Leaner, my favorite. /sarcasm Leverage can help moving the trunk end sometimes. With just 27HP I can move a lot more weight than my loader will pick up.
Probably won't be as big of a problem as you imagine. We've done several like that and so long as you do your homework, it should work out okay. I know how I'd tackle it but feel it is best to not give too much advice over the forum.
Wish I was near by I would pull it out of there for you with my 57 HP Ford 5000. As far as useing gun powder I would use smoke less first since it is more of a explocive that black powder is. Al
I would try pulling/shaking the top off the other tree first if it looks like it might roll/slide off doing so. Just be careful cutting the base as if it were standing as a lot of things can happen and the trunk can do some bouncing around especially if the whole thing rolls rather than slides. I have finished a cut with a hand saw just so I could hear fiber cracking. I've also finished a cut by yanking on the rope that was still attached to the top. I really don't like being near a base cut on a leaner when it decides to let go. I had one once that looked like if I put two pieces of 3/4 inch plywood near my trunk cut I could get it to land on the plywood and have it not spear the ground. I got it to land on the plywood, but it went right thru it like it wasn't there. LOL . Ended up cutting a sapling to use as a lever to pull that end up out of the ground and then levering it away until the top slid out of the tree it was hung up on.
I've made some progress. I wanted to just cut the main tree at the base and be done with it. Problem was the right fork of the supporting tree was under tremendous tension and the main tree was also sitting on the left fork. I had a general inkling of which way it would go if I cut it but I was concerned about that right fork twisting things or otherwise causing mayhem once the stem was released from the root ball. I didn't have the cajones and/or sufficient interest in dying to cut the main stem yet. I decided to eliminate that variable by using my silky pole saw to cut the tension side from a safe distance. I cut maybe a half inch in and the first layer popped like a gunshot. Slowly slowly slowly proceeded until I got to the compression side, whereupon I got the saw stuck. The good news is I've released the tension and that fork is no longer supporting the main tree. I have a line in it and should be able to pull it down with the tractor from a safe distance. I thought the the whole shebang was going to come down once the right fork started breaking. No such luck. Nonetheless, the problem is one step simpler. Once that fork is cleared, and I have good daylight, I'll re assess and continue to reduce the problem.
Internet repair guy came while I was in the middle of the project, delayed me a while, and I ran out of daylight. Pics to follow!
While cutting the fork popped like a gun shot Saw stuck in tree have a line in the tree ready to pull................. Twisting fork concerns while the main trunk still under scary tension Tree looked like it was gonna come down.. 55hp tractor gassed up & on standby Looking for cajones & internet repair guy in the middle of it all & we gotta wait. FOR PICTURES...
Best I could do with a flashlight. You can kind of see the (entirely expected) barberchair. There sure as hell ain't much left holding it. Fortunately, the tree did a lot of the cutting work for me: I'd take a few strokes, a layer would pop, a few more strokes, another layer. Still I've had about as much pole sawing for the day as my forearms would like.
How’d you get it down? Still some stored energy & bar pinching stress there, but way more workable now. It’s almost firewood .
I took the 2 main support trees out with my pole saw from a safe distance. Definitely some bar pinching still on the remaining forks of the main trunk. It is partially supporting itself and partially hung at the top. When I start cutting, the majority of the weight is being supported from the top. So the bottom is the tension side. As that releases and the tree settles, it starts to support itself and the bottom becomes the compression side. At least I’m now able to use a chainsaw and no longer have to cut by hand. The main stem is now cut, and the rootball is once again upright.
