Need a little help!

[Old saw fixer]

     This is my problem!   How would I cut the trunk (30" diameter not including buttresses) from the butt to the first limb?  I am thinking of blocking  the trunk up with blocks cut from the big limb in the right foreground and placing them under the stem where the big limb is now.I am going to cut the all the non ground contacting limbs on this side of the tree first.  There are no limbs on the other side of the tree for a good ways up the stem and they just branch out not laterally.  I have an 036 Pro with a 20" bar and several wedges, a son in law that needs wood for heat.  We both have cant hooks and PPE. 

     We are going to have to do this manually, no one around has equipment capable of lifting this tree.  i have blocked big trees, but this is a monster to me.  I am retired, and not in a hurry to get hurt. 

     We woke up one morning and the tree was down!  Never heard it fall.  Thanked the Lord it went the way it did.

TIA, Rick

[doc henderson]

blocking would help but also if you start on the smaller limb cutting from underneath and then the big stem to get it on the ground.  maybe with some branches under it to keep it off the ground and out of the dirt.  may want a second saw in case you get pinched.  be safe

[KEC]

Another thought, cut 1 or 2 poles several feet long and 4 or 5 inches in diameter and set them aside. They could come in handy to lift a log to get a pinched saw free or worse.

[thecfarm]

Yes on putting limbs under it. I see this will be firewood. Start the cut and put a wedge in. That will help some. Careful that don't roll on ya!! Them limbs look big. Cut a little from the bottom might help some.
I have cut down pine bigger than that and have seen things happen. Hard to read what will happen, before it happens.
Looks like there is a slight hill too. Stay on the up hill side of that tree. Those small pieces can and will roll. Well I don't mean to call a 30 inch piece of firewood small.

[Satamax]

Rick, i'm ny absolutely no means an expert. 

If this was for me, and i didn't want to try to save anything for the sawmill. I would set myself on the opposite side from the picture. Two three feet  "bellow" the big branch. Cut a third from the top, two thirds from the bottom.  Sure the top part would move towards me, but not that much.  Wear safety boots. Just in case.  That would get it on the ground. I think.  Or thinking of it, it might be safer to do this on the big branch side. If you can stay clear of it.  

Hope this is of some help.  

[firefighter ontheside]

I'm thinking along Doc's lines.  Start with the smaller stuff.  Look at each cut and predict which direction its going to move.  Watch the kerf and pull the saw out if it starts to close, then cut from the other side.  Use wedges to help keep a kerf open if needed.   Each cut you make will likely start to lower that trunk to the ground.

[Satamax]

    This is my problem!   How would I cut the trunk (30" diameter not including buttresses) from the butt to the first limb? 

TIA, Rick

Rick, a trick you could use, if the wood is not punky. You make a vertical wedge on one side, 10 inches deep, then cut as i have explained above. So your saw goes all the way through. 

[Old saw fixer]

     Thanks to all for the advice!  This will all be firewood for my son in law.  My plan is to remove all limbs that would influence a roll before attacking the stem.  That big limb never touches the ground all the way to the end and needs to go first.  As I said before, I have felled and blocked many a smaller tree, so I am aware of the real danger involved.  The size of this tree just increase the potential for a disaster.

     I wish that I had one of the many, many 288 Huskys or 066 Stihls that I worked on "back in the day" when I worked at the saw shop!  I feel like the 036 will get the job done, just liked sinking the bigger saws in a log and watching the chips roll out...
 
Thanks, Rick

[Old saw fixer]

We had a nice cool day yesterday, I got the brush cleaned up on the "off" side of the tree.  Another cool day today, I will work on cleaning brush on the Limb side.  Once I have the limbs gone, I will work on the stem.  Also, yesterday morning I caught an ear full about the "mess" from the cook.  So....

[Old saw fixer]

SIL came over Sunday with his new Stihl MS250 he bought on sale.  At least I got him away from Walmart Poulan 4218's!  He worked until 5 and got started on the main stem.  I went out yesterday with my 036 Pro.  I wasn't too sure what to expect sinking it all the way in the oak with a 20" bar and new 33 RS chain, but it did okay.  Not like an old 066 Stihl, but not as bad as a Homelite XL12 with a bow and a sharp chain, either!!!

[Al_Smith]

There's a couple of things  about everybody does eventually  Oil the gas, put a chain on backwards ,cut dirt and pinch a saw .I've been so good at the later I've hung two saws in the same log .I've got plenty of saws ,no problem .A couple of wedges helps not get pinched .

[Old saw fixer]

Al, I have pinched a saw more than once myself!  That is why I have several wedges and always 2 saws when cutting wood.  I haven't oiled the fuel tank yet, I saw enough of that working at the saw shop.  Chain saws don't run on diesel either, lol.