Some of you might recall I posted some photos back in February of a 16" diameter oak tree that snapped off and then impaled itself during a wind storm. The tree snapped about 12' up and the top section landed about ten feet away impaled in the ground with the top leaning on two trees about 30 feet apart. Here are a couple of photos to refresh your memories:
I finally had space in my covered wood storage area to process this tree, so I brought it down this week. It turned out being the most difficult widow maker I've ever tackled. It took me six hours to get it on the ground. I started out digging a hole around the base to see how deep it went, hoping to be able to attach a cable to its base and drag it to the ground with a hand winch. I dug down two and half feet and never got to the bottom of that pointed end that was impaled in the ground!
Plan B was to make a plunge cut a few feet up and have the tree slip off itself and hopefully break loose up above in the process. The plunge cut idea went well, but all I accomplished was moving the tree a few feet each time making it stand more upright than it already was. At that point I could see I had to move on to Plan C.
I got a cable up through a crotch in the tree about 15 feet off the ground. I then used my cable and winch to pull on the tree so that the left hand fork that was stuck in an oak tree pulled free leaving the right hand fork still hung up on a large pine tree. I was able to anchor my winch about 40 feet away, so I was able to keep pulling making the tree pivot more and more until it finally twisted around far enough that it slid off the pine tree and fell to the ground.
I hope I never have to deal with another widow maker as difficult as this one was. The terrain was so rough that you can't get any sort of motorized vehicle into the area, so all the work has to be by hand. Had the tree not been hanging right over our hiking trail I might have left it to Mother Nature to bring down, but since I was walking under it every day I wanted to get it on the ground.
I finally had space in my covered wood storage area to process this tree, so I brought it down this week. It turned out being the most difficult widow maker I've ever tackled. It took me six hours to get it on the ground. I started out digging a hole around the base to see how deep it went, hoping to be able to attach a cable to its base and drag it to the ground with a hand winch. I dug down two and half feet and never got to the bottom of that pointed end that was impaled in the ground!
Plan B was to make a plunge cut a few feet up and have the tree slip off itself and hopefully break loose up above in the process. The plunge cut idea went well, but all I accomplished was moving the tree a few feet each time making it stand more upright than it already was. At that point I could see I had to move on to Plan C.
I got a cable up through a crotch in the tree about 15 feet off the ground. I then used my cable and winch to pull on the tree so that the left hand fork that was stuck in an oak tree pulled free leaving the right hand fork still hung up on a large pine tree. I was able to anchor my winch about 40 feet away, so I was able to keep pulling making the tree pivot more and more until it finally twisted around far enough that it slid off the pine tree and fell to the ground.
I hope I never have to deal with another widow maker as difficult as this one was. The terrain was so rough that you can't get any sort of motorized vehicle into the area, so all the work has to be by hand. Had the tree not been hanging right over our hiking trail I might have left it to Mother Nature to bring down, but since I was walking under it every day I wanted to get it on the ground.
. Glad you got that taken care of.
