Just another day at the office.
What techniques you guys use for similar situation?
Gotta love that snow shower :D
Tree felling - Tree hung up on other trees. - YouTube (https://youtu.be/_emqLrtEOkM)
LoL! That tree was persistent! That's basically what I've done in my limited experience, but they've never hung on so tightly. If I were working far from the truck, I'd probably take some rope, and consider pulling it back towards the stump in situations like that. Depends on the exact setup/tree. Always good to have rope anyway.
Stubborn old cuss!
Rope & a come-along works well. About the same way I would go about it outherwise. Its happened to me lots of time in dense timber. When it does, its pretty much going to be firewood splitwood_smiley If you could get a tractor backed up to it, you could put a log chain around the but cut and pull it down depending upon your tree and tractor size.
haha, did annoy me a little bit.
There's no way i could get my tractor into the forest right now because of the snow, roughly 50cm of snow.
Usually i cut the hinge and use felling lever to pull and they do come down fairly easly most of the time.
But it was going to be firewood anyway, so i decided to use this technique. Which worked out fine tbh.
The felling lever is such a useful tool, i really do think that every forest owner should own one.
I never even seen one of those before much less use one. Could be a real handy tool.
Quote from: Allar on January 27, 2019, 04:25:49 AM
The felling lever is such a useful tool, i really do think that every forest owner should own one.
I have seen these used many times in videos, mostly in Europe. Mostly they seem handy on smaller tall straight trees that need encouragement. I would like to try one but I can't see buying one just to try it. My sense is that it becomes another 'thing' to carry, and with the saw and an ax to drive wedges, this would be on the too many. Our bigger hardwoods really require wedging any way when some encouragement is required.
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on January 27, 2019, 07:42:08 AM
Quote from: Allar on January 27, 2019, 04:25:49 AM
The felling lever is such a useful tool, i really do think that every forest owner should own one.
I have seen these used many times in videos, mostly in Europe. Mostly they seem handy on smaller tall straight trees that need encouragement. I would like to try one but I can't see buying one just to try it. My sense is that it becomes another 'thing' to carry, and with the saw and an ax to drive wedges, this would be on the too many. Our bigger hardwoods really require wedging any way when some encouragement is required.
I do agree with the 'thing to carry' part. Whenever i leave the forrest, i'll make a plan for the next day, if there's no heavy leaners, i'll bring my felling lever with me the next day. If there's leaners, i'll take my wedges and an axe.
But yeah it's designed for medium sized trees, however we have taken down some really big trees with it, you do need some muscle if you're felling against the lean.
But it is absolutely amazing tool if you get your trees hung up.
Here's a nice video to get the idea of how useful it can be.
OREGON® Felling Levers - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n8kI1EC_dQ)
Looks like a felling lever & cant hook all in one. Yes, one more thing to carry and to not lose. Another item to paint flor. orange. :D
I noticed that lever in your other videos. Looks handy, and there's been a couple times I could have used something like that. Is it stout enough for me to give it everything I've got without bending/breaking?
Quote from: lxskllr on January 27, 2019, 09:50:31 AM
I noticed that lever in your other videos. Looks handy, and there's been a couple times I could have used something like that. Is it stout enough for me to give it everything I've got without bending/breaking?
I'm a big ass dude and i have used all my strenght on it. If i can't break/bend it, i doubt anyone else can.
The one that i have is from Fiskars. Before i took over the forest work, the previous guy took every single tree down with that lever, he had no wedges.
we've had it for 10 years or so.
this is the one i have. https://www.sahanpuru.com/fiskars-felling-lever.html
Quote from: Allar on January 27, 2019, 07:59:26 AMI do agree with the 'thing to carry' part. Whenever i leave the forrest, i'll make a plan for the next day, if there's no heavy leaners, i'll bring my felling lever with me the next day. If there's leaners, i'll take my wedges and an axe. But yeah it's designed for medium sized trees, however we have taken down some really big trees with it, you do need some muscle if you're felling against the lean. But it is absolutely amazing tool if you get your trees hung up.
100% agree with this comment, i use the small one almost on a daily base. a very useful tool. I did brake the hook off, but i used it for things it wasn't made for. I imagine the big one is indestructible. I have the Stihl one
Quote from: wild262 on January 27, 2019, 06:31:41 AM
I never even seen one of those before much less use one. Could be a real handy tool.
A felling lever tends to be of more use in softwoods, which grow against gravity, so they are more likely to be close to balanced - not a whole lot of back lean to overcome. In hardwoods (which grow toward the light, rather than straight up against gravity), there is more likelihood of significant lean. The lever will still work on some of them, but you will find a higher instance of lean or imbalance in the crown too heavy to overcome with just the lever.
Quote from: Allar on January 26, 2019, 05:46:28 AM
Just another day at the office.
What techniques you guys use for similar situation?
If I couldn't get my tractor up to it, or the cable from my logging winch, I'd first see if I could roll it out: cut off most of the hinge except a tab on one edge or the other. Sometimes that's enough to just let it roll. If it doesn't roll on its own, I'd try twisting the tree with a peavey or a "pole in a hole" (bore a hole in the trunk down low, stick a pole in to use as a lever for twisting).
If the tree did not look as though it would roll out, I'd probably end up doing what you did: chunking it up till it dropped.
If I needed it in one piece, I'd try a technique sometimes called "tree on a rail". I won't try to describe it beyond saying that it allows a properly prepared butt of the log to slide backwards along a pole, often freeing the top from what is hanging it up. If I can find a good description elsewhere, I'll put it up here.
A good tip is to make the felling notch at lower angle, so the hinge can break before it hits the tree/branches.
Which i did on the video but should of made it at even lower angle.
John, the way you described is how i usually do it.
I bore into the hinge from the middle, remove as much as hinge as possible but leave the sides intact.
And then i start slowly removing the hinge from one side, the side depends which side you want the tree to roll.
And if it doesnt free itself up, i pull it with felling lever, if it still doesn't come down, i'll cut trough the other side of the hinge.
But for the sake of video i did the way i did it, not to mention not everyone have felling lever.
I just didin't expect it to be that stubborn smiley_furious3
Hang ups are dangerous....for me. If it happens due to my bad planning, I tend to quit and leave it for awhile.
This woodlot has some crowded growth for clear felling. If it needs to be "chunked" with short cuts, I'll do it slow and easy.
But still it is dangerous with softwoods.
Quote from: Pulphook on January 27, 2019, 03:10:17 PM
Hang ups are dangerous....for me. If it happens due to my bad planning, I tend to quit and leave it for awhile.
This woodlot has some crowded growth for clear felling. If it needs to be "chunked" with short cuts, I'll do it slow and easy.
But still it is dangerous with softwoods.
On my first years, i was really scared of hang up trees. But the more i had to deal with them, the more confident i became.
But it is the most dangerous part of felling.
I hung 2 up in thr past week. This one wasnt a big deal. Hooked the 8n on it and it came on down
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/42883/FB_IMG_1548633873596.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1548634339)
This one i wasnt so lucky on. It wedged in the crotch and there wasnt any way to get it out.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/42883/FB_IMG_1548810616938.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1548811222)
As you can see some of it is still in the tree and will be for awhile.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/42883/FB_IMG_1548810624498.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1548811306)
I'd throw a chain around the bottom and hook it to the truck.
Truck wouldnt of pulled mine out
Quote from: Kwill on January 30, 2019, 09:35:24 PM
Truck wouldnt of pulled mine out
Oh yeah, I see. That'd take some climin. Or sumpin.
Quote from: Allar on January 27, 2019, 02:59:25 PMnot to mention not everyone have felling lever
Pretty cool device. I looked them up on Amazon and they range from US$89 to $369. All look about the same, just different colors. Wonder if LogRite would make them. I'd be nice to have one made from high strength aluminum so it would be light weight.
I hate leaners.. especially when they are big. I have had to deal with a few in my years and they make me nervous - the smaller ones I keep "short cutting" as you did in the video but when the trunk is 25"+ it makes me nervous b/c its a lot of weight dropping right beside you and ive had some trucks drop quick and too close to my feet for comfort. If you notice in your video it always pushes right or left as it falls and doesn't always do "what its supposed to do". My "go to" is get on equipment - as soon as that happens I try and pull the stump cut back or to the side with equipment releasing it to drop while im out of the way on the machine but I have an 80hp tractor and still couldn't get a pine loose the other day with it. Pushed from the side with the loader, pulled on the stump, nothing. I finally 3/4 cut the tree it was leaning into and then bumped it down with the equipment from the stump of the first tree and both trees went together. The only reason I even attempted that is because I had a big tree protecting me from a "side shift" were it to come down while I was cutting the tree it was leaning into in my direction but it still sucked - pucker factor was about 12 out of 10 (one of those saw in a running stance and looking up the entire time your cutting thinking "this is a bad idea") moments. I would definitely like some professional advice on the best way to deal with those (wish I had some pics from the one I just did).
The only thing I have found to be fool proof is hook the 450 dozer to the bottom of the tree with a big chain and pull away from the direction it fell until something gives and that brings it out almost every time. 18k pounds will move it - but that's not always an option as the dozer isn't always on the farm im cutting on or I don't want to build a road into the middle of the woods every time to get access to it. I know theres people with a lot more experience then me that have a better solution and no bulldozer.
Quote from: Rob in NC on January 31, 2019, 11:28:37 AMI hate leaners.. especially when they are big. I have had to deal with a few in my years and they make me nervous - the smaller ones I keep "short cutting" as you did in the video but when the trunk is 25"+ it makes me nervous b/c its a lot of weight dropping right beside you and ive had some trucks drop quick and too close to my feet for comfort.
You can often "directionally fell" the chunks you are cutting off when you do this. I cut a wedge on the top side, then back cut from the underside leaving a hinge to steer the trunk down. Often I'll bore cut for the back cut to set up the hinge and get everything right, then cut that last bit of trigger on the back cut to let it go when I'm ready.
If you make the notch a bit to the left or right, rather than straight up on the top side of the trunk, you can steer where the new but end will go. Sometimes this can help you release the hung tree before you have to chunk the whole thing up. For example, if I see that the tree wants to fall out to the left to get out of the hung situation, I'll notch it in a way that sends the butt to the right. Some times it takes a few chunks until I've walked the butt around to where the top end will release. Hard to describe, but makes sense once you've done it a couple of times. I'll try to find another way something that will make a good saw log, but if it's just going for firewood, it's going to get cut up anyway. (Maybe I'll make a video one of these days, when I see a good candidate for it.)
Not sure if this link will work, but have any of you seen this technique used? hanger slide (https://www.instagram.com/p/BtD4IMxh39t/) It's not a youtube video, so I don't think it can be embedded here. Pretty cool idea, but the stump has to have a little height.
It looks cool, but to much hassle. :D
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on January 31, 2019, 12:32:31 PM
Not sure if this link will work, but have any of you seen this technique used? hanger slide (https://www.instagram.com/p/BtD4IMxh39t/) It's not a youtube video, so I don't think it can be embedded here. Pretty cool idea, but the stump has to have a little height.
That's what I was referring to when I mentioned "tree on a rail" back in reply #13. It takes a bit to set up, but if you are hung up, don't have any equipment with you to pull the bottom out from under it, and need the log in one piece it can be a good option (sometimes you just can't get it to roll out of the tree in which it's stuck).
Too much hassle? well, yeah. If you don't want the hassle, don't get the tree hung up in the first place. "Stuff" happens, however, and it can be a handy tool when other options won't work or aren't available.
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on January 31, 2019, 12:32:31 PM
Not sure if this link will work, but have any of you seen this technique used? hanger slide (https://www.instagram.com/p/BtD4IMxh39t/) It's not a youtube video, so I don't think it can be embedded here. Pretty cool idea, but the stump has to have a little height.
Link worked fine
Wow that was impressive
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN MC!! smiley_old_guy smiley_beertoast
You getting old John ? 8)
My first aircraft was the school plane an Aeronca Champ ( in another life at Amherst ).
It was neat to solo in and get my private. They rolled the dirt runway in winter for skiis. No cabin heat so you froze your little &%$#@ off.
I recall that in overcast it was a bear to "find the ground" on the snow landing field, bouncing on those skiis really P.O. ed the field managers.
Fun little plane that stalled around 30 kts, but excellent glide ratio just in case.
A good buddy retired A.F. C.O. of the Bangor refueling wing got his Flight Instructor's ticket last year. Said it was tough even after getting his Commercial.
Quote from: Pulphook on February 01, 2019, 07:11:19 PM
You getting old John ? 8)
My first aircraft was the school plane an Aeronca Champ ( in another life at Amherst ).
It was neat to solo in and get my private. They rolled the dirt runway in winter for skiis. No cabin heat so you froze your little &%$#@ off.
I recall that in overcast it was a bear to "find the ground" on the snow landing field, bouncing on those skiis really P.O. ed the field managers.
Fun little plane that stalled around 30 kts, but excellent glide ratio just in case.
A good buddy retired A.F. C.O. of the Bangor refueling wing got his Flight Instructor's ticket last year. Said it was tough even after getting his Commercial.
I learned to fly in a Cessna 150, and later in a 172. I own a 172 now w/180 HP engine upgrade (it helps that my wife is also a pilot, so not a lot of convincing to do). The flight instructor's certificate was the toughest of any I've gotten so far. It's not really so much about the flying - you just have to do that to commercial standards, it's the teaching. My oral exam was probably 3 hours, and I'm sure we spent at least a couple of hours in the air (it was almost 15 years ago, so I don't really remember exactly).
There are 3 unpaved landing strips nearby: Stonington, Blue Hill, and Matinicus I. ( you land "uphill" ).
IBM's Watson family has their private strip on North Haven I.
Trenton/Bar Harbor is commercial IFR.
Got an old friend next to you in Hinesburg.
Oh wow, we got some pilots over here. Come pick me up!
Dont know what I would do as it has never happened to me.
LLPOF
Quote from: petefrom bearswamp on February 03, 2019, 09:04:59 AM
Dont know what I would do as it has never happened to me.
LLPOF
Exactly. And with that, allow me to rephrase my earlier comments: When I said something like "what I've done in that situation..." what I really meant to say is "what I've heard others have done..."