumped with fear and adrenaline, I actually grabbed the base of the tree and drug it out of the road myself for fear of getting the sheriff called on me. LOL! Lesson learned about gravity that day. Any way, good job brother. Be safe out there!
BTDT. i would suggest buying a couple good sized snatch blocks and some good rope. that would allow you to pull from different angles safely. i do that with my truck a lot. i just bought a 23s and it will be here friday and i am retiring in march. can't wait to do a bunch of projects like this.
Nice work. Thanks for including the part 2. Appreciated the follow up. Your approach was good with the incremental tree cuts until you could work it out of there.
If it worked and everyone's safe then it was a good plan. Great work! My Red neck approach would have been to cut another 32-48 inches off the trunk so it hung up off the ground by that "Y-Tree" then used the tractor to pull the bottom from the other way that you did and pivot the to out of the Y. It has it's problems too, you'd need a longer line to ensure if the top snaps it can't fall on the tractor...
I have removed many a tree and learned by my mistakes, so don’t feel bad . The one thing I did learn early on and when in doubt call in a pro. I have trees like this and my “guy” took care of it a just a few minutes. The trail and wall is turning out very nice.
Don: this was a learning experience for you and you made it through without injuring yourself, the tractor and any furry critters in the area. I used to work in the bush and when I first started I could have set some trees on fire with the language. All the best from Petawawa, Ontario. PS: we have some massive pine trees here.
Thank you for the kind words. In spite of the dangers it is fun doing something outside of my comfort zone. 🍻 here's to hoping I don't have to take down any more leaners. 😁
As I was watching this all I could think of , you're by yourself and if anything would have gone wrong you would have been screwed big time. The only good thing is that the police,fire and medical would of had a video of what went wrong. Glad it came down and you got it out of the way. Now go to your room for timeout for doing that by yourself !!!
That kind of a Widow Maker is a tough tackle.
A Man gave me batter than 7 Cords of Black Walnut that had been Dropped for the Straight length of Trunks. There was still plenty of 20" plus diameter wood there and a ton of topping/limbing to be done.
Well, there was also a Hanger wedged tight in a tall maple. I didn't feel right Taking the Ground worked wood and leaving that thing hanging in a smaller tree.(he has 3 young children and they live on the property) I'm 70yrs and not in great health so it took a lot of thought and planning before I could convince myself I could safely handle dropping it.
I had Cut the Trunk back, like you were working on, continuing until the Black Walnut swung almost vertical to the maple. I let it stand there as I finished the Ground work in that area and got everything stacked for loading.
LOL - when I returned after a rainy weekend, the Top of the Maple was laying across all the wood I had stacked about 30 feet away. Now I had (2) hangers to worry about and a mess to clear out.
After Cutting the Maple trunk upper back to the tree(still attached by some wood and inner bark peel) I hauled out all the Black Oak rounds.
So How to get those hangers down.
Harbor Freight adjustable 17' Ladder, Ratcheting Strap to Secure to tree(opposite of Hanger), 60' Braided rope Tied high to the Maple hanger and my F150.(rope under tension) My Climbing Belt and Strap to keep me secure n matter what the ladder might do, and I chose my Kobalt 80v 18" chainsaw to do the work. Light and instant stop when released.
Releasing the Maple was easy from the ladder top and dropped exactly where it should. I then unhooked the Rope and moved the Truck as far away from danger as possible.
The Black Maple would have to Free Fall. Ladder adjusted to opposite the Crotch/limb hanging it. I reached around, Cutting a relief on the bottom of the limb, then carefully and slowly cut from the top 1" out from the relief to keep from pinching the Saw. I heard the Cracking and keep the Saw Stable while bumping the trigger. Then came the snap. The Limb/Crotch section and Walnut instantly vanished from View. Looking around and down, the Walnut was laying directly on top of the Dropped Maple upper Trunk.
*I don't think I will be doing that again. I got away without incident but was a bit panicked the whole time since I was alone out there.
Always be safe and if it doesn't feel safe - Don't take the risk.
EDIT:
I had paused this just before the end to type the above, but after finishing I have to add this.
When the video cut to you sitting on the felled pine my heart Skipped a beat. You look almost exactly like my Father who passed on back in 2016. I miss him and my mother greatly and just want to thank you for lifting my heart for a few minutes.
It’s called using your head in a difficult situation that could have been disastrous. You took your time and got it done without getting killed good job ! 💪😎
Wow. That was a pickle. As others have stated, good job taking your time and be cautious. I had a dead pine at the edge of my property next to the road, probably about 8 inches across and about 30 feet tall, that was leaning towards the road. I roped it to another tree in the opposite direction with my 4 ton come-along. I was 'sure' that it wouldn't fall in the road when I cut it. Well, Murphey was helping me that day and of course, it fell across the road. A neighbor was just coming down the street in her car when the tree went down. Luckily it missed her by a mile, but I had a pucker factor that was about a 10.5 on the rectal scale. :) I was so pumped with fear and adrenaline, I actually grabbed the base of the tree and drug it out of the road myself for fear of getting the sheriff called on me. LOL! Lesson learned about gravity that day. Any way, good job brother. Be safe out there!
BTDT. i would suggest buying a couple good sized snatch blocks and some good rope. that would allow you to pull from different angles safely. i do that with my truck a lot. i just bought a 23s and it will be here friday and i am retiring in march. can't wait to do a bunch of projects like this.
Nice work. Thanks for including the part 2. Appreciated the follow up. Your approach was good with the incremental tree cuts until you could work it out of there.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Nice work, your doin fine.
If it worked and everyone's safe then it was a good plan. Great work!
My Red neck approach would have been to cut another 32-48 inches off the trunk so it hung up off the ground by that "Y-Tree" then used the tractor to pull the bottom from the other way that you did and pivot the to out of the Y. It has it's problems too, you'd need a longer line to ensure if the top snaps it can't fall on the tractor...
Good on you for taking your time and getting the job done safely.
2 man job. This is a call a friend job Big tree One man can work the tractor. One man work the wood
I have removed many a tree and learned by my mistakes, so don’t feel bad . The one thing I did learn early on and when in doubt call in a pro. I have trees like this and my “guy” took care of it a just a few minutes. The trail and wall is turning out very nice.
nice job. glad you took care of the scary situation.
Getting it on the ground was a relief.
Don: this was a learning experience for you and you made it through without injuring yourself, the tractor and any furry critters in the area. I used to work in the bush and when I first started I could have set some trees on fire with the language. All the best from Petawawa, Ontario. PS: we have some massive pine trees here.
Thank you for the kind words. In spite of the dangers it is fun doing something outside of my comfort zone.
🍻 here's to hoping I don't have to take down any more leaners. 😁
I’m glad you got it down. Widow-makers are never fun to work with.
Relieved to have it on the ground.
I cut them from the bottom up without any top cut. It falls off the bar in a more controllable way.
Hooray 😊
As I was watching this all I could think of , you're by yourself and if anything would have gone wrong you would have been screwed big time. The only good thing is that the police,fire and medical would of had a video of what went wrong. Glad it came down and you got it out of the way. Now go to your room for timeout for doing that by yourself !!!
The wife was in shouting distance if anything went wrong. Not sure she would have come if I yelled for her though. 😁
You are so right about working alone
Where did u get ur cab and how much did it cost ?
Bought it from Kubota. I think the cab itself added about $6K to the purchase price of the tractor.
Your back hoe has 3000 psi of force pulling compared to the tractor weight on the ground for traction the back hoe can pull way more
Good job not calling the guy tho. I am a “ guy” of many hats. I like calls