reading a trees movement in crown breakdown

[nuggsy]

yeah thats kinda obvious not to do lol even i can see from the picture that it will just drop on him given a chance, also hes using a 200t on the ground which im led to believe is a big no no ?

[John Hancock]

Its an 026 actually.

 

You could argue that he’s doing it correctly, i.e. he’s the only one carrying out the operation (there was no-way I was going under there while he was cutting) He did do it methodically and carefully. My main argument was that I would have climbed the tree and knocked all those branches out so the main trunk would lay flat when felled. A much safer operation IMO.

[nuggsy]

looked at the pics again and i now see its just the angle of the cam woops.

yeah that could have been done for sure, in fairness to the climber today it was to gain me more experience on smaller stuff, the diameter would only be about 112 - 15 inches maybe at the thickest point anyway

[Tom D]

One other tip is to think about where you fell it, felling up hill will give a gentler landing which will leave more branches intact where as felling down a slope will give a harder landing and hopefully do some of the work for you. Shorter "ball" shaped trees are worse than taller specimens which will hit the ground harder. Its worth keeping your hinge a reasonably narrow to increase the speed of fall too (within reason). When you do have a problem tree like the one pictured as Skyhuck says; experience is the most important thing as well as comon sense. Don't work on the down slope side of a felled tree. Ever. They can move anytime even when you're not actually working on them.

[Dean Lofthouse]

On Johns Pics, by clearing the tip branches first and working back, you are putting huge leverage forces on the branches still supporting at the butt end. Where ever possible remove any weight as and where you can.

 

I try where possible to work from the butt end and each brach I remove tensoin from and clear I then remove the butt upto that point so removing weight and therefore compression on branches farther up.

 

But each one is different and has to be assessed different

[Stephen Blair]

heres a couple of pics of 2 beeches i did a few weeks ago that had blown over. the first one you see, with the plate up was the worst. all the weight wasnt on the roller or the plate, it was on a pile of stacked oak about 10feet from the base. my old man and farmer wouldnt believe me and i told them to get out the way' no chance that will move' they said. so i lumped off 6 feet and it jumped back a couple of feet and you want to have seen them move, it only went as far back as the plate would allow, then shifted the pressure onto the roller. the snapped one, was easy, i worked around the edges first, get the wee stuff on the deck, then came back down and logged it into lengths leaving it where you see it at the fork. that cutting took about 30 mins, but i did get the saw stuck once and had to cut it out:blushing:. then it was a we play in the tractor.

[nuggsy]

was that at your yard stevie ?

what is the sort of best way to do it if the but end is high in the air ? the top was a kinda poplar shape in a sence, well it was wen it was on the ground

[LSD]

ive done my small n medium fells adam, just need to sit my assesments when i get the cash together. didnt really get taught as such its more a case of this is how you fell a tree now go sned it lol.

im happy with trees that are below chest hieght but when they are above my head hieght with the limbs like it was today i get really nervous.

only got 2 injurys in a sence from today and thats a sore hip and knee from climbing a tulip tree to do my first ever big limb drop but the pain (old ice hockey injurys agrovated) was well worth it

 

 

 

who you did you do your training with?

I have just done my medium trees training/assessment and we where taught to breakdown the crown using in the methodical 1,2,3 method, never, stepping in-between branches or working downhill of the tree unless it’s braced ,use a winch for bracing and rolling and always maintain a good escape route, thought that knowledge of this was part of the NPTC criteria?

 

No it’s not always practical in the real world, bit sounds good on theory:001_smile:

[Stephen Blair]

was that at your yard stevie ?

what is the sort of best way to do it if the but end is high in the air ? the top was a kinda poplar shape in a sence, well it was wen it was on the ground

 

the root plate wouldnt go any further down, after the innitial weight getting taken off from the fence line, the way she went over she had shoved her way back in the root hole. so she wouldnt go any further. all the weight was then on the roller and the stacked oak. you will see in the last pic the stem is sitting a wee bit higher, it is only that way because i put it there with the crane. every tree is different. you can asses it as much as you want, but your innitial cuts will tell you what it is doing, its the same when climbing. your first few cuts tell you what the wood is doing, or how its behaving as i like to call it:001_smile:

[Big 'Ammer]

Some excellent advice from the experienced hands here.

 

Use of the winch, or any other machinery on site, for restraint/crown rotation, work from the butt upwards, 'feel' how the tree reacts and see whats balancing on what, keep on the uphill side on a slope, etc...

 

I am, however, surprised that if you are new to this kind of operation your boss or an experienced colleague wasn't with you to advise you and show you how to go on.

 

Nevertheless, the only way you will learn how to judge these things is by having a go and soaking up the experience.

 

Also, interesting how different work managers assess risk and plan a course of action.

 

John Hancock said he would have been happier partially dismantling the tree in his pictures and felling a relatively striaght clear stem, to avoid men working under/adjacent to tensioned timber.

 

I would be happier to fell in one go and breakdown the crown in a controlled manner to minimise working at height.

 

Neither of us is right or wrong, just a different way of achieving a safe end result.

 

One thing that no one else has mentioned yet is planning direction of fell.

 

Not always possible, there may be no choice available, but sometimes you can get the crown to land in a better position for breakdown.

 

Pictures never tell the full story, but I would have thought that with the space available in John's picture, it may have been possible to fell that edge tree slightly left handed of where it lays.

 

This would have meant the crown would have landed right hand side first and the whole tree would have rotated a 1/4 turn anti clockwise as it came to rest.

 

The end result being the tree is laid trunk down, pretty much on the floor and the crown is laid to the right hand side and is a far easier and safer prospect to cut up.

 

Alternatively, space and equipment permitting, it could have been possible to fell the tree backwards with a pull and then the trunk would be on the floor with the crown uppermost.

 

Again, an easier and safer breakdown, than the one shown.