New guy from the PNW, mind if I share some videos?

[Reach]

Haven't taken any in a long time. I will see if I can get some. The shop is very cluttered, hard to get a clear shot of more than just a single machine at a time.

No worries there. The antique equipment club locally, where I run steam engines, has one I like to watch in operation. https://roughandtumble.org/viewreference/32/volunteerprojects

 

[rico]

Thanks man. I've seen you mention using the Maasdam puller a few times, are there any other pulling devices you use and like?

I love the Maasdam and use it frequently. It offers an extremely even and steady pull when used properly, and as long as you don't ask it to pull too much its pretty tough to beat for the money...If your patient at the stump and use wedges the Maasdam can get a lot of work done. When I really need to pull on something I generally go with a truck pull or the 518..

I also use the Maasdam for rolling logs into my mill...I have pulled 6+ ft diameter 20 footers into the mill with that thing... Blown a couple Maasdam's up, but they are cheap enough that I dont give a shit...Big fan of the Maasdam

 

[27RMT0N]

I haven't added anything to this thread in a long time, but got some kind of fun footage of 'tree carnage' on some dead grand firs. They are really dying off out here as a result of climate change and can become very sketchy when not dealt with before they start to decay.

This was a dead one that broke and hung up in the co-dom of a neighboring tree, over a road. Not wanting to be anywhere near it cutting, I got a line and just ripped it down with the truck from a safe distance which worked out wonderfully. Made for some kind of cool slow-mo video seeing a 40' top spearing down through the woods as well.

 

[southsoundtree]

Good show. Clean work.

I wonder if you would have pulled less to break it free if you pulled right above the break, with nearly horizontal line-angle.

 

[27RMT0N]

Good show. Clean work.

I wonder if you would have pulled less to break it free if you pulled right above the break, with nearly horizontal line-angle.

That would have certainly taken less force to break. I thought about that, but with only being about a 10 foot drop, figured it would likely only fall off the stump and stay hung up in the forked fir, becoming more vertical and less stable, harder to work with. To be honest, I thought it would come off the stump way easier than it did and that would be the first 'break' in the tree, and that it might simply collapse from there if it were rotten enough. So by setting the line high, if it did just drop and spear or pivot into the ground, remaining whole, I'd already be tied for a second high pull, to break the top out, instead of just trying to drag the butt horizontally across the gravel, tearing it up.

Grand firs are just weird man. I'm sure you know how they can behave, but they can be hard to predict. Some that look like the most rotten, scary things have totally solid wood 2" in, all the way up, others are punky to the core and have 50' of mush on top. Sometimes they will stand for decades, slowly crumbling down, other times they will lose 50' tops, breaking at 20" wood.

Edit: If I didn't have truck access and the ability to put a lot of power on it, I probably would have used a Maasdam and pulled right above the break. If I was out in the woods with nothing but a saw, I would have hit it with the leaning tree and hoped for the best. However after seeing how much stronger that break was than I expected, potentially it would have just slid down and done nothing. Seeing how the top eventually did break out of this, it could have gone in literally any direction, meaning you have like a 60' danger zone which makes safe escape hard. Power from a safe distance was great.

 

[southsoundtree]

I've heard those called bear-traps.
A bear leaning against such a tree, back- scratching, could dislodge it.

Sometimes, facing bear traps opposite the lean of the broken off lead, and backcutting, either until folding (potentially dicey), or left thick-hinged, with a pull line on the top to start the bending of the hinge, can work well.

If the top doesn't become fully free, you can pull it opposite to the way it went in.

If it's resting on the ground, and still hung up, the trunk is relatively flat, and relatively easy to "walk down".



If I can't get a small fir to do anything but hang up in a grove, I'll sometimes face cut it forward up high, and face cut it backwards, down low.
Make the Back cut and wedge the top hinge forward, then back cut and wedge the lower hinge to get the tree to fold.
Like the bear trap.

Clearly, it needs accurate cutting, and good exit paths and clear space around the stump.

 

[evo]

I think you did just fine. It’s down with minimal effort, and maximum safety.
I just walked from a job with the same dynamics except it broke about 25-30’ up, live leaning on a codom cedar pushed to the 20 degree mark. Broken tree was a western white pine, about 22” at the break and 28” dbh.
Fence and mobile home about 45 degrees and 15’ away from direction of the failure.
I’m a strong advocate for keeping it simple and effective vs “I hope this works, and complex.”
Felling the other dead tree on it would have been a mistake. Could it work? Maybe? If it didn’t work would it make the situation more complex, very likely.
I’m very far from one who does vehicle pulls like that. I would have tried the same mechanics with a winch or MA. But to each their own, and I have more blocks than I know what do with.