Felling large trees

[Osagebndr]

I have scored several tall ash trees. A few of them are leaning heavily in the opposite direction of where they need to fall. There's nothing around them to crush or harm, however if they fall in the opposite direction they'll fall into a deep holler that is behind a few of them. Any suggestions from an experienced person would be appreciated

 

[lindnova]

Other than heavy equipment if they are leaning too far not much you can do. Any pictures?

 

[BrotherBart]

Best you can do is get them to go maybe 40 degrees from the lean. In all the years I have only had one go over backwards on me and that was cutting against the lean of a big one. Scared the hell out of me because the escape route I had cleared and planned to use was on the other side of the tree. Dropped the saw, turned and ran exactly five feet before I tripped and fell. Fortunately I ran at the angle from the tree that I usually run.

Be careful.

 

[Osagebndr]

Ill get some pics in the next day or two of the trees in question lindnoba. If there were any low lying limbs I reallly wouldnt be worried too much I'd have a hook on point. Trees are pretty much limbless for a good 30 ft

 

[jebatty]

Heavy leaners are dangerous in all situations, IMO. Compression stress on the inside lean, explosive expansion stress on the outside lean, and a mix of stresses on the side leans. When possible, I try to cut at 90 degrees to the lean and use a rope to pull the tree in that direction. When not possible, I often just leave the tree. No tree is worth risking life or limb.

 

[Osagebndr]

Totally agree on that. So hilly where I live some trees are better left alone no matter how good the firewood

 

[BobUrban]

And have someone with you to watch for falling limbs Those dead ash can have some serious widow makers drop when the tree starts moving. All of us in Michigan have been working the Ash train for years unfortunately with plenty more to cut.

 

[Hickorynut]

With my experience level, I too try to generally cut with the lean. A few times I have used a come along and tried to pull it the other way. One time doing this I didn't leave enough hinge and the hinge broke and the tree went sideways. Not good !

 

[Osagebndr]

I had a cherry blow back at me in a sudden wind gust . Swiped my legs out from unDer me

 

[Kenster]

If you have plenty of other trees to choose from, just leave those. If not, cut 'em down and let 'em fall. Is the holler accessible? Can you get a cable or chain down to the tree? If so, Cut and trim the trunk into manageable lengths and try to haul it back up out of the holler. It's a lot of extra work though, and may not be worth it if you have plenty of other trees available.

 

[Osagebndr]

That's what I'm going to do. There's plenty there to get. Ill let the landowner handle it

 

[Fred Wright]

Agreed, leaners can be dangerous if you try to drop 'em against the lean. I don't have the experience nor the equipment needed to attempt this.

Learned my lesson on leaners some years ago. Got a face cut in a big red maple, it had some lean. Started the back cut, got a couple inches in and hit mush. Darn carpenter ants. Heard some crackling sounds. That was all I needed... took off running to my escape route.

Like Lot's wife I turned to see the tree chair. It broke off around 15' up, rolled and hit the ground a good 10 feet from the stump. My knees got shaky, sat down on the ground for a few minutes to rest.

Never again. I won't cut large leaners without a length of chain around 'em anymore.

 

[TMonter]

Agreed, leaners can be dangerous if you try to drop 'em against the lean. I don't have the experience nor the equipment needed to attempt this.

Learned my lesson on leaners some years ago. Got a face cut in a big red maple, it had some lean. Started the back cut, got a couple inches in and hit mush. Darn carpenter ants. Heard some crackling sounds. That was all I needed... took off running to my escape route.

Like Lot's wife I turned to see the tree chair. It broke off around 15' up, rolled and hit the ground a good 10 feet from the stump. My knees got shaky, sat down on the ground for a few minutes to rest.

Never again. I won't cut large leaners without a length of chain around 'em anymore.

A lot depends on the species and type of tree. I've cut lot of Doug Fir leaners with no problems but I am careful about how I approach each one.

 

[Shawn Curry]

Agreed, leaners can be dangerous if you try to drop 'em against the lean.

Big leaners can be dangerous even if you drop them in the direction they're leaning. This spring I was working on an overgrown multi-trunk maple in the backyard, to clear some canopy space for some trees I wanted to plant. Had all the smaller trunks removed and out of the way, but the base of one of the smallest ones was right in the corner of where I needed to put the notch on the big trunk - probably 30" diameter. It had a good 30 degree forward lean, so I used the bore cut technique. Finished the back cut and it started to fall; and that little stump acted like a wedge and split the entire trunk right in half. The larger of the two halves broke free of the hinge and kicked out a good 15' to the side. Luckily it stayed attached at the other end; if it hadn't, who knows where it might have ended up.