Felling on a small slope…

[maria warwick]

I have been asked to drop a few trees for a friend in Wales. The trees are at the top of a bank. There is a farmers fence on t'other side at top.

 

I was going to spike and chog each one , but was also considering dropping each tree down the slope albeit in a kind of angled across / rolling down the slope way. Potentially they could roll towards the building.

Another way would be to take the fence rails out and fell towards the field but , as yet , we don't know who owns it…

I am undecided , so turn to the people who have more knowledge than myself…

 

All advice welcome…

 

I am doing this job solo… ( carefully )

[dan494]

Hard to tell from those pics, the ones near the build look tall enough to hit it so I wouldn't fell them if there's a chance of that, apart from those skinny sticks that'd go where you push them. The ones further away should be ok, as long as that wall isn't in a poor condition?

[inthewoods]

Either speak to the landowner & drop the fence or knock the tops out half way (ish) & fell em away from the fence... Remember without a groundy, it'll be your mess to clear up :-)

[10 Bears]

I would just go for straight felling. It looks as if there is enough room to put them parallel with the building. It looks just like a matter of planning your felling sequence properly, ie making sure that each fell gives you more room to do the next one.

 

They also look generally quite small/not too heavy, so even if they did roll I can't foresee any damage if the building was hit. Are they all coming down?

[Thesnarlingbadger]

They don't look to bad to fell, but I'd need better pics. I would be inclined to climb a couple and stack the brash up against the house and the top of the wall too.

[maria warwick]

They aren't all coming down , about a dozen , at the moment.

 

Stacking the brash is a good idea , I think I may go for that one !

[IVECOKID]

Play it Safe and knock the Tops off while there are Buildings nearby if you feel unsure .

 

 

 

 

 

Ste

[Thesnarlingbadger]

They aren't all coming down , about a dozen , at the moment.

 

Stacking the brash is a good idea , I think I may go for that one !

 

 

No worries mate

[NFG]

Hi Maria,

 

Firstly, Im no pro, but I have felled a fair few trees in difficult situations.

 

Its slightly tricky to gauge perspective from the photos, however, Id be tempted to knock the tops off & fell parrallel to the building - becuase i cant see the extent of your space available.

 

It may be worth considering to leave one till last to prevent stumps rolling towards the building. You could spike this one last & chog it down.

 

Felling towards the building may have a risk of collision & even a stump cut short could continue to travel downwards & towards the building, unless limited by a fairly decent strop.

 

Theres also the top of the wall which could take a bit of a battering & this would be avoided if you felled parrallel to the house (think thats the right way to spell 'parrallel' )

 

Just my thoughts & take care.

 

Edit: From past experience some landowners can be difficult to deal with, but yours maybe not so?

 

N

[slack ma girdle]

Plenty of room to fell there, if you are worried about hitting the house, tie off the tree so that it can not fall towards the house.

[drinksloe]

Personally i think i would be just straight felling them, don't look very big or tall in photo a look resonably straight up, not leaning any direction.

If in any doubt chuck a rope on the 1st one/couple, sometimes soft woods can cling onto there neighbour like u would not believe when growing close together and those trees don't look heavy enough to pull free, prob only need a pull by hand but best to have a winch handy just in case.

Should get easier as gap gets bigger

 

Just depends how experienced u are, i'd cut the gub far more 'open' than normal so they can hit deck and stil be attached at hinge and leave hinge far thicker on far/fence side. Hinge should hold no problem

Sounds obvious but just be aware of snedding trees on the slope will always want to roll down hill if ur not careful so either stay on uphill side or leave on the hinge till all processed. Surpising how easily u can get caught out throu complancy

 

The banking will alter this but if u hold a stick up that is the length of ur arm at 90degrees and walk back until the top and bottom of tree match up with stick u should be about where tree top will land (ie hieght of tree) to do with making 2 right angle triangles and equal sides, pythagourus?