I recently took down a very large cypress tree on my uncles lot, it was a 80' tall, 4' diameter (at base) tapering to about 3' around 60' up, then splitting off into two thick co dominant trunks.
This tree had been dead for a year. I was quite hesitant to climb it. The tree survived last winters 100km hour wind storm just fine, but i still wanted to be safe.I borrowed a "core" sampler and drilled test samples right thru the tree every few feet, in many random spots around and up the tree . the cores were solid, no dry rot to speak of. It took some muscle to actually snap them in half.(never mind putting that corer into the tree.....)
Spurred up, limbing it on the way, then i dropped the top(s), rigged the bull line to the top of the remaining 60' of trunk and headed down for lunch.
After lunch i made the facecut, then the back cut. Due to the dead and DRY wood i felt that it would be safer to leave a LARGE amount of holding wood, and use my M.A. system to safely pull the tree over, from the neighbours lot.
The M.A. system consisted of 3 big burly fellers, two uncles and the old man.
a steady pull, the holding wood let go with a resounding CRACK! and the trunk was on the ground, exactly where i wanted it.
old man took some pics, but they are with a 35mm slr, so bear with me until i find a scanner.
This tree had been dead for a year. I was quite hesitant to climb it. The tree survived last winters 100km hour wind storm just fine, but i still wanted to be safe.I borrowed a "core" sampler and drilled test samples right thru the tree every few feet, in many random spots around and up the tree . the cores were solid, no dry rot to speak of. It took some muscle to actually snap them in half.(never mind putting that corer into the tree.....)
Spurred up, limbing it on the way, then i dropped the top(s), rigged the bull line to the top of the remaining 60' of trunk and headed down for lunch.
After lunch i made the facecut, then the back cut. Due to the dead and DRY wood i felt that it would be safer to leave a LARGE amount of holding wood, and use my M.A. system to safely pull the tree over, from the neighbours lot.
The M.A. system consisted of 3 big burly fellers, two uncles and the old man.
a steady pull, the holding wood let go with a resounding CRACK! and the trunk was on the ground, exactly where i wanted it.
old man took some pics, but they are with a 35mm slr, so bear with me until i find a scanner.
