got a biggun to drop. My tree guy was lined up to do it but he’s laid up with a back injury. Beetles killed it back in April and it’s got 5-8 degree of varying lean towards the pool. ~18”DBH 90-100’ tall. On a steep slope with narrow window to drop it. I think I’m going use my climbing stand in the adjacent sweet gum to get a rope up higher in it then route a snatch block back up to the tractor.
Yes get the rope as high as you can. If there is risk of damaging your property it would be worth the cost of buying a throw line, bag and big shot. The big shot makes it easy getting a line high up in a tall tree. Plenty of YouTube vids on tying your rope to a throw line for pulling into a tree and tying a running bowline.
Pines can get messy, especially if they're left dead standing for a while. I still have a few from the drought in 2016 that the beetles got into when the trees were abnormally dry.
It went easy I knew it was going to catch the adjacent gum limb. Shimmied up it yesterday evening when it nice and calm got the rope set and snatch block. A throw line would be futile on these SYP the first limb 60-70’ up and a beech next to it to get tangled in. It was wedging over fine but I didn’t want to be under the top so I just eased it over with the tractor. There’s about 4 widow makers in the gum now.
That first picture after I set my face cut I peel all the bark off so the wedges will actually work against wood fiber you lose ~1.5” of working surface on the bark. I also tie a mason line level with the face cut it helps when cutting on a slope so you’re not cutting the back cut all wonky. It landed just a shade to the left of my snatch block tree- a little hickory that’ll make it into the stacks
I do burn around a face cord or so a year. Some of the main trunk I’ll process after those widow makers blow down. My preference is longleaf pine over SYP it’s much denser and and burns longer hotter. The SYP is good for morning and evening relights and shoulder seasons.
That SYP is some dense stuff. Its used for pressure treated lumber and i hate working with it. Warps like heck too.
Some more pics yeah but you do it for living. I tried for an hour or so and snagged two fishing weights and a shackle- retrieved that from that small maple. I used to have a drilled out baseball but couldn’t find it in my shop.
