lucky escape

[testcricket01]

well not good got roped into doing this job by my dad which he said ooo yer he charges so much a day so i had do it at that price and if id quoted for it i really would have had 2 man team with platform so im not happy cause im outta pocket 150quid getting another guy in with me its on main road right up against insulated electric cable and the tree leans right over road and cable so i climb up it rig it with pull line going throu 4 pulleys to really pull it we pull it over the lean and leaning towards the way it NEEDED to go i put felling cut in it starts to go then suddenly desides snap off and go other way lucky it hardly hit the cable but still landed in road which shook me up alot couse number of things could have happened if it had broke cable then i could have had that wraped around me could have hit a car hit a person on pavement plus all that and guy i was working with desided cut threw my rope with chainsaw then the landy desided have a flat battary so out come AA cuz are jump leads werent long enough and the tree had wasps all over it so overall a pretty rubbish day heres sum pics of the job anyways and the cut which desided to go wrong way

[Stephen Blair]

the hinge tells the story , do you want sympathy or a lecture mate??? this wasnt bad luck.

[testcricket01]

the hinge tells the story , do you want sympathy or a lecture mate???

 

well id rather get a lecture and not have it happen again

[Stephen Blair]

well if i am right it is ash, looks like about 8 inches in diameter. you have cut 50%hinge this tree only needed a 10% open hinge. you guys were probably pulling like mad, ash doesnt like this, you should of taken the weight (not still pulling)i would of done by back cut below the hinge to give a folding effect and this stops a step cut effect. i would of had the anchor point of your pulling line a bit lower so when you get it over it comes quick. follow the back cut to leave a standard hinge then pull really steady and , once by the vertical get it down quick style. lesson learnt, if in doubt dismantle.

 

if it was in winter the wood of been more forgiving mate

[testcricket01]

well if i am right it is ash, looks like about 8 inches in diameter. you have cut 50%hinge this tree only needed a 10% open hinge. you guys were probably pulling like mad, ash doesnt like this, you should of taken the weight (not still pulling)i would of done by back cut below the hinge to give a folding effect and this stops a step cut effect. i would of had the anchor point of your pulling line a bit lower so when you get it over it comes quick. follow the back cut to leave a standard hinge then pull really steady and , once by the vertical get it down quick style. lesson learnt, if in doubt dismantle.

 

if it was in winter the wood of been more forgiving mate

 

alright then cheers i no for next time nw. i was going to dismantle but then we tryed it pullin it through the 4 pulleys then thro gri gri to hold it and we pulled it so far and got it leaning the way we wanted it to go we was 100% certain it was gunna go that way and it did go tht way till the wind came back which would have been half the cause if not all of the cause

[Rob D]

well if i am right it is ash, looks like about 8 inches in diameter. you have cut 50%hinge this tree only needed a 10% open hinge. you guys were probably pulling like mad, ash doesnt like this, you should of taken the weight (not still pulling)i would of done by back cut below the hinge to give a folding effect and this stops a step cut effect. i would of had the anchor point of your pulling line a bit lower so when you get it over it comes quick. follow the back cut to leave a standard hinge then pull really steady and , once by the vertical get it down quick style. lesson learnt, if in doubt dismantle.

 

if it was in winter the wood of been more forgiving mate

 

Ditto the above although was the gob/sink cut made too narrow and that is what caused the hinge to snap?

 

If you have a tree leaning back and you want to make sure the hinge holds you need a nice big open gob cut cause as soon as that closes the hinge will snap instantly... And also as Stevie said the gob cut only wants to be 10-20% where as you have gone half way into the tree... Maybe leave the hinge thicker - have someone pulling as you're doing the backcut and as soon as the tree is moving stop cutting - leave that hinge as thick as possible to support any sideways lean as you bring it over the pivot point. As soon as he is over the pivot point (pull steady up until then) start pulling hard and give the tree momentum in the direction you want it to go.

[Marc]

Do i understand this correct, you put a shed load of tension on the stem to get it leaning the way you wanted then put the felling cuts in????

I'm not sure if i'm reading you right.

 

Unlike Stevie, i'd of done my hinge like yours maybe not so deep, with a higher back cut this gives the piece/hinge something to dig into rather than breaking and possibly!! the but sliding off maybe unlikely but possible.

 

In all honesty though i'd of dismantled it to below the power lines its about half a days work, or a day at a nice steady rate.

[Jamie]

I'll ditto mark. your first post is in dire need of punctuation, you don't talk in one long sentance so why type in one?

 

 

Jamie

[Andy Collins]

I was thinking the adrenalin rush made him blurt all his words out.

Anyways, no-one was injured or killed in the process of your work, the only thing thats taken a bash is your confidence. A hard lesson learnt I think.

[josharb87]

i just cant understand why you felled it!

 

i mean, youre up there allready, dismantled the awkward bit over the wires, and im guessing you would have loaded the wood on by hand, so why not chog it down in manageable lengths to 4 or 5 feet below the wires, then fell it, wouldnt have taken long atall, looking at the small size of the stump, less than 10 min-probabally less than it took you to set up a 4 pully pull line!

also youre groundie can be chucking the cord on the truck as you chog down, saving yourself work on the ground!

 

hey ho, lesson learnt