We have lucked into an enormous red oak when some good friends needed one removed from their property. It was dead and had a hollow spot near the base of the trunk. This made it a dangerous felling as we had no idea how far up the hollow went. But we’ve had a bit of experience with felling trees so we decided to help them out.
We secured a strap around the trunk about half way up so we could encourage it to fall in the direction of our choice so as not to damage any power lines or buildings. The strap was attached to a snatch block then secured to the back end of the 1 ton pick-up, again, so we could direct the way it fell.
Sycle cut a nice wedge and I put tension on the line, he then began the final cuts. It got hung in the branches of the tree next to it and started to twist, making it very unpredictable and dangerous. That also made the wedge ineffective and it was sitting on the stump, completely detatched from the trunk. The truck was proving to not “have enough ass” to pull this tree down so we let out the 12K lb wench and secured it to another tree in front of the truck. We had the 1 ton truck, assisted by a 12K lb wench and it still wasn’t enough to pull this tree down. Time to bring in the tractor. After very carefully securing a chain around the lower part of the tree, above the cut, it was attached to the front of the tractor. Finally she started to come down, taking out a locust tree with her. It was very scary and kind of awe inspiring at the same time.
All that was left was the clean-up. We managed to get four good 8ish foot logs out of the straight part of the trunk. It was all the tractor could take to get them loaded and they about overloaded the trailer. These logs will be milled down for doors adn floors in the cabin.
The experience hauling these logs the 148 miles on a trailer that was just a little too small accelerated the timeline on replacing it was something a little bigger.
Sycle took the second week of May and stayed at the farm to work on the cabin and catch up with some chores. He mounted the big windows on the sides of the cabin, finished out the last trim pieces on the roof, cleaned up the cut offs from the saw mill, and installed the cedar on the ceiling of the front porch.
Piece by piece, we are getting closer to being able to inhabit the cabin. It will be nice to have a dry, comfortable place to stay on hunting trips, and during construction of the “big house”. We have already begun sourcing trees and logs to start milling the lumber. Looking for locust trees as they are nature’s pressure treated and will not rot when in contact with the ground.
Oh, and I checked on the spring last time I was there, it’s still flowing nicely and the dam is looking good.
City Girl on the Farm 