Mr. barcroftb: Actually, it is in the woods. However, it is on the property of a widow lady and it is leaning OVER her driveway. Now it has been this way since the storm in early Sept. but understandably, she would like to have it down in that she drives under it each time she comes and goes.
Welcome to the forum Dan. Happy to see another Michigander here. Perhaps you will also consider coming to one of the gtg in MI? For sure trees like that usually are best left to Mother Nature. However, I see this is not the case with this tree. I have cut some like this in the past but do not like it at all. What I did was to first cut the tree that has fallen. But the big part here is to make sure what will happen to the tree after or as it is being cut. Make sure you are on the right side! You may even have to anchor it from both sides so that it will not move left or right. Once it has been cut then you can pull it down off the other tree. But beware here, I have just barely skipped over the details of the cutting but believe it when I say this can be dangerous. The good part is that it is not that large of a tree. 20" is still a good size, but not large.
The couple of fairly experienced guys ( I guess this experience is with felling trees ) who have laid eyes on it are probably right. Sometimes you can cut the base of a leaner using some wedges to stop your saw bar from getting stuck and then pull/winch the base the way it needs to go to "unhang" it. Sometimes you need a bucket truck to work your way down the other way.. Sometimes you just have to hire someone with the right equipment to do it safely.
Dennis: Thanks for that well thought out response. I have cut many, many trees down over the years but in this case it is obvious that this particular situation has its challenges and hence, potential danger. I'm still not sure of exactly what I'm going to do. Where are you located? I'm just south of Cadillac a couple miles. Also, yes, I'd really like to join a gtg. Let me know when and where. thanks again. Dan
Well maybe Armbru84 huskihl Backwoods Savage and I could lend a hand mini michigan mafia gtg style! Edit: probably shouldn't leave out Wreck-it-Ralph amateur cutter
Meanwhile, we get fined for leaving the forks 12" off the ground so some dumbass doesn't walk into them while looking at his phone on the job
Dan, I'm south of you. We are west of Chesaning just off M-57. We'll be having another one in April; probably weekend of the 20th. huskihl will probably have another one in September by East Jordan too. We have a good time and if you've read Barcroftb's post you'll see there are several of us active. There are even more! We'll certainly keep you in mind. Warning though: One has to expect to have a great time! Work is optional but we always seem to get some done so we can at least hear the saws and it is a good time if someone wants to try out a different saw as we always have plenty here.
Dennis: That sounds great. East Jordon would be closer for me but will consider heading south as well. On another note, my tree felling friend Dave and I were successful in getting the maple down today. It was a great day to be in the woods. We looked it over closely and decided to make a cut a couple feet up from the root ball. We went very slowly and as our cutting notch slowly opened, the root ball slowly moved back into the root hole. We watched for the trunk rolling one way or the other as we slowly cut but it was limited based on the crotch setting between the other tree. Hooked a chain just a bit above our cut and a gentle pull brought it down with no problems. Every thing went quite smoothly and felt it was smart to have us both there: sharing ideas on the correct approach and working together: 2 eyes and heads are better than one. Thanks for your interest guys.
Welcome to the FHC dan peterson. Glad its down safely! My only other thought on Maples, especially in areas that get snow and ice. Is the part where they grow together often can have cracks and water, rot and ice damage in the tree.. Making their falls unpredictable.
