Blow down salvage

[barbender]

Good point, Mike. I've never seen a beaver barber chair one, either.

[John Mc]

Not sure if you were directing that re-statement at me, or not Mike. In the situations I described, I was well aware of what was going to happen.

When it's not clear where the tension and compression is, I often use a technique called an axle cut: Four cuts around the circumference of the tree, leaving an uncut cant (the axle) in the middle. Watch the kerfs and you can see where the tension and compression are. Often, you can see this before all four cuts are made.

Occasionally, if releasing the tree seems hazardous, I'll turn this into an Axle Lock: once the axle cut is done, make a bore cut about 6" away to sever the fibers of the axle. This makes something sort of like a mortise and tenon joint between the two logs. When I'm ready for them to separate, I use a machine (usually my tractor) pull the top off. The tenon slides out of the mortise, and the two logs are separated. I'm well away from the joint when it happens, but the tree is held in place until I pull it apart.

    

[mike_belben]

No no, not at all.  I reread my previous posts as if i were a young me looking at my first storm cleanup, searching for info on how to proceed.. And felt like there was more that i know now but wish i knew then.  

A lot of times current me is talking to young me.  Or at my 5yr old who was born confident that he knows everything, just like his dad. 

[John Mc]

Yeah, I find myself talking to myself more and more often these days.

The big thing for me these days is paying attention to how tired/hungry/thirsty I am. All of those can affect how safely you work, being aleart and at the top of your game is important any time you are working with a chainsaw, but it's absolutely critical when doing storm damage clean up.

[mike_belben]

Your lincoln log is pretty clever.  I bet you could put the tree back up in a different spot with that technique

[John Mc]

Your lincoln log is pretty clever.  I bet you could put the tree back up in a different spot with that technique

I did not come up with that on my own. That was shown to me in a storm damage cleanup workshop. I don't seem to need it much, but it is handy if you don't want the logs to start moving until you have a machine hooked up.

[olcowhand]

If it's any consolation, Mike- I'm trying to listen like a 5 year old who wants to be able to keep doing it.
Bottom line to most of these posts is that there is a lot of what we refer to in my "Day Job" as "Stored Energy"; Only in this case, not always predictable or even visible.
I'm learning as you're posting..... Thanks.

[mike_belben]

Well,  im not the master of it by any means.  Probably just have more free time to post an explanation than the other folks. 

[John Mc]

Well,  im not the master of it by any means.  Probably just have more free time to post an explanation than the other folks.

I'm not sure anyone is ever done learning on something like storm damage clean up.

[Banjo picker]

If you have kids around, make sure they are not playing around that root ball when it stands up.  That nice fresh dirt would look like a good place to play.  Banjo

[barbender]

Unfortunately, there's been instances of kids getting killed by a root ball like that.

[Skeans1]

Everything about blow down is dangerous makes me glad for the tethering equipment it sure is a good usage of the technology. 

[John Mc]

If you have kids around, make sure they are not playing around that root ball when it stands up.  That nice fresh dirt would look like a good place to play.  Banjo

Four or five years ago, I went for a walk in the woods behind our local elementary school a week or so after a storm went through tipping a few trees over. I found the kids had used a bunch of old limbs to make lean-tos and hideouts under the upturned rootballs or under trees that had hung up in other trees. Some of these settings were obviously unstable. It turns out it was the kids staying for after-school day-care program who were building the forts. (I should have guessed, our school administrators in their "bubble wrap" mentality had banned kids from even picking up sticks, let alone building anything with them.) I had a little chat with the head of the program. He claimed they had looked and determined the areas were "safe". I took him out in the woods, stopped at one of the hung trees, bounced it a few times (one handed), and the 8" DBH tree can crashing down, demolishing the fort that was under it. He pulled the kids out of the woods until I cleared the hazards a few days later.

I guess the demonstration stuck with him, because about 6 weeks after the wind storm last fall, he and the school facilities director asked if I knew anyone who would come in and clear the damage, and how much it was likely to cost. (Since my kids were no longer in elementary school, I was not aware how much of a problem they had. Turns out the kids had been banned from the forest for all 6 weeks, and the kids - as well as some of their teachers - were quite upset about it.) That resulted storm clean-up effort that produced the 12 foot tall Hemlock stump described in an earlier post.

[olcowhand]

I've got an 8 year old daughter who loves to help, but she knows she's not allowed in the woods while we're felling.
Actually, I don't allow anyone around me when I'm felling. I thought this is the way it should be. Maybe you commercial guys have different protocol, but I only invite help after the tree is down. 

[Skeans1]

I've got an 8 year old daughter who loves to help, but she knows she's not allowed in the woods while we're felling.
Actually, I don't allow anyone around me when I'm felling. I thought this is the way it should be. Maybe you commercial guys have different protocol, but I only invite help after the tree is down.

Sometimes we have a back faller otherwise it's two tree lengths in the clear cuts and if I'm hand cut thinning really tall stuff 150+ ft I really prefer 3 tree lengths.

[Ron Scott]

That's a good policy to follow. We often have a problem with the landowner who want to get right up close to the cutter or harvester to watch what's happening to their trees. We educate them quick to "stay away" even though they own the property. ;)

[barbender]

Oh gosh, I could write a book on some of these landowners or just gawkers that get too close to the machines! I used too always be on the lookout for little kids, these days I'm more concerned when I see old men in the area!😊 At least I know when kids will be in school, the old fellas will be underfoot at all hours🙃 I came VERY close to backing over an elderly landowner last week. He came out to have a look and drove up directly behind my fully loaded forwarder while I was unloading in his Suburban. I started backing up to my bolt pile, I had a random thought, remembering the processor operator had mentioned that the landowner kept coming out and parking where he was felling timber. So I turned the machine to the side a bit so I could see behind myself, well there was the Suburban sitting there, about 8' behind me. I hadn't personally met the fellow yet, as it turns out he has fused vertebrae in his neck so he can't raise his head or look to the side. So for him to back up his vehicle takes very slow, deliberate action. In short, he drove right up behind me into a spot he couldn't back out of.  Thank God he gave me the premonition there was something behind me. After my major screw up earlier this year backing into one of our trucks, the last thing I needed was to crush a landowners vehicle (and potentially the landowner, too!)- even though this one wouldn't have been my fault. Starting to think about one of those back up cameras. Anyhow, I'm not one to chew a person out, it's just not my nature, and especially when it is an older person that you are working for (I was raised to be respectful of my elders👍) but I had to kind of hit the override button and let the fella have it a bit. I just told him that he can not come up behind me in any circumstance, and if he wanted to watch he would have to stay out of the landing area. I didn't yell at him, I was just very, very firm. In all my working career, the only thing I have lost my cool with people about is when they repeatedly put themselves in dangerous situations around the machines. I just don't want to run someone over!

[Skeans1]

Have you guys ever thought about putting cutting gates up? Doing certain company ground we are required to put up a mesh gate where they have to call out before entering the work area.

[barbender]

That's a good idea, we need to do something. Our main problem is on the private lots we do.

[DelawhereJoe]

Any and all info you guys can share and explain about removing hung up and blown down/over trees would be a great resource for those who will be effected by Hurricane Florence in the coming week as its looking to run right into North Carolina with 130-140 mph winds.

[nativewolf]

Ughh; man I hope this stays out to sea.  We have had the wettest summer ever, ground is soaked.  Rained three inches this weekend, I'm going to have a huge mess on our hands if this comes through.  In fact, i might have to do tree work instead of harvesting.

[John Mc]

Any and all info you guys can share and explain about removing hung up and blown down/over trees would be a great resource for those who will be effected by Hurricane Florence in the coming week as its looking to run right into North Carolina with 130-140 mph winds.

I sympathies go out to those of you in the path. We have to deal with hurricanes here in VT extremely rarely (and then it's usually only the remnants of one). On the other hand, losing power in a wind/ice storm in the winter (especially when below zero) is no fun either.

Be careful doing storm damage cleanup. That can be an extremely dangerous undertaking. Tips given over the internet can help, especially if you already have a strong base of experience to build on and know your limitations and that of your equipment. However, there is no substitute for some hands-on learning with someone experienced at storm damage cleanup.