S
sothere
Guest
I had to get out and do something mentallly and physically challenging yesterday to take my mind off the dog issue.
Dad's been wanting this big Elm down and I despise Elm trees so I went after it.I'm no proffesional be any stretch,amateur is even far and away.Perhaps "A cautious hack" would be more accurate.
Had a 18" 30' limb over the tire yard that had to be gone 1st as it was really pulling it south and I needed to be able to hinge it over and away from the yard,Not in it was the plan.
After I tied it to the loader I scored the bottom about 1/3 through then tensioned the tractor,thenbegan to cut the back side taking more from the bottom half than the top till it started to move,Then from the top down till I could'nt stand it anymore and backed the tractor awy at an angle.
It hinged well and swung over the fence bringing the right side into the bucket,turn the wheels to the right and pull forward bringing the butt into the other side of the bucket as well.A small push forward and she came free and off to the pile we went.
While I was up there I assessed the limbs that were in reach and decided to piece it down as it had some ojects near bythat I did'nt want clobbered.ie. the dozer on the right and the 40' evergreens on the left.My objective was to drop it were the rack in the middle is setting.
So back up we go and start taking down branches.I developed a great respect for you guys that do this I postioned the bucket so I could get a good angle for my cut and still be able to move behind the trunk for protection in the event of trouble, FWIW I could imagine doing this tied in to the tree and where I would want to be both cutting and for an escape route.but my nerves would have convinced me that I needed a nap before that happened.I can start my cuts and even get the piece to move in the direction I want it to go but to completley release it from the trunk almost requires a dose of liquid apathy.
Some of them I released and others I chained and hydraulics encouraged the rest.
Now I was ready to bring down the rest of it but considered taking the rest of the top off leaving a 20' stump to drop but I had been at it for so long I wanted it done.
So I got my angle for the drop noted the points for the wedge and started my horizantal cut first.I did that not because it was correct or incorrect but because of the fella getting hurt when the wedge fell free onto his bar throwing the saw back at him.
Ater getting the wedge out and looking at it I considered taking more but coud'nt get my nerves to come along so I tensioned it with the tractor and started my back cut at the same level as the one on the face.I wanted to start about 5 " above it and come down at an angle to it but also wanted to see what would happen.curiousity won.I started by cutting the sides leaving the back for last as my bar was to short to get all the way through and I wanted to finish on the side with the best escape route.This was a sound tree
I began to take out the center and she rocked a little so I tensioned the tractor again,cut some more and she canted to the left away from the saw and away from the tractor.CRAP reconfirm my hate for Elms.
I knew there was little left for connection in the cut so I decide to pull it over.
["Note to self"--BUY BETTER ROPE---Yeah it broke and I thought the tire shed was soon to become modified.She rocked back on the back cut and sat there.I went around the back side and gave it a push with the loader and she fell as and where I intended.I normally take down trees with an 80,000 lb. excavator so a few directional cuts to make a hinge point a small back cut and a guided push is normal for me.This was all new.After I got it down I wished I woul've cut in an arbor? and used a hydraulic jack to give it a push.
No room on the back side to drive wedges.
I was successfull but I'm sure there were a myriad of things I could've done better.I've also concluded that the 575 HVA is not big enough for my needs.
To big for limbing,marginal for felling and to small for rounding.This saw has a 20" bar and 30 would be way to much.Even buried in the cut she struggled with the 20.This was a good experience and my respect and admiration for you guys that do this professionally has been taken up another notch.
Best;ST
