Bucking a Leaner Locust Rate my Plan.

[jatoxico]

Started bucking a leaner locust. It's a double trunk tree with one much smaller than the other. The whole mess took out another oak. I bucked the smaller one today which was suspended. A few stress points but not too difficult. Probably a 1/3 of a cord once its split.

The larger is being held by another tree in one of it's crooks. This is the tricky part. My idea is to cut a top wedge from the crook then come from the bottom. Even though I would be on the downhill side I want to position myself behind the tree holding it up so it can't come at me as it drops.

 

[Sinngetreu]

I’m certainly no expert and probably have no business answering this question, but if it were me, I would start at the top and work my way down making sure to cut from both sides to meet your cuts in the middle to avoid stress breaks.
Either that or I would relieve the stress at the crook while remaining on the up hill side in case the locust makes a move on ya. You can bet that the tree wont roll up hill (much).
Its kinda hard to say without seeing it in person.

The other thing you could consider is putting some long rounds to bridge the tree to keep it off the ground for when you do buck it.

Just my opinion, I could be totally wrong.

 

[jatoxico]

The problem is it's supported on both ends so any cut in the middle will drop the tree at the cut. There are branches underneath in tension that will not allow to drop in place so I don't want to be close when it let's go. I also don't know what the root ball wants to do.

Edit; I found a before picture I took while taking a shot of a hickory I was cutting after Irene came through. The 3 grouped trees in the picture came down during Sandy. The large center one is the tricky guy and is bigger than it looks. I comfortably walked and worked on top of it today while bucking the smaller locust on the right. The oak on the left in the pic is the one that barber chaired.

 

[BobUrban]

No idea w/o being there so advice will be limited due to no one wanting to tell you something that gets you hurt. 2D photos just cannot tell the whole story and you are wise to do more walking around it, thinking it over and planning your attack. I sometimes take a few days before touching the saw to a questionable tree. As the saying goes, "better safe than..."

The Locust looks manageable from the pics but again, a few pics just cannot tell the whole story. Top down and then an undercut from the high side getting it on the ground seems doable but only you can tell if it is relatively safe. Can you get a truck near enough to use straps and tug on it a bit? Sometimes a little jerk with a truck or come along will save a lot of Head/heart ache in the long run.

 

[Hickorynut]

Support that trunk on the underside tightly somewhere the middle with a round or other wood Then it seems you could start cutting from either end. If from the root end use a plastic wedge when the trunk starts to pinch the saw. The wedge would also keep the trunk from dropping down. The other end seems fairly easy if the trunk is supported somewhere back on the underside. You are right though in being very cautious until you learn some tricks on safe cutting. Just my opinion.

 

[Chicken Farmer]

Can you get a truck near enough to use straps and tug on it a bit? Sometimes a little jerk with a truck or come along will save a lot of Head/heart ache in the long run.

+1 on that

Just make sure you have enough length on the chain/strap to allow some wrap. Looks like it could roll as it comes out of the standing tree.

 

[jatoxico]

Thanks for the thoughts guys and no need for any disclaimers . I know it's tough if not impossible to assess from pictures but it's fun to talk about and maybe something someone says clicks.

I can only get a truck on the downhill side. Either way the fork in the last picture will not allow the trunk to be moved and the root ball ain't goin' nowhere. In between the fork end and the root ball, the trunk is suspended like a bridge. I was considering supporting the middle but I still would have to cut it to drop it onto any support I constructed unless I jacked it up then lowered it.

Not going to happen any time soon now that we are getting snowed in. More time to contemplate.

 

[red oak]

As a general rule when I cut a leaner like that I stay on the uphill side no matter what. Trees do some strange things but I have never seen one roll uphill.

Also from those pictures I would start on the top of the tree (long end) and slowly work my way up, cutting upward if need be, and watching very carefully for the barberchair.

 

[Wood Duck]

This doesn't look too bad to me. I'd start by bucking the parts of the locust that extend beyond the smaller tree, in other words the upper parts of the locust. The upper parts of the locust are cantilevered in a way that looks ideal for sawing them to length one piece at a time.

When you have cut away all of the locust that extends beyond the smaller tree, I'd next drop the main trunk of the locust by cutting the locust. The locust is suspended on both ends, so when you cut the middle, the location of the cut will drop to the ground, pinching the top cut. This means you have to cut partially through the locust trunk from the top, then finish the cut from the bottom, and the trunk should drop to the ground. You might have to do this several times until the entire locust trunk, or at least almost all of the locust trunk, is on the ground. When you have only a small piece of locust stuck on the smaller tree you should be able to move the locust by hand, then cut the smaller tree which appears to be damaged.

That is a nice big locust and would keep my stove burning for a month - January 2016 would be the month. I hope it is cold so you get the most out of your locust.

 

[splitoak]

If you keep the words "stored energy" in yur mind....cut with your head first..i mean think about how the tree will react to specific cuts...if it is supported on both ends you could go to middle make a cut dwnwards bout 1/4 to 1/3...then undercut untill you feel the tree start to move..then cut till it falls or step back and re evaluate.....or support heavy end with rounds or the such so you can cut the light end into lengths till you get to the bottom..if yur not real familiar with cutting trees maybe get a friend to help..2 heads are always better than one....take yur time and be careful....good luck....

 

[woodsman416]

From what I can see, it sounds like you have a good plan. The locust isn't going to come back through that standing tree it's hung up on.

 

[jatoxico]

If you keep the words "stored energy" in yur mind....cut with your head first

When I cut the smaller locust away the base was split and in tension. There was a little movement when that let go but I stared at it long enough that it wasn't a surprise.

The locust isn't going to come back through that standing tree it's hung up on.

That's what I was thinking but I readily admit I'm not the most experienced so proceeding with caution. Don't want to do a "Kete" if you saw that post .

 

[HDRock]

Top down, ya buddy

 

[jatoxico]

Top down on the ground HD! Plan worked good. Came down w/ a hitch, only surprise was how little holding wood was left when it let go considering it did not ease down but dropped all at once. Only thing I changed was I did not cut main trunk back to the crotch since I would have had to work w/ the saw above my shoulder and my chaps wouldn't have helped if it kicked.

Measured the trunk at the half way point and it's 24". The base was a double tree (the smaller tree is already bucked) and split when it fell so it's hard to measure. It is pretty big as locusts go (prob > 36" in its present state). I have a Husky 435 w/ 16" bar. It did good even with the bar nose buried but I'm thinking about getting a rental saw so I don't beat on my mine. If this wasn't in my back yard I wouldn't be bothering w/ it, too much easier stuff around.

 

[BEConklin]

Support that trunk on the underside tightly somewhere the middle with a round or other wood Then it seems you could start cutting from either end. If from the root end use a plastic wedge when the trunk starts to pinch the saw. The wedge would also keep the trunk from dropping down. The other end seems fairly easy if the trunk is supported somewhere back on the underside. You are right though in being very cautious until you learn some tricks on safe cutting. Just my opinion.

That's what I'd do as well. Buck what you can above the smaller tree trapped under the log, then jam something under the main trunk to support it a little better than midway...closer to the trapped tree, then cut the trapped tree. That should leave part of the main trunk cantilevered. Buck that, then push the log off your supports and finish bucking it on the ground.