Tree came down in the storms--opinions?

joshuabardwell · Jul 9, 2013

Okay, here are some action videos for y'all to enjoy. I will have to split them into separate messages, as it seems that TBN prohibits more than one video per post.

The moment of truth: pulling the tree off of the manger. It mangles the sheet metal pretty good, but other than that, no harm was done.

joshuabardwell · Jul 9, 2013

After cutting the trunk loose from the top. Skidding the trunk out so I could get the tractor through to try to pull the top out of the tree it was hung up in. That stump you see in the foreground is another one that was pulling out of the ground, that we took down before it let go completely.

joshuabardwell · Jul 9, 2013

I hoped that I could save myself the trouble of cutting up the top by just pulling the whole darn thing out of the trees and up to the brush pile. No such luck.

joshuabardwell · Jul 9, 2013

Maybe I can pull the top out if I change direction slightly... Nope.

I ended up cutting it into three sections and pulling them out. Cutting up the top is its own special kind of perilous. With the trunk, at least, I feel like I can usually get an idea which way it wants to go. With the top, there are always branches twisted and bent, and there's just no telling when something is going to whip out at you. It's kind of a toss-up whether it's better to limb the branches on bottom and take a chance that they'll smack you, or to just cut the trunk, and take a chance that it'll move unpredictably. It's like the world's most high-stakes game of pick-up-sticks. I try to study the situation and look at what-all is under tension and how, but it's still very harrowing.

joshuabardwell · Jul 9, 2013

Oh, PS: I think it was a little more than 40 feet. :ashamed:

Larro Darro · Jul 9, 2013

You did good man! You have a good looking place there. Just watch out for those falling trees.

Pilot · Jul 10, 2013

Dead tree vs. live tree: A healthy tree has at least 30% of it's height in full, healthy green crown and 40% would be better. So some live needles mean nothing, with much less than 30% it is not producing enough food to keep itself alive. Watching a tree like this over a few years will show a gradual reduction of the crown size and eventually even a lay person will be able to see that the tree is on it's way out. So, what about a lopsided crown, one with 50% on one side and 20% on the other? That's subjective, the rule is to mentally move some of the excess to the other side, being aware that the limbs on the longer side are longer and support more live needles.

Glad you got the tree out safely and efficiently.