Pulling a tree with a truck

[Riggs]

That is a poor example of why not to pull a tree with a truck . There are many more factors involved with why that happened .
I'd bet you could follow those guys around for a week , home and work and you'd see that was par for the day .

I remember a time when these guys were pulling a tree over with a 1/2 inch dblbraid on a f250, the home owner went over to the rope to feel how tight it was ( he was curious) , the rope broke , sliced his collar bone area, just missed his neck . Sued the guys truck insurance for over twenty grand and won .

 

[Gerald_Beranek]

Been pulling trees with trucks since the 60's. I've never had a problem. Now a truck is a lot faster than a winch, and sometimes you need the speed more than the power. Power don't mean diddly if you don't have the speed behind it.

In my neck of the woods years ago a lot of pull trees were lost to the side lean because the winches on the Cat's couldn't pull them fast enough. Ironicly rigging them too high was often the main problem. When you have shear brut power, 30,000 lbs +, you don't necesarily need the height. With the rigging set lower the winch can keep ahead of the fall of the tree and lead it to the lay. It's not rocket science, but understanding the releationship between the line angle, winch speed and height the tree is rigged,,, helps.

My friend Glen Manus was one of the finest tree pullers in the woods there ever was. He spent his entire carreer doing nothing but pulling outlaw trees. You could always trust Glen. He knew when it was possible and when it wasn't. Some of the other Cat skinners you wouldn't dare put the same faith in.

With them it would be more,"Run for your life."

 

[Mangoes]

Truck is a tool, and every tool has a time and a place for use. But consider this;

-calculate the force applied on the tree:
*redirects
*trailler hitch
*etc
-calculate the friction resistance provided by the tires

The most diligent Arborists (as we are here)recognize our trade as one of force managment. We aren't physists, however we have a rudimentary ability to calculate applied load, and consider it's impact on our rigging systems. The issue with the truck is not so much "it right" or "it's wrong" but that it is not a quantifiable force. Usage requires art, deductive reasoning, common sense, logic, and intuition. Failure of any of these traits can cause accidents.

But you can't ask your grounding to apply the equivalent of 3 persons pull. And you would never ask someone who didn't have the above traits to do such a task.

 

[treebing]

the scary thing about pulling with a truck is how easy it is to break the rope. If you use it right it shouldnt be a problem.

explain, I dont get what you need speed for? you cant drive faster than a tree falling can you? In my experience, once the tree starts falling that is it. Using a tree to tension the rope and pull over the tree seems fine if your gentle and watch the rope ,but I dont see how speed makes a difference. I wouldnt think you would want to be in a situation where you are outdriving a falling tree.

 

[theXman]

Yes, you can drive faster than a tree coming over. And it's not all that fast.

Now, probably not after it's at 45 degrees or more, but up to that point, a vehicle is a good tool, a slow winch is not. At 45 degrees, it's already committed to it's set path.

I have a good example on video. Someday I'll have to try to put things like this on youtube.

My example is a huge tulip poplar, very hollow at the base with a slight lean toward some houses. Pulled it back all at once into an open field. I think it had the posibility to go to the side if we didn't keep up on the pull. Used 7/8" line, 200 feet. Made a nice sound when it hit the dirt.

 

[theXman]

Hey, I looked and found a photo of that tree.

Again, very hollow at the base, solid up top. Had those dang Giant English Hornets in it too, had to spray the night before the removal.