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Scary Deadfall Mess...How do you fix this?

Started by sdN8ive, August 20, 2017, 08:34:45 AM

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sdN8ive

One thing I know for sure...you all have, collectively, forgotten 10x more about logging than I'll ever know...so what do you suggest...please check out the photo...a big scarlet oak fell and bent an 18-inch hickory at a 90-degree angle...but was trapped about 10 feet off the ground against another smaller oak.

This is at the top of a little hill...the base of the scarlet oak is on the ground, but this hill falls away pretty quickly, and we don't want to work on the downhill side, for obvious reasons.

We cut away as much as we could, but decided to think a little more before taking a chance with getting squashed.

We have: three good sharp saws, one friend who worked as a tree trimmer for more than 10 years, a jeep with a 9500# winch, rope, chains, and an abundant desire to come out of this thing alive.

The goal is to salvage as much of the oak as possible.

How would you proceed to untangle this mess?





Thanks!!
Bob Davis

Roxie

I don't know, but welcome to the forum.   :)

Glad that you stepped back to consider the best move forward.  "Mess" is an understatement. 
Say when

mike_belben

Number one risk is being crushed under the scarlet.  Number two is catapaulted by the spring pole. 
Number 3 is getting 20 saws pinched.

Use some of your stout chunks to crib under the oak.  Pound in a vertical, then a foot away put in a pair of angled stabilzers so you have a 3 legged brace.   Dont play under it or anything but this will be much safer. 

There is a chance that standing tree caught in the mix can snap off or uproot when the springpole stops holding the scarlet.. Id probably cut that above the tangle in a direction suitable if possible.. This way if it goes, its a 10 foot bole, not a 50 foot tree that can get somebody running away.

After the scarlet is supported and vertical stem danger is reduced, i would start unspringing the springpole.  When i know im gonna get pinched, i whittle little pie cuts like a beaver so that there is never a kerf to close.  Sometimes i use an ax.   With the saw i make sure im cutting little test slices near the sprocket tip instead of burying the bar and making it hard to get the power head unbolted. 

Make a slit, observe the fibers, retract as soon as you see it starting to close.  Then make another right next to it.  I put 3 fish gills into the surface and work the middle one most.  This undermines the wood's ability to clamp your bar real tight.  Then ill ax or saw those off and cut a vee, then start in deeper with 3 more.  Just keep whittling like this. 

If you go into the back of that elbow its gonna barber chair the whole trunk.  If you can whittle safely from the sides of the elbow it will reduce the overall tension and intensity of the chair moment.

After the springpole is out, id cut a big face cut from the scarlet butt so it relieves tension in the trunk you want to save, then use the winch to pull out the cribbing we built first, and let the scarlet fall the rest of the way naturally.  But you really gotta weaken the bond that the roots likely have on the buttlog or its likely to split fibers down its length.

Helmets boys, wear them.
Praise The Lord

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