Hi guys, I have a pretty dicey snag to eliminate. I am thinking the safest way is trying to pull it off the tree its snagged in with a come-along. Would love to hear some good suggestions Here are some pics ................
Hard to tell without being there. How big of a diameter is the fallen tree, and how high up is it broken? Last summer I had a similar situation with about a 15" dia tree. I cut just above where it snapped from the top about 1/3 of the way through, and then finished up through the bottom and let it fall to the ground. Then we could get a chain around it and pull it straight away from the tree it had fallen in with a truck. Of course the one I was dealing with wasn't nearly as rotten as that one. You might be able to use a comealong to just yank the bottom free of the stump without any cutting, and then pull it free.
Its about 20" diameter and broke about 2-3 feet up from the base. It has a fork that caught the other tree. I think if I cut the base to free it and pull it, that fork will still hold it in the other tree as the other tree sits right in middle of the fork. Its a bad area due to lots of overgrown underbrush and vines, but it has to come down. I will try to go over there tonight and get a better pic from under the snag, next to the tree its sitting on
Cant discharge any firearm or explode anything in this area. Good idea, and it would be fun until the chrome bracelets get slapped on someones wrists !!
Hard to tell without being there, but generally, I'd try to yank it free of the stump with the come-along, and then start knocking blocks off the base until it comes down off the other tree. I use notches and back cuts like I'm going to fell the tree, except the notch goes on the top side and the back cut is made from the bottom up, and once it starts moving, get out of the way. Each block you take out makes the tree a little shorter, and eventually that fork won't be supported anymore.
I usually release snags that way, but I don't think this will work that way. I am thinking that if done that way, each cut will try to stand the snag more upright. I don't think its coming free from the other tree too easily, those forks will get caught on any one of the dozens of other limbs the tree its stuck in has. More pics later, I will stop by there on the way home tonight and snap a few from a different spot. Appreciate the suggestions so far guys !
Clear a good area around the bottom and escape path and cut it at the base by notching the top then undercutting. If you can, get a decent size log under it perpendicular to the tree before making the cut...so when the butt drops it doesn't hit the dirt and will be easier to pull or which down.
With the angle that it looks to be at, I'll bet you can remove 1/2 of the trunk before before you even get to 45. Once they get past 45, or a lot of the weight is removed, it becomes much easier to push/pull the rest of it down.
I think she is a little high and large for that. In the first pic, I walked clean under the blowdown, about 2 feet away from the rotted break. I am 6' tall. Its larger than the pic would have you believe. I could probably release the base no problem by cutting or pulling (its very soft with rot) but that would still leave lots of cuts up high to have to do if trying to "walk" the snag down by undercutting from the base to the snag. Let me get some better pics up here after I stop by there ............ I am still thinking of trying to pull the snag sideways; trying to snap the smaller of the two forks, hopefully releasing this tree and dropping her safely to the ground.
Chainsaws on a stick are nice for these situations. I'd probably cut it off at the break and then chunk it towards the tree it is hung up in. The tree will hopefully fall out while removing that butt weight or it will stand straight up and you can put a rope in it and pull it out. If it's really stuck, you can cut the tree it's hung up in, just treat it as one tree. That said, you will have to take any advice with a grain of salt since nobody really knows the situation without being there to take a look.
If you can take pictures further away might get a better overall plan if we can see it from further away
I had a really good solid hickory hang up at about that angle yesterday. The notched top limbs centered a smaller oak. Had to make 3 cuts on the butt section before the tractor would pull it out, and down. These always make me very nervous, and I hate them. Yesterday I cut partway from the top, then came up from the bottom, until the gap closed on top. pulled sideways from above the cut with the tractor which broke the tree free from that butt section. Still too much pressure from the tree to the ground to pull it free, until the 3rd cut. But......yours is rotten at the base. I would be too nervous to make cuts at the base on that one. Hope your method of pulling from the top works. Yuk!
