Tree trouble

[white eagle]

was cutting down a dead oak tree on my property (24-28" oak)
the fron wedge cut was made and while making my back cut my saw just stopped cutting,dull chain
so I go get another chain for my 20" bar and start at the back cut again and the same thing happens,huh [smilie=1:
Well now out of 20" chains I go get my 24" bar and chain and start making my back cut cept this time there is sparks coming out of the kerf. The tree is on the edge of my field so I think there must be some fenciing in there that I am running into
My problem is I am almost to my wedge cut I say 3-4" from the hinge but can not finish the cut, any thoughts on how to proceed ? I was thinking of trying to hammer in some wedges to make it fall. :Fire:

[Omega]

Wedges can possibly work, they exert quite a force on a tree.

[garandsrus]

I have seen where a space for a bottle jack is cut into the back of the tree and then the jack is pumped and the pressure fells the tree towards the wedge cut.

[contender1]

I would definitely pound in some wedges to keep it from toppling the wrong direction. Next,, I would then consider changing my cutting places. Go above the wedge cut & make another wedge cut. Then do the back cut above it too.

Often,, things get nailed to trees & then the tree grows around them. Fencing, (wire) is the top problem.

[white eagle]

Yeah it took out 3 chains already
thanks for the tips

[Omega]

Yeah it took out 3 chains already
thanks for the tips

If you have an idea about where the metal may be, maybe you can make a few plunge cuts once you put a couple wedges in the felling cut, to thin out the hinge.

[JimB..]

Pound in a wedge, rope and a tractor, or switch to an axe.

[Baltimoreed]

I was also going to say use an axe. Sounds like there’s some steel in there. I have a volunteer oak that has grown around a steel or aluminum pole I drove next to it 40 years ago. Somebody’s going to get a surprise one day.

[samari46]

Besides the plastic wedges I have two steel ones and the taper on the steel ones is much greater and the steel wedges are about 1 3/8" thick. Big rounded heads so probably designed to be started with a drilling hammer then set in place with a sledge hammer. Frank

[Thundarstick]

On thing for sure, If it don't matter where it falls, just stay away till the next storm rolls through! If it does matter, then wedges are in order! It looks like she's coming down one way or another!

[john.k]

A few ounces of blackpowder will have it down.

[pworley1]

If the sparks you saw came from some old fence wire you are already through the wire, there is most likely something larger in there since it has been hit three times and you are still not through whatever it is. At my sawmill I have found horse shoes, railroad spikes, pieces of chain, and lots of unidentified pieces of metal inside logs. I would skip up about a foot and just start over.

[wv109323]

Definitely warn anyone that might be in the area of the danger. A good puff of wind could bring it down. I agree it is more than fence wire if you have dulled three saw chains.

[Gewehr-Guy]

I'd try using a cordless drill and start drilling with a long 3/8 or bigger twist drill bit, to identify just exactly where the metal is. Once you find it, cut through your holes with a hand saw , so you don't ruin any more chains.

[dverna]

I have seen where a space for a bottle jack is cut into the back of the tree and then the jack is pumped and the pressure fells the tree towards the wedge cut.

I have seen this work. There should be a YouTube video of how to do it.

[KenH]

I have seen this work. There should be a YouTube video of how to do it.

There seems to be a YouTube video for just about everything these days.

[LAH]

You're probably hitting a spike of some sort. I'd try a little higher.

[waksupi]

I was cutting a larch that was around 30" on the butt, and the saw got pinched. I had used my wedges, and couldn't move it. I took the saw off the bar, then started working on the hinge with my Sharps and 500 gr. bullets. Took a couple dozen shots, but the tree came down!

[farmbif]

I use a magnet to locate metal in trees I'm cutting. also you can use a sharp axe to cut away the bark so you can see the wood of the tree, steel objects in trees make black stains. if the metal is deep inside you can extend your cut from the outside of tree and hopefully get it to fall. another option is to continue cutting from the side you cut a wedge into and be prepared to pull out saw and get out of the way

[jimlj]

A metal detector would tell you where the metal is. Cut above or below it if you can.
I suspect you have bigger metal objects than wire if three chains haven't made it through it. Maybe great grand dad leaned his Winchester against the tree when he shot that deer and forgot it?

[MaryB]

We had one like that. Wrapped a chain around it twice then used a handyman jack to start lifting on the back side away from the wedge. It started it tilting and we ran LOL

[Bazoo]

Wedge it good and if ya need, deepen the directional cut some more to get it started.

[ioon44]

Can you cut any deeper on the wedge cut? Wedges on the back cut would help.

[Bazoo]

Thinking it over, if it’s a t post or larger object like that, it might be enough to hold the tree vertical longer than expected. Course I guess a couple tons will be no match for a t post in the end.

[thxmrgarand]

I grew up logging. The advice given here is about all you have for options. Be careful. I don't like using wedges to put a tree over if the hinge is still so thick that you might get a split. Cutting at a different place will work if you are not into a steel post of considerable length. A drill bit or increment borer might tell you what you have, or where it isn't. You would already have cut through fencing. I once knew a fellow who sawed into a flintlock that was then well researched and attributed to Rogers' Rangers.

[Pipefitter]

Drill a couple of holes right above the back cut and pack them full of tannerite.....

[Texas by God]

I was cutting a larch that was around 30" on the butt, and the saw got pinched. I had used my wedges, and couldn't move it. I took the saw off the bar, then started working on the hinge with my Sharps and 500 gr. bullets. Took a couple dozen shots, but the tree came down!

+1 for the Guns are Tools, brother!
A shotgun beats a pole saw for those smaller limbs way up there- and waay funner.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[white eagle]

Got her
Wedge and prudent cutting did it

[panhed65]

I cut a lot of trees, so would be interested in what you find in there. never ran into anything like what you have. found lots of barbed wire, nails and such and once during splitting the firewood, found a very old round ball, far inside of a large white oak. had to predate any muzzleloader seasons here in Pa.
Barry

[MT Gianni]

Did you see what you were hitting?

[white eagle]

No never looked
I was so happy the tree was down I just bucked it up and burnt the slash
still have a lot to do an the trunk it will go along way on my rifle range back stop

[Bazoo]

Glad you got it resolved.

[ulav8r]

Glad it is down. My dad and brother had a stick of firewood that was hard to split. After using wedges and a sledge to split it, they found some iron that was about 1/2" cross section. Don't remember the name it is called, but was a device that clamps around a cow's neck with a hook above and below. It's purpose was to make it hard for the cow to go through a fence.

[Woodtroll]

I sure was curious to find out what was buried in the middle of a tree that trashed three saw chains... :wink:

[Dusty Bannister]

Cattle fence guard yoke from days gone by.

[GregLaROCHE]

A friend, who is now a retired tree surgeon, once told me about amazing things he ran into when cutting down trees. My personal experience is finding a baseball sized stone inside a tree I was cutting down. Ruined my chain too.

[starbits]

A buddy of mine cut a tree that had a hollow in the center that had been filled with concrete.

[GregLaROCHE]

Funny. After reading this post yesterday, I dreamt about having problems cutting down a tree last night.

[white eagle]

sure hope it didn't get hung up or eat your chains

[dverna]

First thing I would have done is determine what was in that cut.

[Rapier]

Cut down a 4 ft diameter red cedar tree here at the farm, had a real strange feeling about where to cut it, so cut about 2' above the ground, went right through. About 6" below the cut was a rail road spike and grown into the fork was a 1 ton truck coil spring, standing straight up. That sprng would have torn a sawmill blade all to pieces. Picked up the trunk with the grapple and that trunk went into the burn pit, too much junk in it to try and save. Those old farm place trees can be real bad.
I have a tree farm, pines and hardwoods, bushytails steadily helping me plant trees. They plant some decent white oaks and pecans, just in the wrong place, hard to tain them to plant correctly.

[Shurshot2]

Notch it and bottle jack it.

[.45Cole]

Tannerite, esp if you're remote and have some beer and owe your friends a show. How about a sawzall and them demo blades? I use my sawzall more than most anything else pruning and cutting smaller trees around the place. It works real nice, sometimes I have to take a little longer making smaller wedge cuts but it gets the job done without having to fiddle with the chainsaw.

[warren5421]

Dad's brother loged with mules, he bought a farm with some old 2nd growth white oak. He cut a 48"-52" white oak took to his saw mill. Round saw belt driven off a straight 8 Buick motor. Blade came to a stop, had to repair the belt where the pully burnt it off the motor. He split the log, it was full of lead balls that had been shot into it. No sign of a cabin ever being close to the tree.