We are currently in the process of building a homeowner a pond. To start with all the trees must be removed where the pond is going to be located. Most trees are from 12"- 36" in diameter with the largest. This house must be the local hangout for all the older folks in hte area, so I get plenty of people telling me "how it should be done". I like to take the excavator and push the the entire tree and stump over with one push, others agree with the way I do it and some say that they should be cut then dig the stumps up at a later time. So how do you remove trees on your job??? Here's some pics so far.
Nice brush truck... Short video of tree falling http://s228.photobucket.com/albums/ee145/Letsdig18/?action=view¤t=Picture111.flv
I like to do it the same way as you. It's much quicker to take it all at once, not to mention you can lay the tree exactly where you want and even change it course a little on the way down. As long as the machine will take them down, it's a waste of time to cut first and the dig stumps out later. If someone wants to pay hourly for you to take longer and do it their way, that's a different matter.
Ditto, tallest I've ever done was a triple 110' maple with a 30 foot root ball, stubborn, stubborn. But it was worth the six pack.
got any more pics of the dumptruck
Push the whole tree over, grab it and pick it up a bit and have the saw man cut off the stump and the tops. Pile up the stumps, logs and brush on seperate piles. When chipping, if the tree is small enough, we won't cut off the tops. I will get about 5 or 6 on the ground with the stumps cut off and fire up the chipper and feed them though.
Yeah this is the way that I have always done it, push them over with the stump attached and then cut them up. Sometimes if I can't get behind the tree to push it I will pull it back toward the machine then swing it down and let it fall beside the machine. Sometimes if the tree is nears a stucture or has utilities buried below it we will just cut the tree about 3 ft above the stump and fall the tree, then dig up the stump. Fireman I will get some more pic of the truck tomorrow, It's spotless I have a challenge tomorrow, one tree is leaning at a 20 degree angle straight toward the homeowners house, I'll have to grab it and walk it away from the house. It's about 24" in diameter and 90+ feet tall. I'll be sure to take some pics.
DO NOT CUT THEM OFF THEN DIG THE STUMPS UP!!! you'll be there all day diggin' those stumps out. Plus they come right out when you push the tree over anyways
Yep keep on doing what you're doing. I heard of a local story where a farmer wanted some trees cleared for more grazing land. He thought he would "help" the dozer operator he hired and saw the trees down with only a foot or so sticking up. I wonder how much his "help" ending up costing him extra?
I do the same. Although I chip the tops, but if I had that truck you have I wouldnt fool with the chipper
Yeah, I hate swinging sideways to take down trees as it is too hard on the swing. I'll dig on the opposite side of which it will fall and sometimes if I can't get it, I'll push the tree forward a bit to break up the roots and then she'll usually come down easily swinging sideways.
The only time I will cut the tree down is if we are on a hill side or ditch area that is going to be filled with dirt(no since digging the stump and having to bury it later). Other wise when using an excavator and even a dozer its best to dig what u can around the stump, push the entire tree over then if need be cut the stump off. Somthing about leverage helping with getting stump out, lol. I do know that my dad and uncle have cleared oak groves out and dad cut them all down, while my uncle pulled them away and then the two of them spent a half a day removing stumps and burried them. Dad said it worked pretty quick, but that was a job specific task. Trbo
That is how I do it. Some have mentioned that you risk snapping the tree and having the top portion land on the excavator. I can see the possibility in that, however if the ground has some give and you don't reach too high up on the tree I not even had a close call with this happening. It is something to be aware of though.
I like to pull them to me that puts a real nice pin striping job on the hoe. Maybe even push one over on that truck it would look real sharp with some pin striping. J/K your doing it the way I would unless I had some dynamite.:usa
hey, the owner of that truck cares more about his truck than his wife, He has 5 total. All look like they were driven off the dealers lot the day before. he would have a stroke if he saw the stumps I was putting in it today. Some were sitting on the floor of the trailor and still sticking 3ft above the top. Some of the trees were 48" then had a 10' root ball left after I was done hacking on it to make it as small as possible. Just sat it in there as easy as possible, although the machine would bearly pick it up
I've never seen ash that mature, it dies off here long before it reaches that size. That's some nice looking lumber!
We have a lot like that on the old homestead up in maine Steve,they sure make a nice axe handle.That wood splits straight as an arrow.Dad used it to make his horse drawn sleighs,apple ladders and whatever else he happened to be building.We cut it all by hand too,no chainsaws to make a racket on our farm!!! Ron G
No it's all popular, softwood trees, and some Gum. All cut good with the chainsaw. Had a few 36" saw logs hauled out today $$$$$$$$$$ the max the mill would take was 38" so we had to keep cutting up the tree until it was smaller than 38" thats tuff work with a 20" saw. Took down the last tree today and will post some pics of it in a little while.
Smart man to sell the wood as you knock down the trees. Post some pictures of the trees falling.
Here are some more pictures of the truck fireman.
the last big tree watch it go... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zADqJUsvv48
Sorry, but 1 thing I never do is use my tracks to push down a tree. There is alot of power in those tracks and you could cause some damage to the cylinders. Also, I push on the tree with the teeth, not the bottom of the bucket. You can slip off of the tree and it could bounce back and a branch break off and fall on the cab. Also, you can direct the tree a little when the teeth are against it.
yeah I try not to use the track to push, although in the clip had to, but I had the boom up to high and once the tree started falling I drove forward to keep the bucket in contact with the tree until in really started falling. We are trying to get timber out of these trees, and these being softwood trees, the teeth tend to sink in the log too far causing a bad spot that the mill does not like. I mainly try to use the hyraulics to do the real pushing, but on these great big trees you gotta get the boom up as high as possible to get all the leverage possible, after the roots are dug around.
Boy, I'd have bet money that was ash!! The bark and white wood look just like it.
That T800 is AWESOME!!! :drinkup :drinkup :drinkup
X2:notworthy
I'm with you, Steve the ash we have looks just like that. Our poplar (aspen) has a smoother bark. :beatsme
Dirtman: the way you described is how i take down trees much easier that way had a guy i was working w/ told me that he could cut the tree down then dig the stump up faster than i could dig around the tree standing just a few feet away from the one he was talking about i made a $100.00 bet w/ him needless to say he was still digging on the stump @ the end of the day & my granddad yelling @ him the whole time on the radio ...lol & ya also got a nice dumpwagon there bro im willing to bet the trailer is a 2 way tailgate i know ours was for that very reason . & we used to burn wood for heat in the old homested we had 2 ashley wood stoves & during the busy season a endless supply of firewood due to the clearing jobs . We had 5 saws the smallest bar was 20inch bar the biggest was a 3 foot bar all Sthil saws from 038's to 066's man that 066 was a heavy saw esp w/ the 3 foot bar & chain on it but would cut through a tree like hot butter we have taken down some trees that required tying off w/ a winch Cat while the trackhoe dug around the base of the tree & then the tree stump was so big it took both 066 Sthil's to cut stump & 2 trackhoes to load on a lowboy after knocking as much of the root ball off as possible . later bulldog
Yeah I hate those jobs where the weekend worrior AKA homeowner, decides to help out by cutting down all the trees himself and leave the stumps for us to dig up. when we get to the jobsite it looks like a tornado came through. It ends up taking twice as long to do the same job. Plus digging up a acre or two of large stump is torture :Banghead :Banghead
I did about an acre this summer that was all on ledge, so the stumps came out easy, but when it was all done the ledge was totally exposed over most of the project, the homeowner arrived and was like
I have heard a number of different ways to take down trees, and as many reasons as to not take them down certain ways. Somtimes however, like cutting them down and digging stumps out later are what is needed. But you really should take the stumps out. I drive by a lot of land almost daily that was bought by a city guy and he had a "dozer driver" come in to clear timber. Well they just cut all the trees down, pushed into piles and left the piles and the stumps(over 10 acres). Now this guy is trying to mow around them and having a fit and breaking his mower. I will say that the best way is to take tree and stump and all down then cut stump off if needed but leaving the stumps is just plain stupid. Now he would have to spend a ton more time in taking them out, and digging a hole, burying, etc. Oh well, not my problem. Trbo
I have got a Stihl 66 (MS 660) with a 3 ft bar and chain, and that thing is a weapon. 91cc and 7+ Hp, even with that bar, it rarely stalls, just pulls me into the tree. Until now I have been felling pines (about 2ft diameter) with the saw and intend to use my ZX30U to dig out the stumps. However, reading this I am wondering about digging the roots out while it is standing and giving it a push. I know it's a tiny machine compared to Dirtman's but some people say you can do anything with a mini, it just takes longer. How about pushing trees then?
How big of a tree can be pushed? With say a 27000 lb machine? I have about 25, 40-52" x 185-225' doug fir. Pushing them is a whole lot better for 2 reasons: they go down slow and won't tend to break $$$ timber and not having to dig the stumps.
That daewoo got wide tracks, yes? That thumb, I assume its home built?
We do alot of clearing of large areas of Hardwoods with excavators. We usually go through and get all the smaller stuff out that way, then go back for the big trees. This way the big ones dont tear up all the small ones behind them and also allow room for them to fall without getting hung up. Never push with the teeth. push with the backside of the bucket and have the teeth touching then ones it starts to go, extend more onto the teeth for control to push it over. One of my guys (no longer working for me) snapped a tree back onto one of the excavators pushing with the teeth. Another time a guy pushed a tree into another tree and it snapped the tree being pushed back on the the excavator. Both of these should never have happened.
I like all your machines, not trying to be creepy, especially the truck.