Weekend work...need a little advice.

I'd start at the very top & work back.

But I'm not there to see all the stresses.

 

Update time.

With rains yesterday I couldn't get to work on the tree until today. And with rain coming later today I skipped church and hit it right away this morning.

I started off with a pole saw and trimmed all the top branches off and any bottom branches that weren't touching the ground.



After that I started cutting with my MS170 from the top back. It started about 5.5 feet above the ground. Not my ideal way of cutting for sure, but the pole saw chain was too dull (need to find a 3/32 file) to do anything.



As I got further back I could see which of the lower branches were critical narrowing it down to just one set. I hate having branches under feet so I trimmed and cleaned as I went.



As I moved closer to the split, the trunk kept creeping upward as the weight was reduced. At a certain point it just didn't seem safe at all to keep cutting as it was too far above my head.



That's when I decided to bring the trunk down in a couple stages. So about 1/3 of the way split I did a front notch on the underside and cut through on the top side. That way 2/3 of the trunk would be free to fall.



It worked great and with most of the weight gone, I cut through the remaining portion of the split trunk without a problem.



I got all the branches down to the tree dump just as the skies dumped yet again. Bucking the rest will have to wait until next weekend.

Thanks for all your advice guys!

 

Good job schlot

 

Good job man, got it all down safe and the wood will warm you twice

 

Looks like a success story
Good work !

 

I will be the odd ball here. I would have just cut it at the bend realizing as I cut fibers will spring apart until only a small portion was left. This would keep the trunk from spring up ward as the top is removed. Then I would remove the branches from the top.

Many are the times I have partially cut large limbs to where it would hinge down & the end of the limb will reach the ground without the butt being cut free to make it easier to cut on. This keeps the work at torso level.

 

Good stuff schlot

 

Now you tell me. Where were you when I was doing the cut.

 

Got it bucked this morning.



Split and stacked it up before 9am this morning. Nice little start to the day.

Also found some locust at the tree dump too.

 

You gave it a lot of thought, sought advise, then did a good job bringing it down.

 

Thanks.

I try not to do much thinking but once in a while....

 

You got your mother's yard cleaned up and got some nice firewood to boot, can't beat that