Uprooted trees to take...but how?

[muncybob]

A couple of blow downs I'll be working on soon. I know the root section will flop back but not sure where to start my cuts. I'll leave the snagged tree to cut last and maybe it's weight will keep the root ball upright but not sure how to start cutting the other tree. Maybe best to leave mother nature take down the snagged one?
The small ash on the ground is already bucked and in the back of my truck for splitting this weekend.

 

[ScotO]

Looks like some good stuff, Bob......
just be careful, potential energy in those situations.......

 

[swagler85]

Can tie a rope off or come along and pull the snagged one towards where you were standing to take pics? Looks like it would come loose that way. Then make your cut just above the ledge and let it drop down

 

[muncybob]

Sean, that's kind of what I was thinking. Maybe the Mrs will come with me and shoot some video of this adventure.

I went out yesterday thinking I would get a truck load but only got about 1/2 full...the other trees I had planned on cutting were still frozen to the ground.

 

[nrford]

Of the three trees you have there 2 are aspen. Of the two uprooted trees the one on the left(standing at the rootball and looking toward the trees) is an aspen and hardly worth the risk. BE VERY CAREFUL.

 

[billb3]

Looks like you might pull the top off that stub it seems to be hung up on.

Sometimes the root ball wants to snap back, sometimes it doesn't.
Cutting the one on the ground first should help indicate what it might want to do.
Might even take some weight off the top of the hung up one.

I'd get a line on that top somehow - it might come in handy.



Nothing wrong with leaving one for the birds and bugs, especially if that is poplar.
Call it sharing or " giving back".

 

[muncybob]

Aspen(poplar)? The one on the ground looked to me like a young ash....the other 2 bigger ones I'm not sure?

 

[thewoodlands]

I've done my share of those, each tree reacts different. I do use the rhino with the winch, treesavers and other winching equipment to double my pulling power so it's not so hard on the rhino..

Winching Equipment/You could also use it with a come along like Swags said.
dshackles,treesavers,snatch blocks and a 3/8 inch cable.

 

[Jags]

Knowing that you have a bunch of potential energy ready to snap at a moments notice is half the battle. Personally...and this is only my opinion...I prefer to make my first cut at the root ball. I use extreme caution and position myself to bolt like a bunny rabbit at first flinch.

Whatever you do, use extra extra, double extra caution with these uproots.

 

[basod]

The closer blow over should be fairly easy to work from the top back, get most of the limbs while its in the air.
If it starts raising as you remove the weight make an offset bottom cut at the upper bank then cut from the top ~1" to the right.
Throw a rope in the snag and yank it

 

[thewoodlands]

Aspen(poplar)? The one on the ground looked to me like a young ash....the other 2 bigger ones I'm not sure?

This is a great book, on page 115 it will talk about cutting uprooted trees.
http://www.amazon.com/To-Fell-Tree-Jeff-Jepson/dp/0615338798

Another member here recommended it to me.

 

[Boog]

If you google "Cutting Uprooted Trees" you will find a number of good articles and videos. As stated above, be careful!

 

[muncybob]

Yea zap, I need to get that book. It's been mentioned here several times in the past. The two big trees are different species....please somebody tell me one is not poplar

 

[Jags]

The last pic does not look like popular to me. Does that make you feel better?

 

[thewoodlands]

Yea zap, I need to get that book. It's been mentioned here several times in the past. The two big trees are different species....please somebody tell me one is not poplar

It's not poplar, it's bigtooth aspen both are great for shoulder season wood, I won't drop them but if mother nature puts them on the ground I become a GIBIR.

 

[Ralphie Boy]

The one on the ground looked to me like a young ash....the other 2 bigger ones I'm not sure

I can't say for sure what the one on the ground is but I don't believe it is ash; the bark isn't right for ash. Look at the branching on the one you think is ash; if the branching is opposite its ash (or maple, dogwood or horse chestnut, but of those, maple is the only other real choice) if the branching is alternate it's something else. Are you confused now? I am!

No matter what, be careful, all kind of weird things can happen, none of them good, when you start cutting into all that stored energy.

 

[gerry100]

Hard to advise without being on site but I've learned a technique over the years to help with "spring loaded " trees.

You can lay them down by creating a series of hinges along the trunk.

ie cut a V notch < 1/2 way thru the diameter on one side and a back cut on the other DO NOT CUT COMPLETELY THRU THE TRUNK.

( Where the V is depends on how the tree is lying and you have use common sense)

I've found that this approach "relaxes" the spring load in the trunk while never unleashing it in an unsafe manner.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Bob, nrford is correct with the popple. Why monkey with it? However, if you do, just be aware of what MIGHT happen. That does not mean it will happen. The picture is just one of the downed trees we cut this winter. I will also tell you that the root balls have not moved an inch. For sure it made for some very easy cutting.

 

[Woody Stover]

I can't say for sure what the one on the ground is but I don't believe it is ash; the bark isn't right for ash.

Looks more like Crottenwood...

 

[muncybob]

Well I am disappointed 4 sure. I better start learning my leafless trees! Not sure what cottonwood looks like when cut but these look like maple round ends to me? I'll post pics when I split it.

 

[Yankee]

Be aware the rootball may not fall back immediately. More likely when the ground thaws, but sometimes they wait until they feel like tipping. A little unnerving to have it fall while you are bucking up the stem.

 

[ansehnlich1]

If they're resting on that dead tree that goes under 'em I'd consider cutting them there.

The closer one in the pics is what I'd start with. Check the top of it and see which way it's gonna roll, if at all. And if it's resting on the edge of the bank there, on top that dead tree running under it, I'd do an undercut there then come down from the top, OR, down from the top, wedges in top before cutting the whole way through. It's hard to tell but it looks like that one would maybe drop down, or roll and drop.

The further one is nastier, depending on how snagged it is, you might cut through half way at the same spot where it appears to be resting on the edge of the bank, then definitely put a wedge in top, then saw through. Again, hard to tell, but it appears it wouldn't do anything but sit back a bit and pinch the bar. That's why I'd put a wedge in there good. Then when you have it cut free, rope it at the base, or rope it before you cut it, so you can winch it, come along, or whatever til it drops. Keep in mind that too may roll on you depending on what it looks like up at the snag.

Lordy what danger we go to for some btu's.

 

[ansehnlich1]

Lookin' at 'em again, that closer one might drop straight down, but that further one, looks like it'll maybe roll to the right, (standing at the base of it), and it looks like the butt end when cut through might slide/drop a bit there too.

Sheesh!

I was with my neighbor the other day, dropped an ash he wanted down, YEP, I got the wood.

Then there he had this walnut, single trunk up about 4 feet then forked into two leaders a foot thick going up from that, BOTH HOLLOW at the base, YIKES! I told him, "lets you and me turn around and walk the other way, wait til the ground dries up, then come back here with the tractor and plenty of rope and pull that sucker over".

Play smart

 

[loadstarken]

We used to play on trees like that when we were kids. . . . that was waay before cell phones and digital cameras! Hehe
Now that I'm old and have kids of my own I'm super cautious of being around trees like that!

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[BobUrban]

Loadstarken's comment is something I think about often when out doing what we do. I wonder how I ever survived childhood and adolescence??? Even as a young adult I did a lot of crazy things like bowhunting without a safety harness. Stats say one in three deer hunters has fallen from a treestand and fortunately I am not the one(yet) and I now hunt in a harness and practice as much safety as is available when running saws. Like others - with felling I like to do a lot of research prior to bringing out the saws. If there is ANY question about safety I get another person involved and don't go at it alone until it is on the ground. Because most of my dangerous hobbies are practiced alone in remote places - bow hunting, firewood gathering, I make sure someone knows where I am and when I plan to return so if there is any question they at least can find my carcass.