• Hi all and welcome to TheWoodHaven2 brought into the 21st Century, kicking and screaming! We all have Alasdair to thank for the vast bulk of the heavy lifting to get us here, no more so than me because he's taken away a huge burden of responsibility from my shoulders and brought us to this new shiny home, with all your previous content (hopefully) still intact! Please peruse and feed back. There is still plenty to do, like changing the colour scheme, adding the banner graphic, tweaking the odd setting here and there so I have added a new thread in the 'Technical Issues, Bugs and Feature Requests' forum for you to add any issues you find, any missing settings or just anything you'd like to see added/removed from the feature set that Xenforo offers. We will get to everything over the coming weeks so please be patient, but add anything at all to the thread I mention above and we promise to get to them over the next few days/weeks/months. In the meantime, please enjoy!

Best way to get this tree down ?

RogerS

RogerS

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 21, 2014
Messages
15,493
Reaction score
1,223
Location
Somerset
It's been like this since we moved here. I'm bored and could also do with the firewood but...not sure how to go about it. Concerns are :-

1) Wary of smashing the fence. Hard to get any ladders in any useful position to prune back the smallboughs to clear the fence when the main horizontal bough is cut off. Current thoughts are to cut the horizontal bough back near the main trunk as I can get a ladder in there tied off. But cut it very gradually and not all the way through so that right at the end the bough gradually cracks at the cut and gracefully lowers itself for further work once it's closer to the ground. What could go wrong ?20241217_115336.jpg20241217_115340.jpg20241217_115343.jpg20241217_115346.jpg

2) The main trunk is a puzzle as it extends all the way up into that spruce. If I cut the main trunk then as it 'goes' it will bury itself further into the spruce.

or do I GALMI ?

 
GALMI.
I have never and would never use a chainsaw while standing on a ladder. Too much to go wrong when the weight of cut branches releases the strain on the rest of the tree.
Ain’t worth the risk Roger.
 
A hung-up tree? No way you should tackle that yourself.
 
I agree with Andy, being on a ladder with a chain saw at the moment that everything moves is not a good idea.

You could try a vertical cut about 1.5m from the base of the tree. The trunk would then hopefully swing towards the spruce leaving the stump more or less upright. You would need to get the angle right so that it does not trap the saw it moves, roughly vertical should be about right. Then you get the tractor and pull the offending tree away.

However... this all depends on the balance point of the head and trunk, difficult to judge from the photos, but probably in favour of the trunk going down and not up when severed from the base.
 
Agree with Mike, leave it to someone who knows how to set about it. All sorts could happen when you start to cut.
 
I once had a neighbour who was an Army Chaplain and a Vicar. Nice enough bloke but not the sharpest chisel on the rack.
One day he decided to tackle an offending branch, put his ladder up and started sawing away. You guessed it, real life Looney Tunes. He was sawing beween the ladder and the trunk...
I think he got away with it, but he didn't deserve to.
The same guy. His wife accidentally put the wrong fuel into her car. Petrol/Diesel, not sure which way round, So his idea was to drain the tank, put it all into the wheelie bin on the trailer and take it down to the tip. He was persuaded against the idea.
 
Would it be impossible to remove the rails from the fence, cut the tree at the base and hope that it falls between the posts, then replace the rails once you've cleared it up? That would obviously be the easiest way but not guaranteed to save the fence posts.

Alternatively, I would be looking to rope it somewhere around its balancing point to another tree, cut it at the base, and then swing it away from the spruce and lower it down to cut it. Or better yet, an excavator with a shear grab would be ideal in this situation, or something with enough force to pull the tree roots and all backwards over itself.
 
Similar to a problem I had in the last year where I had a leaning tree over hanging neighbours property.

Tackled it by roping off the the upper smaller branches so that they could not fall too far and then be lowered to the ground, and slowly reduce branch lengths back to the main trunk with my Hitachi reciprocating saw.

Basically an over enthusiastic pruning procedure.

That way there was no significant 'spring' in the main trunk sections as each 'trimming' was removed.

Reciprocating saw still capable of doing self harm but far less of a challenge than a chain saw.
 
Removing the rails is a good idea just in case.

I have a small Stihl chainsaw as part of a combi unit with an extra middle section so it can be about 3 metres. That would remove a lot of the overhanging branches in sections without too much trouble, I've done it a number of times. I'm happy to come and give you a hand if you decide to tackle it Roger. I have loads of rope to secure and persuade which way the limbs fall and a nail gun as well so the rails would take minutes to replace.
 
Lons said:
Removing the rails is a good idea just in case.

I have a small Stihl chainsaw as part of a combi unit with an extra middle section so it can be about 3 metres. That would remove a lot of the overhanging branches in sections without too much trouble, I've done it a number of times. I'm happy to come and give you a hand if you decide to tackle it Roger. I have loads of rope to secure and persuade which way the limbs fall and a nail gun as well so the rails would take minutes to replace.
Click to expand...
Thanks Bob....I think you have a date ! Next Wednesday ? smile.png
 
AndyP said:
Hope it goes well for you both. Think twice, cut once and stay safe.
Click to expand...
He needs a second person there Andy, it's 30 minutes to the nearest hospital. On second thoughts I'm not sure I want my car spattered in blood. :unsure:
 
Significant barber chair risk there: compression and tension, and hung up. Be super careful guys and have your escape route clear. There are some good videos on line of various ways of how to deal with this type of difficult felling, if you are not already experienced. If you are experienced then I am sorry for teaching grandfathers to suck eggs.
 
Thanks everyone. Prudence gave a reality check and I'm getting a GALMI.
 
Well, I don't know what a GALMI is apart from an African onion. :) But it sounds as if you have made wise choice. (y)

I wouldn't fancy felling that one. We've felled lots of trees in the last few years (bye bye Leylandii) and sometimes they are unpredictable and would even catch professionals out. When I did the chainsaw maintenance and woodland felling NPTC course a few years ago now, when I was fitter, one of the instructors was showing us how to trim off branches before taking the main trunk down in a tight spot with trees intertwined. The branch disengaged but then sprang back and hit him in the face. He was visored up and had a proper helmet on, but it still knocked him out briefly. Was a wake up for all of us as he actually knew what he was doing.
 
Does it HAVE to come down, could you not just leave it alone?

I don’t see the point in hiring someone to deal with it if it isn’t an actual problem for the time being.
 
RogerS said:
Ian, the housing market has pretty much been killed stone dead.
Click to expand...
I’m obviously out of touch, looked online and all the usual suspects say all is good, to quote Mandy Rice- Davies “ well he would say that wouldn’t he” lol. But predictions are that they will go up 3 to 3 1/2 % next year. Nothing much coming on the market can push prices up too.
Sorry to hear it’s not going well.
 
Trevanion said:
Does it HAVE to come down, could you not just leave it alone?

I don’t see the point in hiring someone to deal with it if it isn’t an actual problem for the time being.
Click to expand...
From a presentation point of view re the sale, it just says 'problem'. Plus the tree is not healthy and well on the way to dying.

Plus, as I mentioned earlier, we need the firewood if the sale is going to take a long time.
 
Roger, "a wee Monn in" is by far the best decision. That tree is just a trap waiting to spring. The bitangulation at the top is bad enough, but the leaning trunk is, as Adrian pointed out, a possible "barber's chair". This one needs to be left to the experienced bod, preferably one with a good pulley and rope system. A Hiab or Unimog (with winch)would be perfect as support vehicle.
 
8.30 am Merlyn arrived.

10.30 am Job all done. Sorry no pics as I was playing 'Helper'.

Note to self....check out how much extending pole saws are.
 
RogerS said:
8.30 am Merlyn arrived.

10.30 am Job all done. Sorry no pics as I was playing 'Helper'.

Note to self....check out how much extending pole saws are.
Click to expand...
(y)

Mine is a Stihl which is part of the Combi set and it wasn't cheap but an excellent bit of kit. The saw is only around 12" but it cuts as well as my large pro Makita so worth every penny as far as I'm concerned.
 
RogerS said:
8.30 am Merlyn arrived.

10.30 am Job all done. Sorry no pics as I was playing 'Helper'.

Note to self....check out how much extending pole saws are.
Click to expand...
I bought a Bosch battery one last week for £120 (rrp £199)
Ok for my needs, but it is quite slow (rpm) and I have decided not to over stress the motor and run it for 3 minutes max before letting it cool down.
 
Last edited:
^^ Agree with Lons re Stihl combi set. We have same, and people may not realise that as well as the long reach pole you can also fit an additional extension pole (they do alloy or carbon fibre) which adds another metre. Best used with a harness as they get top heavy. If I were buying Stihl again it would be battery not petrol (if Stihl do that). The pro battery units are really good in our Stihl hedge cutters and strimmer - powerful and last ages.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top