The take down Process

This series of shots encapsulates the process of taking down a Douglas fir. The first pictures show me topping a Douglas fir after I removed all the limbs.







After topping the tree, the next step is chunking the spar down to the ground.





I had to pull out the big saw, 32" bar, for the final cuts.


Finally, you can see why this tree had to come down. A lightning strike scorched the back side of the causing a huge column of decay. If the tree had fallen on its own, my clients house would have been crushed.

The Bigger They Are, The Harder They Fall

This was my first take down of a Giant Sequoia. There is a reason they are not call Petite Sequoia. The Giant Sequoia grow at astonishing rates to incredible sizes. For these reasons, they are not well suited for urban environments. These trees were planted only eight feet from the house, and about four feet from each other.

With this job necessity drove innovation, and I used a zip line to send all the large branches directly into my trailer. It was an intense couple of days but the trees are down safely.



I know I post a lot about felling big trees, but I do so much more than that. I do a lot of pruning of large trees, small trees, fruit trees, and shrubs. These big trees really leave an impression on me and on the ground when they fall. That is why I like to post about the big trees.

Logger For a Day

I had the opportunity to fell five large Douglas Firs yesterday. They ranged in size from about 120ft to 150ft tall. We had to fell them all due west because of power lines to the south. I used my trusty Big Shot to set ropes in the trees. Then we applied a 3to1 pully system and pulled them down one by one. All the trees came down perfectly without any problems, except for the poison oak on my arms. Here is video of three of the biggest one coming down.

Enjoy.

Trees at wrong Angles

Most trees you see are perpendicular to the ground. In the past couple of weeks I have encountered two trees that I would say were at the 'wrong angle.' Sometimes trees grow at odd angles due to competition for light with other trees. Sometimes they just fall over. Either way it looks very unnatural to see a tree not doing what trees should be doing.

The first tree was an Oregon Ash that fell over on to the neighbors, which happened to be a daycare. The tree fell on a Saturday so no children were present. This is what it looked like.

The roots where rotten, even though the crown was healthy, the tree just went over on a day with no wind or rain. The back yard was back filled with soil after the house was built. Buried roots will suffocate, die, and then the tree will either die standing or fall overs.

The Second tree was a Spruce that was in competition with very large cherry tree, and as you can see the Spruce grew out at a dramatic angle to get any light it could.This next shot is after I Limbed and Topped the tree. Seeing the trunk bare it is evident how much of a lean the tree had. The top of the tree was almost 30from the trunk. If the tree would have fallen it would have crushed the neighbors porch and Maple tree.

Grand Old Oak of Cottage Grove

I saw this tree In Cottage Grove while out on an estimate. My client told me to stop by the Mormon Church on my what out of town, and look for the big Oak. I drove around the parking lot and then saw it standing on the south east corner. Although not the tallest Oak I have seen, it defiantly is the thickest. It is an amazing specimen! I am 6'3 with a +3 ape index, and the diameter is much more then that, as you can see in the pictures. My advice to all my readers is to keep your eyes open and take note of the trees around you. You might find something amazing in your back yard.

Big Trees Falling Down.

Trees have to be cut down. In the urban environment we cannot just let them fall down on there own. Although sometimes they still do.

I have had the opportunity to fell some large trees this fall. I enjoy doing the process of felling a large tree properly. In all of the videos below I have a rope set at the top of the tree connected to 5:1 pulley system. This insures the tree goes right where I want it to go. As you can see this works very well.

Big Jobs, Little Jobs, and New Jobs

The summer of 2009 has been a very productive one for the Community Arborist. Jobs of all sizes have abounded. There has been big Douglas Fir take downs, fine pruning of oaks, maples, and elms. I have expanded my services to include installing trees and other plants in landscapes, stump grinding, and also Cabling to aid in preservation of existing trees.

The Largest Job had to be the Douglas Fir I removed that soared over 150 ft tall!!! I spent a total of about two days climbing the tree. Day one I limbed and topped out the tree. Every branch had to rigged out, because of a new fence, and a Madrone tree. The next day I ascended to the top and it took me 20minutes. Then I took the tree apart piece by piece.

This tree was an Urban Giant, not a forest tree. Removal became a neccesity after construction of a new driveway cut the roots on the south side of the tree. It was a shame to lose this unieque tree. Check out this slide show and video to get an understanding of how massive this tree was.