Bucking oak out of a swamp....

[Andrewj]

I have a monster white oak that split, one half in my backyard, the other half into a swampy area. this high moisture likely killed the tree and is the result of different land usage in the last 10 years as compared to the last 200 years of this oak's life.

I have absolutely had it with cutting wood in the swamp. I feel it is too danderous for any saw usage and not worth the risk of injury to a guy like me that doesn't cut wood as a profession and can get myself into tricky situations.

I'd like to drag the oak about 100 feet onto dry ground - is this a job for a winch? Is there a risk of cable snapping and causing injury from there? is it better to use a long chain and dozer for this?

 

[wahoowad]

I have a More Power Puller rated for 3,000 lbs. single line pull. How much do you see this tree weighing? Give it one cut in the middle to reduce the weigh in half.

The winch supposedly will pull 6,000 lbs. double line but I don't exactly know how to do double-line?

 

[razerface]

i drag with dozers. If dozer is not on dry ground, and that is a very big tree like it sounds, it won't be easy. Dozer needs traction and firm ground. You sink a dozer to it's frame,,,,,,,,,,

You may have to cut in half if it is stuck in the mud. Yes, cables can break and cut you into 2 pieces. Use a dampner on the cable to prevent this.

whahoo,,,run the cable to the tree,,thru a pulley and back to the winch. That is double line,,,just like the pic you show. If you took the hook to the tree, and did not use the pulley,,it would be a single line.

 

[Applesister]

If you have a bulldozer you're golden. If you know someone who has a bulldozer they chain them for transport. whoever owns the dozer should own chains, which are best.
I have a 300' nylon rope. Its heavy. Its probably the wrong kind of rope for log winching but thats whats here and thats what we use and it stretches like a rubberband.
We have large snatch blocks and we use a pickup truck.
If no bulldozer maybe a large tractor if the tree is really huge.
My BIL is into the whole tree dragging thing. Its like playing to him. I think its time consuming and gets dirt into the bark. But in the long run it saves dragging all those rounds out of the swamp too. Even if you can get to where they are to cut.

 

[BoiledOver]

When taking a big tree deep in the woods or swamp and it just is not accessable with motorized equipment, I will buck the entire length of the trunk half way through at 20" intervals (what works in my boiler) and then start splitting. Way lighter to carry splits than a fat round. Then buck and split the other half

 

[smokedragon]

I have a monster white oak

Diameter and length? A nice green oak can weigh 55 lbs per cubic foot (since there is no air space like split and stacked wood). You figure a base diameter of 30" and a height of 50 feet, that is in the neighborhood of 4500 lbs. That is assuming it is a long stick that gets skinnier as it goes up and comes to a point. Since most trees like that branch out, you can add some to that figure.

No rope will handle that, and very few cables (unless you use a block and tackle system) will handle it either.

You are looking at something that will require a chain.

Even if you have the right thing to pull it with, I doubt you would have the traction. Even with a bulldozer, if you just spin up to the frame, it doesn't do you any good.

I have had trees like that before, that just weren't worth the effort or risk to my health to get.

Good luck.

 

[razerface]

I have had trees like that before, that just weren't worth the effort or risk to my health to get.

Good luck.

it is in his yard,,,

 

[wahoowad]

Sounds like a challenge to get it, but I'd love to see some pics of the before and after when you conquer it

 

[smokedragon]

it is in his yard,,,

But he feels it is unsafe to buck/haul out of the swamp.......Unsafe is unsafe, no matter where the tree is.

Some of the folks on here have access to a lot of equipment and take for granted that sometimes stuff is just not worth the risk.

 

[razerface]

Process the half that is in your yard,,,which will reduce the weight you have to move,,,and if you think it is too dangerous to do the swampy area,,at least you have it out of your yard.

 

[bigbarf48]

A truck and a winch would get it out I bet. A 5000 pound tree is well within the capacity if say a 12k pound off-road winch

 

[gzecc]

I have a monster white oak that split, one half in my backyard, the other half into a swampy area. this high moisture likely killed the tree and is the result of different land usage in the last 10 years as compared to the last 200 years of this oak's life.

I have absolutely had it with cutting wood in the swamp. I feel it is too danderous for any saw usage and not worth the risk of injury to a guy like me that doesn't cut wood as a profession and can get myself into tricky situations.

I'd like to drag the oak about 100 feet onto dry ground - is this a job for a winch? Is there a risk of cable snapping and causing injury from there? is it better to use a long chain and dozer for this?

You need to call Shelby Stanga!

 

[splitoak]

Yes there are ropes that can handle 5k lbs...the hoist pictured shows a load rating of 6600 lbs doubled.....doubt you could pull the handle...

 

[razerface]

Yes there are ropes that can handle 5k lbs...the hoist pictured shows a load rating of 6600 lbs doubled.....doubt you could pull the handle...

for sure,,, my kubota uses rope on the 5K winch mounted on the front of it.

 

[Longstreet]

for sure,,, my kubota uses rope on the 5K winch mounted ion the front of it.

Amsteel Blue?
http://wesspur.com/rope/amsteel-blue.html

There are lots of rigging ropes that are rated for over 5,000 pounds.

 

[David.Ervin]

Use a chain if you can. Ropes tend to stretch, and that stretch is stored energy. If it snaps - where's all that energy going to go?

 

[razerface]

Use a chain if you can. Ropes tend to stretch, and that stretch is stored energy. If it snaps - where's all that energy going to go?

you are used to "regular" ropes

One reason these specialty ropes are replacing cable on winches,,is they are safer. I can stand right beside my rope winch and guide it as I pull heavy weight,,something I would not dare to do with a cable winch, or chain on a dozer. The cable or the chain can cut you in half. I have snapped chains with my dozer and found them 75 feet away. We all know what cables do when they break!

Note: i still use chains but have no more cable winches

 

[Longstreet]

Use a chain if you can. Ropes tend to stretch, and that stretch is stored energy. If it snaps - where's all that energy going to go?

The energy will go the same place that the energy in a broken chain or cable will go. I'm no engineer but my understanding is that you load anything to the same weight and it will have the same stored energy.

Of course a broken rope slows down a heck of a lot faster than anything metal.

 

[tsquini]

Is the area wet year around? Few white oak in a low land ara but the water dries up in the summer. Typically, oak will not servive is swamp conditions for too long.

Share some Picts with us

 

[Andrewj]

Diameter and length? A nice green oak can weigh 55 lbs per cubic foot (since there is no air space like split and stacked wood). You figure a base diameter of 30" and a height of 50 feet, that is in the neighborhood of 4500 lbs. That is assuming it is a long stick that gets skinnier as it goes up and comes to a point. Since most trees like that branch out, you can add some to that figure.

No rope will handle that, and very few cables (unless you use a block and tackle system) will handle it either.

You are looking at something that will require a chain.

Even if you have the right thing to pull it with, I doubt you would have the traction. Even with a bulldozer, if you just spin up to the frame, it doesn't do you any good.

I have had trees like that before, that just weren't worth the effort or risk to my health to get.

Good luck.

the base is between 4 and 5 feet in diameter. I have a 50 hp (small) dozer. guarantee it won'tpull it as is right now. I may have to wait on dry weather to get traction. This is the largest oak I have ever dealt with. The tree is somewhat on the edge of the woods and when it was standing, it dwarfed all other trees around it. A true monster. The 4-5 foot is at the base, I'd say at the 5 foot mark the caliper was closer to 4, but it had these ripples that made the shape irregular, not round.

 

[razerface]

the base is between 4 and 5 feet in diameter. I have a 50 hp (small) dozer. guarantee it won'tpull it as is right now. I may have to wait on dry weather to get traction. This is the largest oak I have ever dealt with. The tree is somewhat on the edge of the woods and when it was standing, it dwarfed all other trees around it. A true monster. The 4-5 foot is at the base, I'd say at the 5 foot mark the caliper was closer to 4, but it had these ripples that made the shape irregular, not round.

cut it into 3 pieces and pull it out of there! jd350?

 

[HybridFyre]

the base is between 4 and 5 feet in diameter. I have a 50 hp (small) dozer. guarantee it won'tpull it as is right now. I may have to wait on dry weather to get traction. This is the largest oak I have ever dealt with. The tree is somewhat on the edge of the woods and when it was standing, it dwarfed all other trees around it. A true monster. The 4-5 foot is at the base, I'd say at the 5 foot mark the caliper was closer to 4, but it had these ripples that made the shape irregular, not round.

wow that thing sounds like a beast. pics please??