What's the easiest and fastest way to process 7 close trees?

[Apprentice_GM]

Hi All,

I want to fell, limb, buck, split & stack 7 trees growing on the edge of my backyard. They are all easy to fell into my yard for easy working and access. I could do one-by-one, or fell all, de-limb all, buck all or something in between eg 2 or 3 at a time. I was wondering if I should get clever in the felling so they criss-cross, or fell one or 2 to lie diagonally across the path of the other 5, then fell those 5 so they rest on the first 1 or 2 so they stay off the grass for easier bucking (nicer height for cutting and the saw doesn't touch the ground). I am leaning towards the latter myself, probably with the idea of de-limbing as I fell each tree, then doing all the bucking at once.

It would be OK to leave them downed for a few weeks as I mainly work on weekends around the house, and we don't use our yard much in winter (I'm Down Under if the tree species didn't give it away).

Here's a pic of the trees and yard (the trees are the tall straight ones in middle of the photo, bluegums with a couple of turpentines):

How would you go about doing it? Any recommendations or general principles / tips? Thanks in advance!

 

[Wildo]

Hi All,

I want to fell, limb, buck, split & stack 7 trees growing on the edge of my backyard. They are all easy to fell into my yard for easy working and access. I could do one-by-one, or fell all, de-limb all, buck all or something in between eg 2 or 3 at a time. I was wondering if I should get clever in the felling so they criss-cross, or fell one or 2 to lie diagonally across the path of the other 5, then fell those 5 so they rest on the first 1 or 2 so they stay off the grass for easier bucking (nicer height for cutting and the saw doesn't touch the ground). I am leaning towards the latter myself, probably with the idea of de-limbing as I fell each tree, then doing all the bucking at once.

It would be OK to leave them downed for a few weeks as I mainly work on weekends around the house, and we don't use our yard much in winter (I'm Down Under if the tree species didn't give it away).

Here's a pic of the trees and yard (the trees are the tall straight ones in middle of the photo, bluegums with a couple of turpentines):

How would you go about doing it? Any recommendations or general principles / tips? Thanks in advance!

Drop 'em out.

 

[xman23]

I would do one at a time. They are all small trees, easy to get off the ground with a timberjack. The issue with dropping all of them on top of each other, is you will be climbing over them to work. Not to safe. That's what I would do.

 

[bogydave]

First off
There's really now easy way to process 7 trees.
It's work, fun work, but still lots of work.

I like to get one on the ground, & limbed & the area semi cleaned up of branches
before dropping another one on top of it. Safer IMO.

Then buck them up

 

[Apprentice_GM]

Drop 'em out.

Hi Wildo,
I'm not sure what you mean. Does that mean "one by one" or altogether (criss-cross) or "out" as in radiating out from centre (eg of a circle)?

My post wasn't asking if I should fell them, but the best way. Sorry if I'm being dense.

 

[ansehnlich1]

The easiest way would be to get a couple of these guys around here to c'mon over and take care of that job while you sit there drinkin' beer and watchin' the process......have 'em stack it too

For real though, I did a similar job with a bunch of walnuts that were in my back yard and I dropped 'em all first, then started in on 'em.

 

[lukem]

Drop one, limb it and stack the brush. Repeat 6 times. Then buck them all. That's how I'd do it.

 

[Paulywalnut]

Did you ever stack dominos side by side and tap just one?

 

[Paulywalnut]

Seriously I would take one down and at least buck them to your desired lengths.
Get rid of leaves and branches and then on to the next one. Less mess and getting
tangled up in tree debris.IMO.

 

[smokinj]

I would do one at a time. No since of tying up space and wading through a sea of crap........

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Doesn't look like much limbing....I say drop one, clean it up, drop one clean it up, etc

 

[ScotO]

when we do multiple trees on a jobsite, we do 'em one at a time. Drop one, limb it and buck it up, clean up the branches and rounds, and move onto the next tree......so on and so on..

That way, you aren't tripping over branches or twisting your ankles on rounds by cutting tree on top of tree. Trust me, I know from experience. We did that one time, and it ended up taking more time to get through that tangle of branches and buried rounds....it was a real pain in the azz.....

 

[Kevin*]

detonator cord? would be fun to see

 

[Backwoods Savage]

You can do it either way so long as they are not really big trees. However, if I were to do it, I'd first cut one and buck it or at least partially buck it. You can leave a couple 4' or so lengths then lay those cross ways so the next tree you drop will drop on the 4' sections. That way the tree you drop will already be off the ground and easier to buck up. I'd use at least 2 sections or possibly 3 to drop those other trees onto. It really can make the work easier.

 

[paul bunion]

Build a strategically placed fire in your yard. Cut down tree #1, watch the top burn, throw loose branches on fire as it cores out. Meanwhile work on the trunk. Push remaining brush onto fire. Repeat.

 

[Wildo]

Fan them out, buck from the stump up, move splitter as needed then throw the tops in a pile and burn . It looks like you have enough room to not have a pile of matchsticks .

 

[Applesister]

Cutting trees in Aulstralia seems exotic. Thats cool. I cant decide if Im a grass person or a tree person. But Im thinking to salvage a lawn, which takes effort to establish. Theres not gonna be a lot of brush but the shavings will alter the soil pH somewhat. If keeping the lawn intact is not a factor Id do all at once in a fan spread. But personally Id do one at a time and clean up the area right away after each one to save the grass.

 

[blades]

16 ozs of c-4, tough on windows though, unless ya want the wood as they prurty much will be in the next county over. Heck of a 4th of July celebration though.

 

[fossil]

I'd rent one of these for, like, half an hour.

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[Wood Duck]

I think I'd do it the way you suggested; drop one, remove limbs, haul limbs away, drop another. I like the idea of having some of the trees resting on other trees to make bucking easier and reduce the number of cuts I have to make with the wood on the ground, where dirt might ruin my chain. However, I have cut far fewer trees than some of the guys on this forum, so perhaps my advice isn't the best advice. I try to cut as many of the branches into firewood as I can, and I cut them while they are attached to the tree so that the attachment holds the branch in place while I buck the branch to stove length. This means it takes me a long time to work my way through the branches before I start to buck the trunk, but in the end I think it saves time versus bucking the limbs after they have been removed from the tree.