At Home In The Woods

[clemsonfor]

the generator thing i think is over exadurated. wood truck is real.

Marty is real, i found an article about him in a 2010 field and stream when i went through my old mags. the author says he is a smoke jumper in fire season and can bench 35o lbs!!

 

[batwing]

The truck running does not surprise me but how good it run is hard for me to believe. that is interesting on Marty and explains a lot, the cost of living up there and the nice place he had you would have to get a lot of fur.
Ron

 

[KiotiJason]

Reality TV; where there is none.

Felling trees with a backhoe is NOT safe, regardless of method. Ask any insurance company. Felling trees is a dangerous job under the best of circumstances; doing it cowboy style heightens the risk considerably.
New saying to cover this type of wrong headedness: Fools often tread where Eagles fear to fly.

I'd have to agree, if the top of the tree snaps it can land in your lap. About 13 years ago I did a chainsaw course with the local fire dept, cover some felling and chainsaw use an maintenance. Best investment of time and probably saved me more times than I'd ever know. Also I think I read that you are using a Pulan? These are hobby type of saws, so if you do go to felling proper, get a quality stihl or husky. I have 3 different saws depending on the job with the Ms660 bring the largest. On my acreage the trees are large gums so possibly not as predictable but I've found often it's the smaller ones that can catch you unawares. People will argue the back hoe thing but you have more chance of getting out of the way on your feet a opposed to you tractor seat. I've dropped a lot of large trees however if there is any danger that it will fall on something (around the house) I call a professional. Otherwise I go for it.

 

[Obed]

I'd have to agree, if the top of the tree snaps it can land in your lap.

...

Also I think I read that you are using a Pulan? These are hobby type of saws, so if you do go to felling proper, get a quality stihl or husky.

My little 14" backup saw is a Poulan. My main saw is a 20" Stihl. I love the Stihl; I can't say that about the Poulan.

People will argue the back hoe thing but you have more chance of getting out of the way on your feet a opposed to you tractor seat.

I've never heard a backhoe owner mention that dropping trees with a backhoe was less safe than using a chainsaw. There's inherent risk in dropping trees no matter how you do it. I think it's just what you are used to.

Obed

 

[KiotiJason]

Yes the stills are good but I didn't want to turn it into a husky verses stihl. If the tress are strong and sound backhoe wood work however we can get grubb in the tree half way up and you can't see it. If the the tree goes in the wrong direction you risk yourself at worst or the tractor in best case. I noticed you have taken a careful approach and the tree isn't that big. I know what you mean about the Pulan saw, it was one of my first. Anyhow great threat and pics and enjoy reading, take care!

 

[dave1949]

...

My little 14" backup saw is a Poulan. My main saw is a 20" Stihl. I love the Stihl; I can't say that about the Poulan.I've never heard a backhoe owner mention that dropping trees with a backhoe was less safe than using a chainsaw. There's inherent risk in dropping trees no matter how you do it. I think it's just what you are used to.

Obed

Sure, there is a risk in dropping trees by any method. I think you may be over generalizing though.

All backhoes are not equal; there are small open station backhoes and cabbed backhoes three-four times the size, power and reach.

Not all trees are equal either. Aside from size, some are sound from top to bottom, some have dead branches about ready to break off, some have rotted sections or forks that look okay from the ground but are relatively weak.

When the combination of tree size, backhoe, and operator ability is such that one continuous smooth push will not put the tree down, you inevitably get whiplash in the trunk because trunks bend like a long spring that you are loading/deforming with the backhoe. Where any tree parts that are ready to break go at that point, is all luck and no skill. If the tree is over enough at a steep angle, chances are the falling pieces won't hit you. If the tree is still fairly upright, you could well get hit. You have no control over whether the break occurs as the whiplash is coming toward you, or moving away from you. You are relying on pure luck.

Even a dead 2-3 inch limb falling from 30-40 feet will give you a good and possibly deadly wallop if it hits you in a vulnerable location. Think about what a 8-10 inch limb or tree top could do to you.

Dropping a tree with a saw doesn't induce whiplash, but pieces of tree, or from a nearby tree, can certainly fall on you. Where they will go when they fall is much more predictable without the whiplash motion.

So, now you've heard a backhoe owner say it.

 

[batwing]

I have cut a lot of trees down with my Stihl chainsaw and pushed some over with our 880 case excavator, if you are not carful both can be very dangerous.
Ron

 

[i579rbd]

At the end of the day I think boils down to performing good risk management no matter which way you go. It's normally the folks that want to go charging in to get something done versus taking the time to inspect, make a plan that includes the oh sh&t's and carefully execute that you read or hear about.

 

[Coyote machine]

...

My little 14" backup saw is a Poulan. My main saw is a 20" Stihl. I love the Stihl; I can't say that about the Poulan.I've never heard a backhoe owner mention that dropping trees with a backhoe was less safe than using a chainsaw. There's inherent risk in dropping trees no matter how you do it. I think it's just what you are used to.

Obed

This is the problem with this thread at times. Just because you haven't heard about the reasons why using a hoe to do the job of a chainsaw is inherently dangerous is basically irrelevant to the issue. And it puts bad advice/practices out to others who read this thread. And you have heard it from someone who uses a hoe and has done professional chainsaw work for a living, me. I wrote about it numerous pages ago and it never got addressed. You talked about how a thread you referenced told you exactly how to do tree work with a hoe; and the method, because it's bogus, did not address the crucial safety concerns that come into play in this foolish endeavor. You can dress it up any way you want, but using a hoe to drop trees is a seriously dumb thing to do. No tree professional would endorse this methodology under any circumstance.
I don't know how else to impress upon you and your audience the gravity of the situation. If you choose to ignore common sense and put your life at risk from lack of knowledge about a particular subject, that's fine, but putting other's lives at risk as well as your own is inexcusable.
I can only hope this will get through to you and others.

 

[scoutcub]

Hey Coyote -

I see you feel so strongly about this, you posted it twice!

Point taken regarding endorsing the procedure to those perhaps not up to the task, should we now start offering disclaimers?

If you read thru the thread which Obed refers to, this same conversation came up with other posters. Some are, and probably always will be, dead-set against the procedure. And, you're certainly entitled to your opinion of "foolish endeavor", "seriously dumb thing to do", etc.

This same thread also has solid points from Eddie Walker supporting the use of backhoes for felling trees, as well as a book on the subject that Curlydave mentioned....while it may not be a professional logging author, it seems to me there is a accepted practice among the general population.

I have been cutting trees down my whole life, and am pretty familiar with chainsaws....and also have pushed trees over with my 32HP TLB.....and my dozer....and excavator. The excavator is the way to go, definitely the safest and easiest. I guess I'm in the camp of getting the whole tree over with stump attached being far easier than cutting and digging the stump out....and I know from experience, having done both hundreds of times.
This is a great forum for sharing ideas and practices, and perhaps we should guard our words and recommendations....but to ambush a particular procedure as completely unsafe and dumb does not move us forward as a community.

Just sayin....

I'll leave you with a pic of my choice....