How to cut up this fallen tree

[CobyRupert]

It's not clear to me if the root ball wants to fall back into the hole, towards the trunk, or would roll to the side if released from trunk.
I cut trunk about 6' foot up where root ball can't get you.
Use wedges behind your cut in case you've guessed wrong so your bar doesn't get pinched.
Play close attention to if kerf is opening up or pinching wedges.

 

[newbury]

Another thing -
Best to approach it with 2 chain saws, one to get the pinched one loose.

Two should fit in your bucket just fine.

My Stihl 021 is tucked in the right corner of the bucket.

 

[woodlandfarms]

All great stuff guys. Yeah, we are looking at a 10ft rootball at least. I have an 044 with a 36" bar and a small 181 for the branches.

Neighbor came by, he said to cut the top off first, get it cut up for firewood. Let the remainder sit until the ground is dry (it is around a 25 degree slope which my tractor is fine with but my fat a... is not. he wants me to get the long clean log portion off the ground if possible so it does not rot. Then either have the neighbor with the dozer come over and yard it out or just use my chainsaw mill and turn it into something. Probably something that will sit in the way for years as I figure out what to do with it then burn it in disgust but that is just me.

He like you guys is pessimistic the rootball is uprighting, but he was real nervous on that slope which way it is going to go. Thing must way a ton. There is a large maple we will chain to when the time comes.

Anyway, good notes all the way around.

 

[stuckmotor]

I seem to remember a root ball falling back into the hole and killing somebody. I also think I saw a tree around 20 feet tall stand back up when the top was cut off the tree. It might have flopped back over in the opposite direction and destroyed the guy's truck. I just can't remember.

Here's a link to one that stood back up.
Sorry about that. Youtube isn't cooperating. If you want to see the tree stand back up go to youtube and search with the words " Up Rooted Tree Stands Back Up" there are are at least two videos. One was a little faster and more dramatic than the other.

 

[check]

Here's a link to one that stood back up. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RIFlmrk7KWQ

Wrong YouTube link, I am afraid.

 

[JerryK]

Heh...!!!! Lot's of us old fogies had a crush on her years ago... Didn't watch Lost in Space to see the crazy robot... ' WARNING, WARNING, WARNING WILL ROBINSON, WARNING ' !!!!

 

[4570Man]

That root ball weighs way more than a literal ton. My tractor can lift a ton and it wouldn't budge that thing. I maxed out a Telhandler that could lift 3 tons on a much smaller root ball.

 

[rekees4300]

My neighbor has some sort of specialty certification in tree removal (he works for the government managing large tracts of land) so hopefully he can help, but with the holidays he may not be avail.

What's the rush? Wait for your neighbor to become available.

 

[stuckmotor]

Wrong YouTube link, I am afraid.

Sorry about that. Youtube isn't cooperating. If you want to see the tree stand back up go to youtube and search with the words " Up Rooted Tree Stands Back Up" there are are at least two videos. One was a little faster and more dramatic than the other. Like nearly everything else on a farm, they both look potentially dangerous.

 

[Leejohn]

That root ball weighs way more than a literal ton. My tractor can lift a ton and it wouldn't budge that thing. I maxed out a Telhandler that could lift 3 tons on a much smaller root ball.

What did you do to your loader to get it to lift that much?

 

[4570Man]

What did you do to your loader to get it to lift that much?

It is rated to lift 1800 pounds to full height. Lifting 2,000 pounds a foot off the ground isn't a big accomplishment.

 

[Leejohn]

The reason I ask is my L4240 is lift to full height (at 500mm) is 1,878 lbs and full height (at pin): 2,489 lbs

 

[4570Man]

The reason I ask is my L4240 is lift to full height (at 500mm) is 1,878 lbs and full height (at pin): 2,489 lbs

It will lift a good bit more a foot off the ground. My tractor can't lift a ton to full height.

 

[arrow]

I've had to do about a million of these. They are a lot of variables to any of these. If what I see can be relied on in the photo, the slope is favoring the weight of the tree. Brush off the dirt near that knot closest to the ball in your pic. Take your 36" bar and make a downward cut. Insert a wedge when about halfway through. Finish the cut. Whether the root ball moves or not is not going to effect where you are standing (highest part of the slope). If you're concerned about saw pinching, you can always shore up the tree just before the cut with a rock or couple of 6x6 dimensional chunks. If none of those were available, we'd make chunks from the stem and jamb them under the tree. You need only do this enough so your saw isn't jammed to the ground.You cut these things with two two thoughts in mind:1. a short enough stump from the ball so as for it to not act as a baseball bat for the cutter should the ball rotate and 2. To leave the stump long enough to give the root ball enough support so it does not tumble forward toward the cutter. I'd suggest making the separation cut first because what you do not want to have happen if you are trimming the tree first is to keep thinking what the tree will do when you finally make the separation cut. This thought will act as a distraction while holding a saw in your hands and that's never good with a running saw in your hands. Get it over with right from the beginning.

 

[clemsonfor]

make it into firewood. No one will want to come get one tree. As a forester i have turned some bueatiful wood into firewood!! it makes good easy splitting firewood. One off trees have little or basically no value just due to trucking and labor costs involved with getting it.