Big ash meets Stihl 064

[Ashful]

Took down a big unhealthy ash yesterday, and the 064 performed beautifully. This tree had two 32" trunks that joined into one monster trunk about 5-6 feet above the ground. Thinking the tree could split apart as I cut, my buddy wanted to set up a platform and take the two trunks separately above the union, but I didn't like the idea of working on a platform. I settled for climbing up into the tree, ratchet strapping the two trunks together about 30' up, and taking the tree in one cut at the narrowest point below the trunk union. I took it with a 28" bar on the 064, and the tree stayed together until it hit the ground, upon which the two trunks separated. Photo is my spotter / landowner, not me.

 

[infinitymike]

Very nice. Safety first. Dropping trees can be very unpredictable. That should give a cord or two I guess.

 

[NickDL]

Nice take down. Glad it went well.

 

[raybonz]

Very nice firewood in that tree congrats!

Ray

 

[corey21]

Nice work and a lot of Btu's.

 

[wingsfan]

nice work, that will warm you for awhile.

 

[DexterDay]

That is a Monster of an Ash. The Borer has been there

Its a shame to see such ancient giants fall prey to such a small predator.

Looks like a lot of good BTU's for you. My guess is way over a cord.

 

[JOHN BOY]

Very nice take down , split trunks can be very tricky. Thats a big ash ! lots of wood there.

 

[osagebow]

Glad that monarch is being put to good use. Congrats on the safe felling - that huge split is scary.

 

[jatoxico]

Nice, now the real fun begins! Ash is supposed to season pretty quick I've heard. I have a 1/2 cord from Irene for the 2013-2014 season and it looks ready now, don't know what the moisture meter thinks yet.

 

[bogydave]

You did it right. Safely on the ground & nothing damaged
I bet when it hit the ground, a richter scale somewhere moved

Will make a nice big stack of splits for next years fire wood.

 

[Ashful]

Thanks, guys. I checked this one over carefully for evidence of EAB before bringing it home, and found none. It seems this one has been declining for about 4 years now, and no EAB was discovered in PA prior to last year. There is evidence it was struck by lightening (bark blown off one side of one of the trunks from top to bottom), and bugs and fungus had gotten into the exposed wood. I'm not sure if that was what was killing it, but I found no "D" shaped holes or green backed borers.

I forgot to measure it's height, but I'd say the big wood went up at least 70 feet, and anything above that was small branches. I'm taking 32" rounds out of each of those two 70 foot trunks, so there's quite a bit of wood in her, so to speak. Really wishing I had a trailer right about now...

 

[CageMaster]

thats a great sized tree....very nice job

 

[ScotO]

Great job, Joful! Nothing wrong with a well-thought plan, I do the overkill stuff all the time! lots and lots of great wood in that tree, get 'er split up and stacked asap, and it'll be ready before you know it.

 

[milleo]

Did it destroy the ratchet strap? Awesome bunch of wood.

 

[Ashful]

Nope! When it fell and split in two, it actually released the tension from the strap. No straps or equipment were harmed in the killing of this tree.

 

[milleo]

Lol....

 

[Got Wood]

That tree could make a lot of baseball bats!

 

[CageMaster]

That tree could make a lot of baseball bats!

the amount of broken bats for this year makes me think they may come looking for you and your ash!

 

[milleo]

Hope they won't kick his ash and take it away from him.

 

[smokinj]

Took down a big unhealthy ash yesterday, and the 064 performed beautifully. This tree had two 32" trunks that joined into one monster trunk about 5-6 feet above the ground. Thinking the tree could split apart as I cut, my buddy wanted to set up a platform and take the two trunks separately above the union, but I didn't like the idea of working on a platform. I settled for climbing up into the tree, ratchet strapping the two trunks together about 30' up, and taking the tree in one cut at the narrowest point below the trunk union. I took it with a 28" bar on the 064, and the tree stayed together until it hit the ground, upon which the two trunks separated. Photo is my spotter / landowner, not me.

View attachment 78207

Those bigger tree sure make you feel good once it hits in the right spot. (until then its a little unnerving)

 

[golfandwoodnut]

That is interesting, it looks like it cracked all the way to the base of the tree when it hit the ground. It is already half way split.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I have never enjoyed cutting those type of trees. Always make me a bit nervous and if possible, I'll just put it off until they come down themselves and thank Mother Nature. At least this one had not been hit by the EAB yet.

 

[Ashful]

Yeah... the land owner's comment to me was, "if you want to chicken out, I won't blame you." This is a guy who's helped me out with a lot of things over the last few years, and this tree was standing next to a shed where he stores two tractors and some 1950's Harley's, so letting Mother Nature do the job wasn't an option. I did have some second thoughts about it, though.

 

[amateur cutter]

Yeah... the land owner's comment to me was, "if you want to chicken out, I won't blame you." This is a guy who's helped me out with a lot of things over the last few years, and this tree was standing next to a shed where he stores two tractors and some 1950's Harley's, so letting Mother Nature do the job wasn't an option. I did have some second thoughts about it, though.

LOL, always that bit of pucker factor with trees like that. Nice job! A C