Big Dead Pine Tree In a Tight Spot

This tree is a serious hazard.  It's wood fiber has become so weak that it can no longer support its weight.  It's being held up by adjacent trees. Behind those trees, Tony's house.  For me, this is fun!

The first thing we do in a situation like this, is secure the tree so it can't fall.  This is going to require multiple ropes and  the knowledge to apply them in the right places.

Having the right tools for the job is essential.  The Bucket Truck and a Braking Devices are just two of the tools we used to safely remove this tree. 

First we set a control line and remove the lower limbs that are not supporting the tree. Now the tree could move left or right, but it can't fall forward towards the house.

Because of the size and placement of this tree we needed to lower almost all the limbs with a line.  The Control line is a 17,000 lb. test braided rope. There is no room for errors we you're working with a hazardous tree like this.

When we have removed enough limbs to make room for the top of the tree, we cut and lower it down to the ground.  Because there was a fence less than 5 feet from the tree, (see photo 3) we were very careful with every piece of the tree as we lowered it to the ground.

Once the top of the tree is down, we need to keep our ropes around the tree and adjust them as we cut sections from the tree shaft. We finished removing and cleaning up the debris in less than 6hrs.  Tony was Happy! :) No damage was done to the fence or house and we saved him almost $1,000.00 bucks!  And we all lived happily ever after.