Something to think about ... when a tree might fall on you

[beppington]

Saturday I was clearing trails. Put the FEL against a dead ~35' tall 6"-7" diameter tree. I pushed it slowly so it wouldn't break in the middle & the top half snap back at me. Well, a thin vine at the top hung onto the top anyway, so the tree's middle went forward & partially broke, while it's topped stayed put - Meaning it was now leaning toward me anyway :shocked:

It started to fall toward me, & was headed to land right on me, so I went to bail out ... Uh-oh, the arm rest caught me - I was trapped. I woulda had to go forward to get around the arm rest, which did not come second nature while a tree was falling toward me.

Fortunately the vine ended up hanging on to & holding the tree at a lean.

I'm considering keeping the arm rests up, at least the left one, maybe both, when working on or amongst trees, so at least I can bail out if I think I need to.

 

[Travelover]

Thanks for posting your experience. From what I've read here, I'll never push a dead tree over with my FEL.

 

[brin]

Please don't ever push on a dead tree again...they always break in the middle or somewhere between the bottom and the top but it has been my experience they never just lay over like a live tree would. When I had my JD 450 C with a full enclosed ROPS I pushed a bunch of dead trees and most of them fell down ont he top of the solid steel cage..Just not worth the chance in a fiberglass cab or for sure open station...

 

[TripleR]

I couldn't agree more, I won't touch a dead tree with my tractor or chain saw. My son is going to cut a couple down soon, but we are renting a cherry picker and will start from the top.

 

[Denwa]

It started to fall toward me, & was headed to land right on me, so I went to bail out ... Uh-oh, the arm rest caught me - I was trapped.

Exciting!, But who needs that kind of exciting. Use a chain or a rope and pull them suckers over, either from a straight line safe distance if you have a long enough pull, or, as I prefer, run your rope around a tree and using the tree as a fulcrum, pull at an angle that keeps you well clear of the action.

Couple of weeks ago my neighbor kindly offered me a 100' +/- dead fir for my firewood pile. Nice neighbor!! The catch was that said fir was standing tall and had a crown of big branches looming overhead, way up there, and we had to get the thing on the ground. About 50 feet to one side was his neighbors wood shed and a few parked vehicles.

Luckily there was a nice clear trail in his woods we could drop the tree into with hardly any interference from other trees. To make it more interesting, this tree had a crook at the base where it started up at about a 60 degrees for 5 feet and then straight up.

To ensure the tree went where we wanted we used rope and chain.
We put a choker around another tree with a big turnbuckle. Then we ran the rope through the eye off the turnbuckle and he pulled with his tractor from a bit less than a 90 degree angle once I fell the cut was right.
W

 

[Denwa]

It started to fall toward me, & was headed to land right on me, so I went to bail out ... Uh-oh, the arm rest caught me - I was trapped.

Exciting!, But who needs that kind of exciting. Use a chain or a rope and pull them suckers over, either from a straight line safe distance if you have a long enough pull, or, as I prefer, run your rope around a tree and using the tree as a fulcrum, pull at an angle that keeps you well clear of the action.

Couple of weeks ago my neighbor kindly offered me a 100' +/- dead fir for my firewood pile. Nice neighbor!! The catch was that said fir was standing tall and had a crown of big branches looming overhead, way up there, and we had to get the thing on the ground. About 50 feet to one side was his neighbors wood shed and a few parked vehicles.

Luckily there was a nice clear trail in his woods we could drop the tree into with hardly any interference from other trees. To make it more interesting, this tree had a crook at the base where it started up at about a 60 degrees for 5 feet and then straight up.

To ensure the tree went where we wanted we used rope and chain.
We put a choker around another tree with a big turnbuckle. Then we ran the rope through the eye off the turnbuckle and he pulled with his tractor from a bit less than a 90 degree angle from well to the side once I fell the cut was right.

We dropped that sucker square down the alley and the tree got no where near him.

Dennis

 

[jml755]

Saturday I was clearing trails. Put the FEL against a dead ~35' tall 6"-7" diameter tree. I pushed it slowly so it wouldn't break in the middle & the top half snap back at me. Well, a thin vine at the top hung onto the top anyway, so the tree's middle went forward & partially broke, while it's topped stayed put - Meaning it was now leaning toward me anyway :shocked:

It started to fall toward me, & was headed to land right on me, so I went to bail out ... Uh-oh, the arm rest caught me - I was trapped. I woulda had to go forward to get around the arm rest, which did not come second nature while a tree was falling toward me.

Fortunately the vine ended up hanging on to & holding the tree at a lean.

I'm considering keeping the arm rests up, at least the left one, maybe both, when working on or amongst trees, so at least I can bail out if I think I need to.

I've got a FORD TLB (completely enclosed steel cab) and I've never (or ever will) pushed a tree (live or dead) over with the loader OR the backhoe bucket. That's what chainsaws are for. If you know how to use one, you get a much more controlled fall and you don't have to worry about even being near the tree when it comes down. Even if it doesn't go exactly as planned, it's faster to move on the ground than it is to get off of a machine. As others have said, putting side forces onto upper portions of a tree may result in the unexpected, quickly.

Once it's on the ground and bucked, I use the FEL to move the remains and the backhoe to dig out the stump. Again, I've never tried to "pull" the stump with my other tractor. Too many horror stories and a guy just got killed last week a few miles from me doing just that with a Ford 2000, as I recall. I HAVE pulled stumps with my pickup truck where my TLB was not available but that's different than pulling with a tractor that will flip in a heartbeat (maybe your last).

 

[beppington]

I've got a FORD TLB (completely enclosed steel cab) and I've never (or ever will) pushed a tree (live or dead) over with the loader OR the backhoe bucket. That's what chainsaws are for.

I don't want to have to deal with the leftover stumps, when it's easily avoidable. I prefer to let the tree itself bring its own root ball right up out of the ground in one fell swoop.

This weekend we pulled probably 75 1.5"-3.5" diameter saplings/ trees with a chain attached to the drawbar without a problem. I realize there's a potential for the tractor's front wheels to come up, & even a possible flip-over, but that's a risk I'm willing to take.

 

[Baby Grand]

I don't want to have to deal with the leftover stumps, when it's easily avoidable. I prefer to let the tree itself bring its own root ball right up out of the ground in one fell swoop.

This weekend we pulled probably 75 1.5"-3.5" diameter saplings/ trees with a chain attached to the drawbar without a problem. I realize there's a potential for the tractor's front wheels to come up, & even a possible flip-over, but that's a risk I'm willing to take.

If you're going to pull over trees, get a snatch block and some low stretch rope and learn how to use them ... you should never have to put yourself in the position of having your front wheels come up or flipping over due to the direction of your pull. They don't cost much and you stand a much better chance of never becoming a statistic if you use them with care. You can still use the chain to attach to the tree, but attach the free end to the rope and pass the rope thru the block to get out of the fall line of the tree and the recoil line of the chain. Just because the chain does't stretch much doesn't mean it won't come at you like an angry hornet if you attach it to something springy like a sapling.
-Jim

 

[Cat_Driver]

In the business they call those WIDOW MAKERS for a reason. If a tree is dead you also have the problem of a branch breaking off and impaling you into the ground like a wooden stake.

Even cutting them down you can get killed.