I had a smaller tree get caught in the top of another tree and pulled it down with the tractor yesterday. I went back to cut it up today and across from where it was laying a big gum was making noise that concerned me.



Looks like it needs to come down as well but looks tricky.

Any suggestions?

Make sure to stand clear incase it “chairs” on you that would be exciting but I wouldn’t recommend it.

hit around it about head high with the pole of your ax , listen for solid or hollow

pay attention to the lean

don't try and fight the lean and don't try and fight the wind

If you can find some solid holding wood and the lean and wind will work for you high stump it

if you can't let time and weather bring it down and keep clear of it till then.

if you can pull a line up into the top and pull from a distance with the tractor you might just be able to pull it over , requires enough line that is heavy enough to be out of the fall area.

with as dead as it is looks, watch for widow makers up high , wear your helmet and watch the crown while cutting
a cutting partner is not a bad idea to call you off if they see bad movement

at the end of the day it's not worth injury or death for some fire wood so if you are not comfortable with it , leave it for a big storm to take it down and flag off around it a little and don't hang out there

if I was going to cut it finding some solid wood up where I could still decently reach with the saw , I would face cut , then plunge cut and get a generous hinge with a trigger left on the back of the tree , then make the cut to pull the trigger and get out of there

Normally, I look forward to a good challenge but I don’t know if it’s that I’m older or that I have the wrong color saw but something is making me a bit uneasy contemplating this tree’s falling. Did I mention there is a building to the right and left of it?

with a building to either side of it and it needs to come down , then I would rent a lift and on a calm day cut it down peice by peice from the top or hire it out

I had a big tree hanging over my house that needed to come down , I hired it out to a guy with a bucket truck , only asked that get it down lower than the eves of my house I would do all the clean up and finish it from there , he charged my 450 dollars cash to do it , probably the best 450 I spent on a tree

I’m thinking that’s the way to go or have somebody push it over with an excavator.

That thing has barberchair written all over it.

If I was going to drop that tree this is how ide do it, I'm not advising you do it but this is how ide do it.

Get a good rope up high with a throwline, going to need to be a fairly long rope. I would notch the side oppisite of the decay on the bottom, you can see the cracks that want to open up if you drop it the other way. I would also put a few heavy ratchet straps on it just to help hold it together. I would do a nice flat back cut leaving approx 1.5 or 2 inches of hinge, I would then pull the whole tree over from a distance with a tractor or truck.

If my saw got stuck I would check out quickly, reevaluate then probably pull the bar off the saw and leave it there, I would get the sawhead away and go pull the tree with tractor or truck. To many guys get killed trying to save a saw or bar, it aint worth it.

Appreciate all the info Donner!

Make sure you're wearing a hard hat and have a clear escape route.

Couple days ago a young guy was killed only 6 miles from me. Got hit by a dead ash tree limb as he sawed the trunk.

If you dont care where it goes, build a big fire all the way around it. With all that rot shouldnt take more than 8 hours, possibly only a few hours, and you can be far away when it falls. Also, when burning down trees they sort of “bend” like steam or heat bending, and you can tell when they are going to fall soon and what direction they are leaning, and not be in the fall zone. Ive burned down a good number of trees and I find it to be a safe and effective - but slow - method. One caveat - you cant know ahead of time exactly where they will go because there is no hinge, so there is a chance of them getting hung up if they decide to fall into another tree.

about 10 years ago I got hit by a limb that wasn't even in the tree I was cutting , it was a dead snag hanging there , I had my forestry helmet on or it would have definitely messed up my head , a Y hit my on the back of the head then to my shoulders and pinned me to the ground.
the Y was about 4 inches in diameter on each side and the entire limb around 15 feet long

always wear that brain bucket

I met a guy one time , his dad didn't come in from lunch he was about 10 , his mother sent him out to find his father , he was cutting standing dead in the winter and that widow maker live up to it's name saw was started in the tree and the old man was at the bottom of the tree hit in the head with a section of the tree that broke off and cracked him in the head.

Can you or someone you know get 1/4 or larger sticks of dynamite? We used some to take down some dangerous trees. It worked really well. With a long fuse inserted through the cap, you have plenty of time to move a safe difference. It's fun to work with too.

You can drill a hole where you want it to break and insert the dynamite there. It would give you some guidance, but not perfect guidance of the fall.

Keith

I would get a rope up in as high as possible and have a truck,tractor.have somebody in put tension on the cable,chain or rope notch it and cut it as they keep pulling putting tension on it and should come right over.ive 100's of these over the years.

Blast it like Keith said or walk away. That trees not worth the risk imo.

A few years back I watched a guy use Tenanite on a nasty one like that. I think he used 2 pounds. Hit it with a 243. It left the ugliest stump I've ever saw. Personally I would tie it off as high as I could then try either pulling it over or use a handie man jack on it. I've used a jack on 2 something like that and it worked pretty good. Just watch for the dead branches in and around it.