Destruction by Storm Doris ( today )

[meic]

I noticed this just the other day, a reminder not that I needed one!
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tr ... or-9824957

Not just the chainsaw to worry about but also not getting in the route of the piece that you have cut and that you are a long way from the floor yourself.

[Ben@Forest]

If anybody can explain how you cut down a standing tree without cutting overhead...

I'm not sure I understand the question but rephrase it and I'll try to answer it.

[meic]

HC said

Don't use the saw off the ground or above your shoulders.

which is good advice but rather difficult to follow when working up a tree.
When close to a trunk it is difficult to use a saw alongside yourself, which leaves above or below, below has an obvious drawback.

Though thinking about it it may mean that I have to consider ways of working with my body away from the trunk, either out on branches or with a harness.

[Heltor Chasca]

If anybody can explain how you cut down a standing tree without cutting overhead...

I'm not sure I understand the question but rephrase it and I'll try to answer it.

An idea of height and girth would help but I'll have a bash: (if the tree isn't too large)

Put your ladder up the tree (assuming you don't have ropes & a harness) on the opposite side to the direction of fall. Tie it to the tree with ratchet straps. You can even put the ladder in another tree and do this from a safe distance with a pole saw.

Start deconstruction with a large, sharp pruning saw by removing all the branches on the same side as your ladder or opposite side to the direction of fall. This will give weight bias in the direction of fall. Even better if the wind is behind you. You can also tie your falling wood to a long rope which a partner pulls in a controlled manner when you say so. Pole saws are great from the ground too. Heads up. Visors down.

Spend time making a decent face cut. If you are unsure of how to do this I would stop now.

Make the back cut 1-2 inches above the face cut. Again if you are unsure, stop now. You need a quality hinge or your tree will come back off the hinge and rip you off your ladder and impale you to the ground below. Very exciting photography for the coroner.

Take small bits of wood only. Ash is denser, harder and feels pain less than you.

Note: you are only using hand tools. Maybe a smaller felling lever could help.

I also never told you any of this or recommended any of these techniques. I have been trained by professionals but I am not a trainer myself. I also have years of experience. Some good. Some bad. Consider these as ideas only. English isn't my best subject either.

Enjoy.

Edit: If you have the room: Fell the whole tree in one go. You need to know all your felling and directional cuts. Also you need to know what to do if your tree gets hung up in another tree. If you don't know these things, leave the job to a tree surgeon.

[meic]

The three section ladder will only get me a third of the way up the trees, multitrunk about 20metres.
I probably will not bother cutting any lower than ladder height anyway.
I was planning on cutting horizontal side branches until the tree's weight is balanced to fall away from the buildings and taking down any vertical trunks in small bites that I can survive going down in the wrong direction.

I am going to decide to do (or on closer inspection not do) this anyway based on my own judgement.
I have been putting it off for a few years until the dieback arrived to force my hand.

[Heltor Chasca]

The three section ladder will only get me a third of the way up the trees, multitrunk about 20metres.
I probably will not bother cutting any lower than ladder height anyway.
I was planning on cutting horizontal side branches until the tree's weight is balanced to fall away from the buildings and taking down any vertical trunks in small bites that I can survive going down in the wrong direction.

I am going to decide to do (or on closer inspection not do) this anyway based on my own judgement.
I have been putting it off for a few years until the dieback arrived to force my hand.

A big one then. Take care. [emoji108]

[meic]

Looking at it again, it may not be as bad as I thought, probably only 16 metres.

The balance is how high I dare go against how big a bit of tree I dare cut off, fortunately as it has forked so often I have lots of much thinner trunks higher up rather than one big fat one. Which also means I can climb up ones that I am not cutting (unless they are too far apart, hard to tell when not up there) and for many trunks I can "prune" just the one side and then the remaining weight will pull it the other way on cutting.

Not looking forward to any of it, except the joyous moment at the end when trees and I are all on solid ground.

Ideally I would use the bow saw but cutting above yourself or horizontally is too exhausting.

[ferrit worrier]

Hi Guys

All chopped up even the trunk is back in our garden ( courtesy of the landy and a good pull in low box ) no missing body parts all fingers and toes intact, Rachel the eldest turned up, took half a day off when she heard there was a chain saw involved, She was however instructed that chain saws do not forgive, and a good run down of do's and don'ts. I've got some more pics but a bottle of beer and a good hot shower are calling.

thanks for all your advice, all well heeded I must say.

will post pics later on

Cheers

Malc

[Heltor Chasca]

Hi Guys

All chopped up even the trunk is back in our garden ( courtesy of the landy and a good pull in low box ) no missing body parts all fingers and toes intact, Rachel the eldest turned up, took half a day off when she heard there was a chain saw involved, She was however instructed that chain saws do not forgive, and a good run down of do's and don'ts. I've got some more pics but a bottle of beer and a good hot shower are calling.

thanks for all your advice, all well heeded I must say.

will post pics later on

Cheers

Malc

Good one [emoji106] Even better you had fun doing it. Need a job? Could do with people working with me who actually enjoy hard graft!

[ferrit worrier]

Hi Guys

All chopped up even the trunk is back in our garden ( courtesy of the landy and a good pull in low box ) no missing body parts all fingers and toes intact, Rachel the eldest turned up, took half a day off when she heard there was a chain saw involved, She was however instructed that chain saws do not forgive, and a good run down of do's and don'ts. I've got some more pics but a bottle of beer and a good hot shower are calling.

thanks for all your advice, all well heeded I must say.

will post pics later on

Cheers

Malc

Good one Even better you had fun doing it. Need a job? Could do with people working with me who actually enjoy hard graft!

Thanks for the offer HC a long way to go to work though

this morning about 0830

tonight about 1730

some of the bigger logs chopped up for the guys at work.

[661-Pete]

Not just the tree - that was quick work getting the fence repaired! I assume it'll come off your, or your neighbour's, insurance. I'm guessing there was an urgent need - e.g. pets in either household that need to be constrained.

I agree a trunk that size would have been a lot of sweat, sawing up by hand.

I still say, that wood needs to season before it goes in anyone's stove or woodburner.

[661-Pete]

In the meantime - and by contrast - a good example of Continental laissez-faire (literally - seeing as it's at our place in France).

On a separate occasion (not connected with the storm that took out our quince tree), a part of the churchyard wall opposite our house collapsed. This was about a year ago. It hadn't been fixed last time we were there - and I'm guessing it'll still be just the same next time we turn up, some time in the spring. Apparently the Mayor said there's no money in the kitty for repairs and it's not insured....

I don't know how many 'residents' of the churchyard, who all date from the 19th century or even earlier (there's a newer cemetery at the other end of the village for more recent 'departures') got disturbed in this incident. I'm still waiting for 'visitations' from angry former inhabitants impatient at not being 'rehoused'..... Should we look out a few exorcists?

[thirdcrank]

fw

Amidst tales of DIY chainsaw massacres and skeletons without cupboards, I'm impressed by how your old fence withstood the force of the wind that blew the tree down, even if the falling tree smashed through it. I'm also impressed by the speed with which you have got everything back ship-shape. No 1 priority is always nobody hurt and even the damage is relatively minor.

As I posted on the other Doris thread, we'd not have noticed here if there hadn't been so many warnings. Funnily enough, measured by my own amateur Beaufort Scale - in this case wind moving tree branches etc., - it's considerably windier here at the mo than it was when Doris visited. I'm nor grumbling, BTW, we were grateful to be spared.

[ferrit worrier]

Still got a mountain of twigs and branches to shift, a new fence post to drop in after taking the old one out. The chain saw certainly earnt it's corn. Started out by dropping the lighter of the braches near the ground then the bigger stuff followed. Glad I didn't have to use the bow saw. Got rained off today so took my dad to model railway exhibition in Chaple en le frith. Give the bones time to ease off a bit

[fishfright]

https://twitter.com/UKStormDoris/status ... 7035357190

Scary stuff