Tales from the woods..

[Nealm66]

Which leads me to this, if you oops and make yourself a nasty trap, when chunking it down from the bottom, make undercuts that will steer the butt away from the tree it’s stuck in. This will help keep you a more safe than walking it straight into the tree. Crippling a cut and pulling it to break with a come along or rope can help keep you in the clear as well

 

[walhondingnashua]

Which leads me to this, if you oops and make yourself a nasty trap, when chunking it down from the bottom, make undercuts that will steer the butt away from the tree it’s stuck in. This will help keep you a more safe than walking it straight into the tree. Crippling a cut and pulling it to break with a come along or rope can help keep you in the clear as well

I'm in the middle of one of these right now. Monster ash caught in a pignut hickory. Has me pretty nervous cutting at it. Last time I cut at it, I didn't go all the way through and I'm hoping the wind will knock it down while Im no where near.

 

[Nealm66]

I'm in the middle of one of these right now. Monster ash caught in a pignut hickory. Has me pretty nervous cutting at it. Last time I cut at it, I didn't go all the way through and I'm hoping the wind will knock it down while Im no where near.

Yup, dangerous situation. Did you understand what I was trying to say? Basically and undercut and a back cut that would allow you to use a come along from a safe spot to the side. This will pull the butt off to the side and helps release the tree .

 

[walhondingnashua]

Yes its good description. Ive worked at it twice now with the come along and chunking it down. Its just a bad hang up. It will come eventually and I just want to make sure i'm not hurt doing it lol.

 

[Nealm66]

Definitely been in some precarious situations. One of the disadvantages of being highly skilled in the industry is that you will get the most dangerous strips. Yaay

 

[Nealm66]

And old Mother Nature can build some wicked nightmares

 

[walhondingnashua]

Definitely been in some precarious situations. One of the disadvantages of being highly skilled in the industry is that you will get the most dangerous strips. Yaay

Funny, because I am the guy in the family that cuts trees, I am the one everyone expects to do all the dangerous and risky stuff at their house for them lol.

 

[Nealm66]

I totally get that. I’ve gotten to a point where I will refer jobs out that require a lot of spider man. 3 surgeries on one knee, one on the other and both rotor cups are torn. I keep doing it here and there to help people out and to keep my joints from freezing up . I notice my forearms are the weakest link being out of shape my hands cramp and can’t open them on a bigger tree. Not a great weekend sport ha ha. Definitely be careful with a trap. Remember too, a block strapped to the tree will double your pull. Always use cable straps and you can use up to 7 blocks. It will succumb to your will

 

[walhondingnashua]

It amazes me how small of a branch that a tree can get hung up on as well. I dropped it that direction because it was the only option. The only this holding it is a 4" little elbow in a pignut hickory tree. It just won't let go.

 

[Nealm66]

Post some pics , maybe we can help come up with some safe wizardry

 

[Nealm66]

For instance, never under estimate the tree chopping power on a 4 inch limb with a 12 gauge and a good quality 6 pack of beer on the 4th of July

 

[walhondingnashua]

It's the one big "Y" in the middle. My last chunk gave way last night so its come down 8 or 9 feet. Its standing pretty much straight up and down again but I think the "Y" is low enough now that I can get my throw bag and rope through it. I might be able to get the kubota attached now and tug until it comes down... from a safe distance lol.

 

[Nealm66]

I see it, yup, that’s a good example of where getting the butt to drop each time to the side will almost always spit them out. It’s a lot less dangerous to because the butt drops away from you as your making the cut

 

[walhondingnashua]

Actually my intention was to do what you mention. I cut it to kick out away from me and to the side. I guess it was a futile attempt because it just broke and went straight down lol. Just another one to learn from.

 

[Nealm66]

Well hopefully you never get enough practice to perfect it ha ha,

 

[Nealm66]

I’ve had to trip a lot of trees with a tree blown into it causing a lot of pressure and it sucks. Especially with hardwoods on steeper ground. I remember cutting a unit for Weyerhaeuser after an ice storm that looked like a bomb went off. About a month of that really got to a guy

 

[walhondingnashua]

Got it down today. Rope made it up into the Y and pulled it down with a tractor. Still help on pretty good. She's all bucked up and waiting by the woodshed to be split.

 

[Nealm66]

I’m running out of relevant tips! And my brain is numb from the work week ( my Friday!) Only thing I can think of at the moment is about a never ending tree job I starte last winter. It’s for a friend of my nephews and the house is surrounded by trees. Some hardwoods, some conifers. Power lines, bla bla bla.. I was thinking of something I learned many years ago from the guy that got me into the industry. So here it is, hope this makes sense. If you are pulling a hardwood back from its lean, there’s two things to consider. A low purchase looses leverage but gains speed. A high purchase gains leverage but looses speed. This becomes important when the hardwood cannot veer left or right from the straight back pull as the tree will lift back and follow it’s side lean if the winch can’t keep up. Another problem pulling hardwoods is barber chair. To eliminate this issue, there is no back cut. You pull back enough to know you have enough pull but not so much you can’t undercut, then undercut and pull it over letting it rip the back wood. This is the best practice I have found for a fail safe practice

 

[Nealm66]

There are also occasions when I will pull from two directions

 

[CatfishHunter]

New guy here. Old hand with the saw.

When I get a widowmaker, I grab my 6 ton mining come along. It is great for slowly pulling the base out and allowing the tree to fall as desired. If I am in a more remote area though, definitely chunk it down to the sides.

Glad to hear that that tree made it down safely.

 

[Grizzerbear]

This thread would be good as a sticky link up top. Lots of good insight.

 

[Nealm66]

This thread would be good as a sticky link up top. Lots of good insight.
[/QUOTE Sorry,I should google, but what’s a sticky link and with that I’m guessing there are already some on this forum, how do I get to them?

 

[CatfishHunter]

Sticky links are a northern delicacy combining pine sap and sausage links. Quite tasty...

Sorry, couldn't resist! They are internet threads that many people should read, so they are "stuck" at the top of the forum page so that one doesn't have to search endlessly to find the thread again.

 

[Nealm66]

Sticky links are a northern delicacy combining pine sap and sausage links. Quite tasty...

Sorry, couldn't resist! They are internet threads that many people should read, so they are "stuck" at the top of the forum page so that one doesn't have to search endlessly to find the thread again.

Lol, that’s awesome

 

[Grizzerbear]

In the top of the wood shed thread list there are links for random useful info pertaining to wood gathering and so on. Tick bites and lyme disease, show us your wood shed and cord calculator are a few of them.