The Right Tools...

[crokett]

After I had 2 trees fall in 2 weeks I decided the rest of the dead stuff had to come down. Saturday we dropped 4 20' pines - really poles - all the branches were gone. 2 were rotted enough that they fell the wrong way after they were notched. The last one was a dead 30' cedar with a crown that was 15' wide or so.

I've dropped a lot of trees but with the wind, the unknown rot, weight on the wrong side of the tree and a power line so close, I decided to call a guy I know. He came out yesterday. He used a pole to get a line around it about 2/3 the way up, that went through a pulley then tied off to his truck. He got tension on the line, notched it, cut it part way then used the truck to pull it down. He said normally he'd just climb it but he wasn't sure how rotted it was.

[Warren]

A trick I learned fro my old logger friend is to always bore into the trunk of a dead tree and see what augers out. On the firs up here if you get fine powder you have a tree that is rotted, at least as high as the bore hole.

Rotted trees can explode on you or collapse as you cut. Only an expert should attempt to top a tree above the rot or to reduce the threat to lines, structures, sawyers and helpers. I work pretty much alone and always go the cable and pully route when dealing with unstable trees.

[Hellrazor]

Dead trees are fun, you really have to pay attention to the number of branches left on the tree. You REALLY need to watch the weight distribution of the branches, any amount the tree leans and what side the rot is the worst. I usually set up my 12' step ladder and use my pole trimmer to reach as high as I can to get a thin pull rope started. Then I pull a 10,000lb tow strap up and loop it. Use another 10,000lb strap and then a chain to pull it over. NEVER cut a dead tree without it being roped off.

Whatever you do, don't try what my neighbor did. Notch a dead tree, then decide to put a pull rope in the tree. Lean the ladder on the tree, get about 5 steps up and the tree fell over and missed his house by 2' at best.