hydraulic jack

J

jim454

Participating member
Location
The land of Utopia
Any one ever use a jack to fell a tree? Found one the other day, only 2.5 " tall,.75 " stroke, 5 ton capacity.Thought it might work good in certain cituations.
 
I don't see any prices. They want people to call their 800 number.
mad.gif
 
I talked with Jerry Beranek about jacking trees. The Silveys seemed so expensive. JB explained that they are made much better than bottle jacks. Even though they are rated in the same tonnage lift their innards are better. Much safer to use is what JB told me.
 
I know fallers in our area often use a 50 or 60 ton regular bottle jacks to help fall the odd tree. I'm told it's easy to blow the seals if you're not careful. Use wedges as well of course. And a sturdy steal plate on to of the ram.
 
I've used a bottle jack a little bit for felling a large spar 30' x 36" that would have been harder with just wedges and a rope, though I used those as well.

I got a cheap one from an auto parts store that's a 20 ton.
I cut part of the backcut, then bore into the tree three times, once below the back cut and twice vertically, to remove a "trivial pursuit pie piece". this is where I put the jack, fully compressed. then I cut the face. Then slip the bar back into the backcut from the side (closer to the hinge than the jack) and keep cutting while adding additional lift.

I'd thought about the steel plate on the top of the jack, though I think that as the tree tips, the plate will need to tip with the tree or risk sliding out. The bottle jack head compresses into the top of the backcut a little bit, locking it into place more. If for some reason you really need to jack it up a long way, it may slip as well. Better to move the hinge deeper and need less lift for a spar.

I've heard of using it to put a tree down against its lean using a similar technique. I'd suggest trying this first without targets as you may rip the hinge and lose control. Species dependant as some trees' properties will vary.
 
At a minimum weld a stout plate to the top of the jack and then weld some spots onto the plate to give it some grip. Or, heat up the plate first and bend the corners up to make tabs.

Very good advice...back up the jack with wedges and chocks to keep it from sitting back.
 
It goes back to using the right tool for the job.
If you can't afford to buy one maybe you can rent one or hire someone that has the Silvey.
Don't use bottle jacks because you don't know what pressures you're dealing with.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Dear Pill Popper,sorry I meant top hopper,as a matter of fact yes i do own a TV ,Do you own a chain saw?

[/ QUOTE ]

settle down brother, tops been here way longer than you have, make sure you have something credible to say before you start spoutin out crap,

way i see it, tops contributed a lot here, givin us all something to look into and help out, know the dog before you try pettin' it man
 
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