Push over trees with a small compact?

[jyoutz]

Do what works for you. But I drop at least a dozen trees every year, and can only think of 2 times in the last 20 years I ever needed to actually winch a tree over. I'm not opposed to stringing up a safety line, in cases where you want to be really sure it can't fall over backwards, but there's a big difference between a static safety line and actively winching a tree over while you make the back cut.

I don't encounter many trees so badly back-leaning, that they can't be easily pushed over with wedges in the back cut, with better safety and speed than rigging up a winch.

Agree. In my 40+ years working as a forester I have never once seen a logger use a winch to fall a tree. And a barber chair is deadly.

 

[eolesen]

I did watch a logger run a line to a skidder to pull one over, but that was after the feeder roots had been ripped out with a D5 dozer blade... stump and all came over nicely.

 

[CalG]

I did watch a logger run a line to a skidder to pull one over, but that was after the feeder roots had been ripped out with a D5 dozer blade... stump and all came over nicely.

You have to ask, What is a logger going to do with a root ball?

That had to have been a special "clearing" event, and had NOTHING to do with logging.

 

[CalG]

Stretch is room for variance... I've brought down several 60-80 ft trees with 1500lb lever chain hosts and chains. Most land within 5 ft of where I've anchored the hoist as long as there's enough tension that the change stops moving. Sleeping just a little bit of slack, either way can increase the distance where it would go left or right.


View attachment 4093933

Pre loading a tree is asking for a barber's chair.

Not my idea of fun.

 

[WinterDeere]

Pre loading a tree is asking for a barber's chair.

Exactly what I've been saying since like... page 1? of this thread!

 

[arrow]

You have to ask, What is a logger going to do with a root ball?

That had to have been a special "clearing" event, and had NOTHING to do with logging.

We never transported in a skidder for a specialization.
A climber and an excavator maybe but not a skidder.

 

[deezler]

Pre loading a tree is asking for a barber's chair.

Not my idea of fun.

So I don't have any good long ropes or cables myself, and have never felled this way. But wouldn't the idea be to get the rope/cable in place and only add any significant tension once you are actually doing the back cut?

In general I agree though, kind of scary.

Personally I prefer to use an excavator to dig the roots up and simply push the entire tree down the way I want it, but that's a whole 'nother safety talk

 

[CalG]

So I don't have any good long ropes or cables myself, and have never felled this way. But wouldn't the idea be to get the rope/cable in place and only add any significant tension once you are actually doing the back cut?

In general I agree though, kind of scary.

Personally I prefer to use an excavator to dig the roots up and simply push the entire tree down the way I want it, but that's a whole 'nother safety talk

Remember, some trees barber chair all by themselves whilel cutting. Weight, wind, or just being cranky.

I might have pulled on a tree a time or two myself, but the pulling doesn't start until AFTER I've pushed a bore cut through the middle of the hinge wood.

 

[Oaktree]

Remember, some trees barber chair all by themselves whilel cutting. Weight, wind, or just being cranky.

Poplars are notorious for that.

 

[2manyrocks]

I had to remove some trees where it was necessary to make sure they fell in a controlled direction. I used a combination of felling wedges and a gas powered portable winch with 4:1 pulley setup. The key was to tension, cut, tension, cut, tension, in small increments judging the tension by the tension on the rope and watching the tree.

One of the issues was I was working in a small clearing area and needed to get the trees to fall in the area I had to work with instead of getting hung up and creating more of a problem.

These were not large, heavy, backwards leaners.