Tractor assisted tree felling.

[Bullwinkle123]

I have this shed...



Scenic, no? I've always enjoyed the way it's nestled into the trees. Or I did until trees started falling on it. Time to clear them.

There is a hill behind the shed. Most of the trees that grow there lean a bit toward the shed.

To the left of the shed just behind that far left magnolia are 2500 gallons' capacity of buried propane tanks. There's probably 15+ feet between the building and the tanks. So if I want to fell trees to the left of the shed I have a "lane" in which they need to fall. It's not narrow, but it exists.

A lot of the trees are small, no problem, I can even push them over in the intended direction with just my body. The larger ones aren't monsters, probably 8-10 inches max, though that's a lot of weight in beech and birch, but clearly care is required. Maybe I'll have to hire most of it out if I can find a professional I trust, though they're few and far between these days (a lot of bad contractor stories of late). I'll be making calls when the snow clears.

I'm not a cutting expert, but I've been cutting trees for decades and have managed not to injure myself, so I'm reasonably careful. I have no block/tackle gear, I'd have to buy things to do this. I have no winch or related attachments for my tractor.

I'm thinking of using straps/cables of some kind to pull the trees in the right direction so they miss the building. The problem is that there is nothing good on the downhill side of the shed to use as anchors. I.e. there are no big trees in any reasonable distance on the other side of the driveway in the picture. If I want to use trees as anchors they'd be to the right and left of the shed (in the woods), forcing me to pull the tree somewhat parallel to the slope instead of largely perpendicular. They're also no larger than the trees I'd be taking down.

So my question is: can I use my tractor (About 3.5 tons with FEL+attachment and nothing on the 3ph) to provide the .... nuanced downhill forces ... and get these trees to fall to either side of my shed? Or is it simply a fool's errand even with sufficiently long straps and I should stricly hire a pro, if I can find one. Would I even trust them to climb the trees to cut them down? Or would a crane be required?

Btw, the shed contains a generator and some substantial electrical switches. This is not a garden shed.

Okay, let the wisdom and memes flow. I'm expecting that wanting to do it myself, for any large trees, is probably not the right thing, but I had to ask since I have this tractor and it'd be nice to save some money. Obviously either way I'll clear out as much small stuff as I can. Pointers to the kinds of rigging blocks I might use and where to buy them also appreciated. Or maybe this is the year of the logging winch setup for the 3ph. You tell me.

 

[Captain Dirty]

Any tree that grows between the shed and the hill behind it will curve or lean toward or over the shed as it competes for the light coming from the open field. With expert notching, it is theoretically possible to fell a leaner at right angles to the lean. You have disqualified yourself as "expert", and with a valuable generator shed at risk, it is not the time to experiment with dutchmen, reading the crown's mass, etc. "Pulling" a tree down with a vehicle is fraught with risk. Usually the vehicle and line are used to put tension on the tree to move the center of gravity out over the notch and initiate the fall. Once started, the line goes slack providing no control, and gravity and the mechanics of the hinge take over. Driving away fast enough to keep the line taut is, in my opinion, foolhardy.

I suggest your first step is to remove the small (<6"?) stuff you are confident about; then re-assess. (I do not know what piping, venting, etc on the propane tanks may be above grade. Perhaps you could use the smaller logs to build protective cribbing around them in case the trees curve more than the lane you mentioned.) When I try to fell a leaner say at 90° to the lean I will rig a guy or "preventer" at 90° to the direction of fall and away from the lean (uphill in your case). Hopefully this line will remain taut during (most of) the fall and prevent the tree from falling towards the lean. As the tree falls this line will describe a cone and that cone should be free and clear for the guy to work as intended.

The line mentioned is not clothesline; I use 5/8" to 1" line, often doubled, and have shackles, blocks, pullers (come-alongs), chains, and slings and a neighbor who has more as well as some knowledge and experience. I am reluctant to tell you what to buy. The son of a friend went to purchase some gaffs; when they were placed in front of him, he asked how to put them on. The counterman immediately grabbed them back, "If you don't know, I'm not going to sell them to you." As you re-assess after clearing what you are comfortable with, you may decide it is better to hire a well-insured contractor whom you can watch to get some pointers. When in doubt, hire it out.

 

[Stan B]

Rent a man lift and take them down a piece at a time.

 

[4570Man]

If the line is hooked close to the top I’ve pulled hundreds of bigger trees than that. But you don’t want to just hook the strap as high as you can reach.

 

[tradosaurus]

Come-a-longs and tree straps? wrap tree strap to tree you want to fell and tie off to another bigger tree if possible.
apply tension and start cutting.

 

[bironacad]

Rent a man lift and take them down a piece at a time.

Ontario hydro doing just that on my road.

 

[hslogger]

Captain Dirty is right on target. Discretion is the better part of valor. Money asside, remove it from the equation for the moment. The idea of hiring a certified insured arborist or insured logger is to minimize risk. You hire them to insure they will do the job flawlessly. Yeah maybe you and joe and moe can pull it off with a bunch of blocks and line, using something placed for a deadman anchor.Maybe you are lucky, maybe you aren't. I have worn both hats, proud homeowner, residental aborist, and hard core PNW timber faller. Some stuff you gotta walk away from and hire someone who knows exactly what they are doing and can cover the loss if They screw up.

I wouldn't be all that concerned about the buried tanks but the pipes and gauges and fittings might be damaged by stobs poking down in to the ground. You can crib the heck out of it, put down rubber tires, sheets of plywood, dead pickups and refrigerators.......etc

 

[Bullwinkle123]

Yeah, I guess I've concluded I'll do the little stuff and leave the dangerous stuff for the pros.

Now if I can just find someone qualified, which is way harder than it should be in a state with many exports derived from trees.

 

[fruitcakesa]

I just sent you a PM

 

[Buppies]

Beautiful picture thanks for sharing

 

[dodge man]

A come along. Nope, don’t go that route. You put the tension on, cut the tree, you immediately get slack in the come along and it falls the way it wants to. You need something that keeps pulling once it starts to fall.

I have hired out trees near my house or building. They use a bucket truck or climb them. I hate heights and it bothers me just to watch them do it.

 

[ruffdog]

If the line is hooked close to the top I’ve pulled hundreds of bigger trees than that. But you don’t want to just hook the strap as high as you can reach.

I agree and have always preferred dropping the entire tree vs piecing it out. Big trees mean I will get out the 35ft extension ladder to get a hook way up in the tree. You have lots of leverage that way and it doesn't take much pull to start it going. Cut the hinge just right, locate the pull rope correctly, and time the pull right....easy peesy.

 

[4570Man]

I’ve been around my fair share of tree removal and for a low risk tree we just push it with the loader. For residential trees we usually strip the trunk and then drop it. We only cut chunks off the base when there’s no possible way to drop it whole.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Felled lots of trees with a rope. Make it long and srong enough and keep up the tension as it begins to fall.

Never forget that old Elm tree with my Dad and a brand new tractor in 73. Sixty foot tree and 30 feet of chain. Too lazy to get more. Oh it won't hit the tractor.

I do like a building amoung trees. But see any country homestead owned by seasoned people in the know, and you won't find a tree near their buildings.

 

[John_Mc]

It is possible to fell a tree 180˚ from it's direction of lean with just a chainsaw and some felling wedge (no ropes, cables, or tractors required) and to do so with a high degree of accuracy. If this is a skill you'd like to develop anyway, you are in luck, because one of the better chainsaw instruction organizations in New England, Northeast Woodland Training is based in Middletown Springs, VT (probably not too far from you, if you are in southern VT). They offer instruction throughout Vermont - In fact, they have some coming up in Rupert and in Hartford in May (and some other ones further north before then).

I've been through their training and it's a great way to expand your capabilities and increase your safety when working in the woods. I've seen chainsaw novices drop trees on a target stake driven into the ground 40 feet away after taking their level 1 class, and hitting the stake in a direction significantly different than where the tree "wants" to go in their level 2 class.

My suggestion for you would be to start with their level 1 class (their relatively new "Basic Use and Safety" class is aimed at people who have no interest in tree felling - it's really just a basic intro to using a chainsaw class). If you are serious about it, consider signing up for the Level 1 and Level 2 classes, then decide if you want to go further based on how those go. Descriptions and course outlines are on their website.

However, no matter how good the instruction is, tackling trees against their lean in an area right next to some "high value targets" (i.e. your shed and propane tanks) is probably not the best idea fresh out of the classes. You'll want to spend a fair amount of time actually using the techniques on similar trees in lower-risk situations to develop the skills to handle what you describe in an area where the consequences of a mistake are more serious than dinging up a tree that you wanted to keep.

Perhaps the most important skill any chainsaw user can have is the judgement to know when to walk away because the job exceeds either their skill level or the capabilities of the equipment they have at hand. Given your descriptions in this thread, I think you are on the right track to tackle the easy ones yourself, and hire someone to handle the higher-risk felling.

 

[Sebculb]

A come along. Nope, don’t go that route. You put the tension on, cut the tree, you immediately get slack in the come along and it falls the way it wants to. You need something that keeps pulling once it starts to fall.

I have hired out trees near my house or building. They use a bucket truck or climb them. I hate heights and it bothers me just to watch them do it.

Okay, you're correct but you can work around that. Tie a cable or chain that would pull the tree directly away from the cabin if you were to tighten it up. Use your tractor as an anchor if you think it is heavy enough.

This cable is not to pull the tree away from the cabin in the other direction, but rather to make it pivot and fall at a right angle to the cabin. You can pull on it a little with a come along or heavy duty ratchet strap if you want, just to help it but you're not trying to make the tree fall in that direction. Make sure it's a strong cable or rope or chain.

Then you use a come along and another rope or cable to encourage the tree to fall in the right angle direction you want it to go. Ropes, especially good climbing rope can be useful for this cuz it's got elasticity and keeps pulling for a bit. But sometimes the force applied by a cable is needed. You decide.

Sometimes I use a length of chain to tie the tree to its stump if I think it's gonna want to misbehave and jump around. Cut the notch in the direction of perpendicular to the cabin you want it to go.

If you anchor a tree in three places it'll go where you want it to with little room for error. And for the price of tree services I imagine you can get two come alongs and a lot of cable and save money and have them to play with later.

 

[bcp]

Okay, you're correct but you can work around that. Tie a cable or chain that would pull the tree directly away from the cabin if you were to tighten it up. Use your tractor as an anchor if you think it is heavy enough.

This cable is not to pull the tree away from the cabin in the other direction, but rather to make it pivot and fall at a right angle to the cabin.

That's what many people miss. A single rope or cable doesn't determine where a tree will fall, but only where it won't fall. They often fall at a wide angle from the rope.

Bruce

 

[the viking]

I use different approaches for different situations. Have taken down many trees with snatch blocks and cable using assorted tractors for the pull. It takes skill and sometimes courage to do these and if you have any doubt don't do it. Some trees you just have to take down from the top and piece by piece. I still occasionally work with some guys on weekends to do the nasty ones. I pull the lead lines and do clean up or whatever is necessary to get the job done. At 70 years old I limit my activity to the ground. I have no hesitation to drop large trees that are no danger to buildings or property and have a mill to make boards if the tree is suitable. Here is a job I helped out on a few months ago. We took down 4 large oaks that were leaning over a friends house that the insurance company said had to go before they would renew the homeowners policy.

 

[Thing]

This posts reminds me of the time my dad decided to cut a huge cherry tree hanging over our garage. He hooked up our jeep to a long rope well down and in the direction he wanted to pull the tree. My brother was about 17, so my dad had him operate the jeep while he cut the tree notch. I should mention there was about 6 inches of now on the ground. As dad cut, he yelled to my brother to back up. The jeep didn't move. My dad was screaming back up. back up. The engine was revving but the rear tires were just spinning. Evidently, my dad had neglected to put the Jeep in 4 wheel drive. Almost in slow motion that huge cherry tree started to fall...... landing, squarely, right in the middle of the garage. The garage was totally destroyed along with a canoe, our bicycles and other various and sundry pieces of equipment. I guess the moral of this story is...... If your gonna try this. Make sure you have a tremendous amount of tension pulling that tree in the "correct" direction first. With enough tie offs to prevent it from falling onto your shed. Thanks

 

[PILOON]

I have dropped my fair share of trees using a 3/4" poly rope and come-along or my PU or tractor to apply tension.
Poly has a % of elasticity (maybe 10%), enough to generally steer or pull it to where U want it to go.
Heck I've actually seen a tree sort of jump a few feet away.
Naturally a lot depends on the degree of lean.
Sometimes a rope will simply act as a retainer and cause a left or right fall vs away onto a house or whatever.
A ladder is often your friend as generally you want to tie as high as possible. (or climbing spikes)