Help and instructions cutting down trees - Woodworking Talk

Reinier · 07-07-2008, 12:30 AM

Hello,

I just moved to a new place close to Boston, MA. I now have a garden with many trees. Most of these are a species of oaks that I am not familiar with (I moved from Europe where I did not see them), they are quite slim and high (my guess is that the highest is 100 ft), with not many branches.

I would like to cut down many of these (20) to create a more open space. I know that cutting down trees can be dangerous, so I would like to call in an experienced person. But I would also like to learn about how to do this and cut down some of the smaller trees myself. I also would like to clean-up the trees myself. So ideally, I am looking for somebody who is also interested in educating me somewhat about the basics on tree cutting and indicating me what I could myself and what not.

Is this a strange thing to ask? What would be the best way to find somebody like that? Would anybody on this list be willing to help me?

Reinier · 07-07-2008, 01:05 AM

On second thought, I think I exaggerated a bit. I just walked outside and took another look. I think the trees are more like 60 ft, not 100. It is quite hard to estimate for me as a layman...

Any feedback is appreciated,
Reinier

dirtclod · 07-07-2008, 07:03 AM

It's good to want to DIY on major projects. But this is asking a lot when it comes to felling trees. As you said it is dangerous work. You have to learn how to use a chainsaw first. That in itself is time consuming and dangerous. Start there. Then work your way into tree felling. But don't take this as my endorsement for tackling a project such as this. It takes years of experience and the proper equipment and techniques to fell trees safely. You're not going to get that overnight. I would leave it to the professionals. But you may find a professional to do the job that could also mentor you. On top of that take some classes in tree felling and chainsaw use. You also need a safe practice area and a teammate to fetch the recue services if something goes wrong.

Good luck.

firehawkmph · 07-07-2008, 09:05 PM

Hi Reinier,
Along with dirtclod said, if you haven't owned a good chainsaw up till now, it's not something you should just gas up and go to town with. A chainsaw in good hands is still a most dangerous tool. Learning how to operate one safely if critical and doesn't happen overnight. If you are intending to go that route, make sure you find someone experienced, that will teach you the safe way to use a saw and supervise you while you are learning. Felling a tree is a whole nother story. I almost got killed years ago while building my first house. My uncles were going to do my clearing for me along with the excavating. I thought I would help them out. I bought the lot from the developer, whose office was right across the street from my lot. So with my trusty and fairly new stilh 034 farm boss in hand, I started to cut down trees, by myself (another huge mistake). After cutting five or six small trees 4-5" in diameter, I decided to move up in size. I picked a tree about 12-14", probably 80' tall. It looked like it should fall straight back towards the rear of the lot. After cutting the wedge and then the felling cut, the tree was not moving. I kept cutting a little bit more, and a little bit more till I unintentionally cut all the way through and no longer had a hinge on the tree. It hopped straight down off the stump and hovered for a second. It then proceeded to fall 90 degrees to the side of the lot instead of the rear. I took one step to the right to eyeball the tree as it was falling to try and see if it was going to hit the neighbor's house or just miss it. What seemed like a slow motion eternity was in reality a few seconds, the tree hit the neighbors garage. This seemed bad enough until a second later a dead limb that was resting on this tree came crashing down, clipped my shoulder and shattered my ankle. Had I not taken that one step over, it would have hit me right in the head. Needless to say, after the ambulance ride, surgery, hospital stay, time off from work, I don't cut down any more trees. I sold that saw to a buddy of mine and ended up getting a smaller stihl 026 super that I only use to cut up logs all ready on the ground for lathe turning wood. I don't even like to be around anyone felling a tree anymore, gives me the creeps. So be careful whatever you decide to do.
Mike Hawkins

Reinier · 07-07-2008, 11:18 PM

dirtclod and firehawkmph, thanks to both of you for the responses. firehawk, your story is very convincing and I hope you have fully recovered -- I will be extra careful and not do anything on my own for now. My father used to go to the same haircutter for 30 years. One day the shop was suddenly closed because the guy had died in a fatal accident while cutting down a tree in his backyard...
Anyway, taking classes in chainsaw usage and tree felling like dirtclod suggests sounds like fun and useful at the same time. I did not know that those exist. I will see if I can find anything close by. Thanks for drawing my attention to that.

Best regards,
Reinier

lucas.j.dunton · 07-08-2008, 01:46 AM

i come from a long line of loggers, (dad both grandfathers, great grandfathers, etc) being from rural Maine my gramps just retired 2 years ago at about 63 years old , was still running skidders, and chopping, (by hand no fillabunchers) and decided to retire after the 6th tree in his career fell on hum and almost killed him, broken neck, back leg collar bone shoulder, and arm. Salty ol bastard pulled himself into his skidder after, drove it 3 miles out to the yard and fell unconscious all working on a Sunday. luckily a co worker was out there that day and found him a coupla hours later.... no permanent injuries...go figure. He said he used up the last of his luck on that one.......Logging is serious business, you are hard pressed to find one that has NOT has a serious accident.....or 10.

Reinier · 07-08-2008, 11:45 PM

Another horrifying story. I started to wonder: what is usually the cause of these kinds of accidents? Is it that people make mistakes because they do not pay attention for a short while? Or are tree sometimes behaving completely unpredictable, in which case the logger just has bad luck?

lucas.j.dunton · 07-09-2008, 09:05 AM

standing trees are completely unpredictable sometimes........you never know what can happen

dirtclod · 07-09-2008, 11:12 AM

Accidents happen for all the reasons you stated. There's also a lot of danger in the equipment and handling the logs once they're on the ground.

Hardwood trees are harder to read than pines. Falling limbs, rot in the tree... The reasons go on and on.

clarionflyer · 07-09-2008, 11:24 AM

I started out cutting down 2 GIANT willows last week with my (experienced) uncle. He was to cut down and I was to clean up.
The 3rd stalk (1st tree) knocked him out cold as the base barber-chaired back and threw him about 15 feet. He's OK.
The professional guy I originally hired to drop them is out till fall with an injury... like we say in aviation... "I'm fearless and I'm scared"

.
The cut my uncle made on that 3rd stalk was perfect, but it just shot the wrong direction.
3 broken chainsaw's, 1 injured uncle, father detached his retina, I twisted my ankle, 1 blown truck later... cutting down big trees is crazy stuff.
MY plan is to wait until the pro gets better and pay him to finish the job. I'll clean it up - piece of cake. Dropping them is big business.

frankp · 07-09-2008, 01:05 PM

Speaking from fairly limited personal experience, I've cut down probably 20 trees in my life. All with a partner and we planned very carefully and discussed everything thoroughly before making any cuts. We planned the cuts. We planned the fall route. We planned for any mishaps we could think of and we discussed them all. A couple times we even drew stuff out on paper. I've had to top trees about 20 feet off the ground, sitting in the tree, standing on a ladder, etc. It's scary business using an 18" saw while trying to balance yourself on a ladder or in a crotch.

A few things I will say. You can't plan too much. Use a partner (or two) and use come-alongs and z-rigs (3 to one mechanical pulley systems) to pull the tree in the direction you want it to fall. Stand well clear of anything that might be hit by the tree (other tree limbs etc.) as it comes down and definitely stand clear of the sweep of the tree limbs. I've found the limbs are much longer than they appear from the ground so I generally stand about 3 times as far away as I think I need to. Tall trees are notoriously difficult to get moving in the direction you want them to go. There's a lot more wind in the tree tops than you realize. I was cutting a 60-65 foot tall 12-14" (at the base) maple in my yard and had two ropes rigged to pull it with set about 25 feet off the ground and it still kept moving the wrong direction (toward my house with wives and children sitting right where it would fall) so we ended up tying the rigging ropes to a trailer hitch and pulling it with a truck. We were lucky to be able to pull in the right direction with that method. Things could have gone horribly wrong if our ropes had not held or we didn't have a way to pull with the truck.

I'm a big proponent of doing things yourself, with proper planning and eduction but the safety precautions others have suggested can't be said enough times. If you're careful you can still get hurt badly. If you're not careful, you're going do a lot of damage in the process and you could kill yourself or someone else.

I won't cut really big trees but I've cut up to about 20" base trees and other than that one time, have had no issues. As I said, be careful, plan, plan, plan some more and then come back to it a week later and plan again. Then make sure you have a reliable partner (preferably one with experience) and plan again. Discuss plans and what to do in an emergency (how to avoid getting hurt or damaging property and what to do when-not if- someone does get hurt) and practice on small trees before you get to any big ones.

When in doubt, defer to professionals and save yourself a lot of headache and possible pain. Be honest with yourself about when you're in doubt and don't do things you're not prepared for with experience and/or education. Everyone has to start somewhere, but it's usually at the beginning. Remember you must walk before you run.