Removing two maples at Dad's house tomorrow. Both have been reportedly struck by lightning and the trunks are relatively hallow. Electrical supply line nearby, but should be plenty far away. Going to limb both branch by branch rather than risk those hallow trunks breaking funny. My brother wont be involved in this one. What am I forgetting, these need to come down safely.
Make a very shallow face cut just to see how much sound trunk wood you have before you bore cut or make a back cut... Sugar Maples with heart rot can have a mind of their own when felling them. I've seen them where just the outer inch thick bark was acting like hinge wood, scarey.. If you have the ability, install a pull rope if they are in question.. Look at the tree as if it's looking for a way to catch you off guard.. Be careful.. If in doubt don't fool with them..
Thanks. The upside is that due to the lightning strikes, the trunks probably top out at less than ten foot. I can take it down in as small as 1 foot sections if need be. I will pack some spray paint just in case, space seems to dilate whilst on a ladder.
Gotcha.. Had no idea with what you were dealing with as far as size... Ladder and chainsaw,,ugh! Wow, be careful! I've seen a lot of people hurt doing that.. Of course this coming from me doing tree work of my life.. Talked to a guy once, his good friend and neighbor cam over and volunteered to take a limb off for this guy , on a tree out by his side walk.. The guy cut the limb, the weight came off and the the rest of the limb on the tree lifted up, knocking the guy and the ladder to the ground. His friend laid there dead form a broken neck... that quick. Just be careful.. I was always tied in...
Lucky this should be step ladder work which should make it a little safer. I plan to be careful out there.
Makes me nervous. Escape plans limited while on a ladder. Hope you have someone with you. No tree is worth risking getting hurt. You have taken down a lot of others so I trust you are feeling comfortable with this.
My personal rule is feet on the ground when using a chainsaw or I call somebody. If I do cut something from a ladder I use a bow saw and do it by hand.
I will have three people with me, all at a safe distance. I don't like Using ladders either, but its what needs done.
If you end up resting a ladder against the tree, tie the top of the ladder to tree. As previously mentioned, trees will move as weight is cut free. If the ladder is tied to the tree & you have a safety line connecting yourself to the tree as well, it will greatly improve your safety. Also if you can remove smaller sections at a time it will decrease the tree's rebound.
Jack, what worries me the most is your statement that you are going to limb both trees branch by branch. Yet, the trunks are hollow. Well, that begs the question on how you plan on limbing those trees. You can't do all that from a ladder can you? And I too hate to cut from ladders. Would much rather use a tractor with front end loader than a ladder or a step ladder. But the point is, if these trees are hollow and you know that, when you get up into the tree you are not going to know how strong that trunk is. Might your own weight be enough to cause these things to break? Yes, that can happen. Sorry but this job sounds a bit scary and we don't want you or anyone else getting hurt. In addition, personally I've never liked 3 other people standing around when I'm working on a tree. And when folks get together to cut up a bunch of trees, like after a hurricane, that really can get scary because people are at work and it is easy for many to lose their bearings and it can be very easy to have someone get in the way of a limb, tree or even worse, a running chain saw. Be careful.
I am not putting any weight on the tree, lightning killed them and all the branches connect fairly low, I should be able to get all from a step ladder. Dad and The old lady will be outside. It is his job to give advice and her job to keep him out of the work area. Mom maybe be in a chair watching.
Both came down without any problems, no pictures today though. Had a small crew and every one of us was busy. They couldn't keep up with me and the Stihl brothers.
