Found a Widow Maker

[jimmyj]

I've put tension on trees with LONG cables and snatch blocks so they have to fall the direction I want. With widowmakers make sure you have cleared escape routes and a spotter who can tell you if you need to run away. I've cut many trees like this without incident but once the already broken top half of one broke in half a second time and the top part of the tree fell directly toward me even though the rest of it went the direction I wanted. Scary stuff and once in a while unpredictable.

 

[Egon]

A second bar and chain come in handy!

 

[dusty3030]

I created a widow maker today.

I cut a dead standing hickory and read the wood the wrong way (can't blame it on the wind since there wasn't any). Made the back cut about halfway and the tree leaned back right onto my MS 362 CM sticking it but good. I rammed a couple wedges in and it made no difference, not enough room between the edge and the chainsaw bar/chain. I finally took the powerhead off so, at most, I might lose a bar but that's it.

I left it as-is hoping the wind would do my dirty work. It's well on my property so I'm not worried about someone getting hurt from it, but I don't like leaving it there. The tree is on a side hill with some access from below and from above. Unfortunately the cut was along the hill.

Unlike some others that have gotten tied up or didn't fall the way I wanted them to, I really don't want to risk my tractor (or life) trying to use my tractor to push it over. I'm not really sure which way I should push it over - the way I intended and cut it or the way it wants to go. I'm sorta screwed either way.

Went out a couple hours later: no joy. Not pleased with having to leave my bar and chain outside in the rain tonight.

Suggestions?

My "safe" way to get one down that is hung up like that, especially if already dead is to stack up a bunch of dead wood round the bottom, soak it in diesel / old motor oil and set her afire and let gravity do the rest.

 

[rekees4300]

Suggestions?

If you have another tree available as an anchor, use a strong come-a-long and long chain(s) or cable to pull the widow maker down. The chain should be long enough so that no matter which way it fails it can't reach you. You were smart not trying to use your tractor to push it over. That's the best way I know to lose your tractor and/or your life!

 

[donk2014]

invest in a snatch block and long cable...you have lots of anchors

 

[Soundguy]

i got all excited and thought this thread was about a winchester model 1911 shotgun...

 

[Xfaxman]

I created a widow maker today.

I cut a dead standing hickory and read the wood the wrong way (can't blame it on the wind since there wasn't any). Made the back cut about halfway and the tree leaned back right onto my MS 362 CM sticking it but good. I rammed a couple wedges in and it made no difference, not enough room between the edge and the chainsaw bar/chain. I finally took the powerhead off so, at most, I might lose a bar but that's it.

I left it as-is hoping the wind would do my dirty work. It's well on my property so I'm not worried about someone getting hurt from it, but I don't like leaving it there. The tree is on a side hill with some access from below and from above. Unfortunately the cut was along the hill.

Unlike some others that have gotten tied up or didn't fall the way I wanted them to, I really don't want to risk my tractor (or life) trying to use my tractor to push it over. I'm not really sure which way I should push it over - the way I intended and cut it or the way it wants to go. I'm sorta screwed either way.

Went out a couple hours later: no joy. Not pleased with having to leave my bar and chain outside in the rain tonight.

Suggestions?

Do you have a winch?

I have one on a receiver mount that I could use on the front of the tractor that I used to have.

Pictures from July 2009.

 

[xtn]

I vote, along with several other posters, for a long cable. A very long cable. Attach one end to the widowmaker. Attach the other end to a garbage truck in the next city over. Go away to a third city, and use google maps satelite view to check every six months or so for an updated image showing the widowmaker gone.

xtn

 

[CobyRupert]

I too vote for a long cable and a snatch block. (Snatch block to either reroute the pull from a desired direction if tractor can't access that direction, or use it to double your pulling power.)

What will happen if your saw didn't cut very far through is that when you pull with a cable, you may open the kerf wide enough to get your bar and chain out, but there may be too much holding wood for the tree to fall over.
Now you're faced with a dilemma.
Walk away or cut some more? If you cut some more, keep in mind that pulling on a tree from the top while back-cutting the bottom is a good way to create a barber-chair (where because of the top pulling, the trunk splits vertically right up the tree, eventually the whole tree breaks off and falls unpredictably from a height above your head! )
It's a fine line between pulling too much and just enough so that the kerf opens as you cut up to the hinge.

 

[donk2014]

I too vote for a long cable and a snatch block. (Snatch block to either reroute the pull from a desired direction if tractor can't access that direction, or use it to double your pulling power.)

What will happen if you saw didn't cut very far through is that when you pull with a cable, you may open the kerf wide enough to get your bar and chain out, but there may be too much holding wood for the tree to fall over.
Now you're faced with a dilemma.
Walk away or cut some more? If you cut some more, keep in mind that pulling on a tree from the top while back-cutting the bottom is a good way to create a barber-chair (where because of the top pulling, the trunk splits vertically right up the tree, eventually the whole tree breaks off and falls unpredictably from a height above your head! )
It's a fine line between pulling too much and just enough so that the kerf opens as you cut up to the hinge.

very well put