dead tree

[TreefarmerNN]

I'm always cautious around dead trees frequently leaving them to come down on their own.  However, we had a dead cherry that was next to a fence that needed rebuilding and 1) I didn't want to work underneath that tree and 2) didn't want to rebuild the fence after limbs or the whole tree fell on my newly rebuilt fence.

I considered just cutting it and hoping nothing came loose from up top but didn't want to depend on hope for something that could kill me.  So I decided to see how rotten the limbs up top were.  I'm not great with a throw line but managed to get over a limb about 30' up.  Pulling by hand shook the tree but didn't break the limb.  So I used my throw line to pulled up the cable on my Tajfun winch and brought the free end back to the winch so if nothing happened I could just unhook the cable and retrieve it rather than having it hung up the tree. 

First limb broke very nicely.  Succes.
Second limb took longer to get a line over it but again broke nicely.
Third time I was trying to get higher to essentially break the top out.  I had a hard time getting the throw line where it needed to be but finally got it where it would work if not exactly where I wanted.
Hooked up the cable as before and started pulling with the winch.  Got a pretty good tension on the winch, maybe 30% of the 8,000 pull and nothing broke. 
Added a bit more tension and the whole tree started coming over.  Fortunately I had plenty of cable out and wasn't worried about the tree hitting me, the tractor or even flying pieces so I just kept pulling.  After about a 20 degree lean, the tree came down at a 15 or 20 degree angle to the pull.  It wasn't what I intended but even better as I can cut the whole tree up without worrying about what's over head.  Nothing snagged on the way down as I was working on the edge of a pasture.  Our cows were at a waterer about 50 yards away.  The tree hitting the ground got their attention, lol.

[mike dee]

Better that way than on your head! I've got a few dead ash trees like that and several more trees with dead leaners hanging on the tops. Just trying to stay clear for now from these widowmakers. A 30 ton excavator would be handy to push them from a distance.

[TreefarmerNN]

A bucket truck or lift would be ideal but sometimes we use what we have.  I had a friend killed when removing a tree with an excavator.  A sudden gust of wind hit the tree when he was repositioning to another side.  It came down on the cab.  His hands were still on the controls.

[Ron Scott]

A dead tree on the ground is always safer than a dead tree standing.

[NE Woodburner]

I have 4 good size dead ash trees to drop at the edge of my property near my house. I don't want to leave them to fall on their own as they could do damage if they went the wrong way. They all had some leaves this spring but lost them all and died over the summer. I want to drop them this fall as I know ash gets brittle quick standing dead.

3 of them are leaning favorably and I can drop them in a reasonably open area as long as I drop them in the correct order. The 4th I'm going to have to give some thought to as the lean is not favorable. I do have a tractor and winch with a snatch block I can use to offset the pull and keep the tractor out of harms way.

I do not like cutting dead trees.

[TreefarmerNN]

I don't mind newly dead trees.  Dead one that are dropping limbs are dicey.  I have cut a few with a front end loader bucket parked against the tree for overhead protection but I'm not fond of that either.