Hung up on a slope...ideas?

[Beetle-Kill]

Sorry, no pictures.
Situation- slope is 35 deg. (on a Mayes angle finder)
5 trees, blow down, bases are up-hill and they are all hung up in lower slope trees.
Largest is about 16" diam., about 30-40' length, all lodgepole pine.
They're all laying into the surrounding trees at a 90 deg. (level) angle, but due to the slope I can walk under them , do jumping-jacks with a MS-180 in each hand, and not touch them. If I wanted to.
But I don't, so what is the safest way to get these cut up?
I'm thinking a notch on the tops, as far out as I can get, then a bottom cut going up. They should hinge and after some carefull relief cuts, come down enough to push 'em to the ground.
I can string a lot of cable and a come-a-long if required.
Thanks, JB
(I'll check in later, only a few hours of light left.)

 

[bogydave]

Yep . That's the lodgepole I remember, falls over like "pixie sticks".
Always amazed me how well the elk can run thru that stuff.

Slow & easy.
Maybe make some relief cuts on the sides (not top & bottom), then pull to the side with a cable to break it off.
Just be extra safe, eh!

 

[Beetle-Kill]

Thanks BD, I may have to do the side-pull route. If it wasn't so steep, and if I wasn't so short it might have played out differently, but....
I may just flag them for the time being, save 'em for later. My ankles agree, 'cause it all has to come out on the sidehill, one round at a time.
And yeah, Elk are freaky in this stuff. A few years ago, I was packing in to get a bull I'd taken the night before and jumped a big 6pt. bull. At 30 yrds., if I hadn't seen him, I wouldn't have known he was there. Quiet.

 

[thewoodlands]

Beetle-Kill, I won't be much help but the trees I cut like that all act a little different, stay safe. The big Hemlock we did last fall was the only one that did what I wanted it to do.

zap

 

[lukem]

Depending on how hung up they are, you may be able to get a rope/cable up high and pull them 90* to the lean. It wouldn't take much force if you were up high enough. No cutting required.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

The cable and come-a-longs didn't work. Too much flex and give in the trunks and supporting trees.
Unless someone comes up with an alternative, I'm inclined to drill holes in the trunks, fill 'em with water and let the freeze/thaw cycle try and break 'em down.
Try again next year.

 

[thewoodlands]

This was the one I hated doing but it worked out better than any of the leaners I've done, I had the wife leave the gate open, thought she might have to make a call. Both links are the same tree, not sure I would do it again.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/chains-the-old-green-truck-and-a-prayer.77164/#post-77164
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/hemlock-down.77296/#post-77296

zap

 

[lukem]

The cable and come-a-longs didn't work. Too much flex and give in the trunks and supporting trees.

Worth a try. We had a really, really, nasty hanger on a slope like you described once....except is was about 30+" monster basswood (bad firewood, but good for lightweight lumber for furniture backings). We cut a notch out of the top...then undercut it all the way thru. It didn't drop because there was still a ton of downward pressure...enough to make it stick to the stump...and more than enough to pinch your bar in a bad way. At that point it was too dangerous so we let the wind take it the rest of the way down.

If I had to do it over, I would have angled the undercut toward the top of the tree...but it would most likely have split. At least it would have had a chance of sliding off the stump.

I've heard of others chaining the leaner to another standing tree...then dropping that standing tree...and pulling down the leaner. Probably not a great idea...and I'm for sure not brave enough to try it.

Unless those things are right in your way, or you can get something big enough to run on diesel back there to yank on it, I'd leave them be.

 

[ScotO]

can you start up near the stumps of those trees, make a series of top cuts around 1/3 through the tree in some increments out along the trunk? Then make undercuts through the remaining wood, one at a time. The tree will start to stand up towards the hanger it is in, you have to take your time and work slow this way, but I have done trees that were hung up like the ones you are doing and got the job done with very little sweat. Big thing is, be very careful when undercutting. Just a suggestion.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Beetle-Kill, I could cut those pretty easy if it were on level ground. However, with the slope, I do think you'd do best to pull them down. That is an awful slope to be handling a saw on when it is already an iffy situation.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

I'm going to leave them alone for the time being. They're on my property and no one but me goes up there. If I bust my butt and do a lot of clearing, I could get my Jeep above them. The slope above them plateaus out, maybe 10-15 deg. I could winch 'em at that point.
Thanks all, JB