More tractor-assisted dead tree demolition yesterday. Two dead elms on the west side of my evaporation pond. The one on the left (center of picture) was leaning way back towards west (away from camera in first pic, second pic shows lean).
Problem is, I wanted that tree to fall to the right (first pic). My original plan was to climb up to the three stems and cut them off to relieve some of the weight helping it to lean the wrong way. After getting up there, I couldn't really get to the "top side" of the tree and cutting the branches off while hanging under them is not a terribly good plan
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So no cutting while climbing, but did get a photo (fourth pic) back towards the tractor, showing the direction I would be pulling from. Now, the plan was to drop the tree on the right (first pic) then the one on the left with tractor pulling as described above.
Due to the heavy back lean on that tree, I was a little unsure how much tension would be required from the tractor, or even it I would be able to overcome the lean at all. If the tree accidentally fell toward the lean, it wouldn't be the end of the world, just would have been a little harder to clean up, so I decided to go for it.
I dropped the right tree first, which was already leaning toward the uphill side of the evaporation pond, i.e., right where I wanted it to go. Then attached my pull rope right above the first crotch on the left tree and applied some tension with the 2520. The plan for this one was to cut the tree up, then go pull it over (if possible).
So, I got it cut up as much as I dared (leaving about a 2" hinge, then, I saw the tree start moving. Dropped the saw and ran toward the tractor, thinking I would start applying some more tension to guide it. However, the tree just kept on going and fell exactly where I wanted it, i.e., right on top of the other one. Now just need to buck it up and chip the small stuff.
I think one of the more interesting things about this project was having to pull at 90 degrees to get the tree to go where I wanted.
Edit: NOTE: This is kind of funny, the only thing I was really concerned about the trees hitting was that white PVC pipe sticking out of the side of the hill, which is the output from my aerobic sewage treatment system. If you blow up pic of the trees on the ground, you will see that I stacked several 4 x 4's on each side of the pipe to protect it. Also notice that, with all the mayhem going on around it, neither of the trees actually hit the pipe or 4 x 4's.
