Cutting down a big tree

auzerais · May 8, 2015

Has anybody ever used a tree removal service to cut down a large tree?

I have a scene where one of my main characters, a ten year old girl, is watching professionals cut down the tree that her brother fell out of to his death. I need to know how many people showed up (I'm hoping for at least two, if that's reasonable) and what the basic process was. I'm really hoping to get one of the guys up in the tree, cutting some branches off. Is that reasonable?

Thanks is advance!

alleycat · May 8, 2015

I had two fairly large tree removed a couple of years ago.

I think three people were involved (at least two). They first went up (using a bucket truck) and cut some of the branches, then cut the top section (about 1/3rd of the tree), then the mid section, then finally the bottom of the trunk. They used rope to fell the sections in the right direction. This was in a suburban location with my house near. In a rural area or where there is space for the tree to fall, the tree might have been cut at the base and then sawed in to sections short enough to be trucked away.

I can go in to more detail if you need it.

MaryMumsy · May 8, 2015

We had a really big tree worked on a couple of years ago. Because of the size of the branches, and the fact it was over our roof, they brought in a crane. I think there were 5 guys including the crane operator. Some were on the roof, and up in the tree. They would attach ropes to the branch, the crane operator would hold it taut, then used chain saws to cut it loose. The crane then did a 90 or so degree arc (over the entire house) to put it in a safe place on the ground. Then it was cut up into smaller pieces and fed into a chipper. Some of the branches were 8-10 inch diameter, so really big branches.

MM

mrsmig · May 8, 2015

I've had several large trees removed from my yard over the years, and my experience was similar to alleycats. The main difference is that my trees were in my back yard, where a bucket truck couldn't get to them, so one worker (there were usually three or four total) climbed the tree using tree climbing spurs or gaffs (like these). He'd wear his chainsaw hanging from his belt while he climbed. Once in the tree, he'd rig a retaining line from the tree to the ground. His fellow workers would secure the line below and then the worker in the tree would saw off the large, spreading top branches of the tree and send them down the line to the guys on the ground - so it was a controlled fall (necessary if you have near neighbors or other structures that could be damaged by falling limbs).

Once the spreading branches were gone, they'd start on the main stems of the branches and generally just let them drop, since they were heavy enough to fall straight down. You could hear the thuds over the sound of the chainsaw, even from inside the house. The guys on the ground would run the branches into a wood chipper, chainsaw the big pieces into more manageable hunks and load those onto a truck to be taken away (some people keep the wood for their fireplaces). Once all the branches were down, they'd take the trunk down in sections (and those thuds were actively bone-jarring and left good-sized depressions in the earth below). If you want that tree truly gone, the tree guys can also bore out the stump, or you can leave it to rot away naturally.

Pony. · May 8, 2015

I havent had trees removed,thought i have one that needs to be removed. But ive seen them taken out on jobsites. And there was as many as 10 guys at times.
There would be a guy in the tree cutting. One or two manning guide lines, a spotter plotting where cuttings would fall, the genral gofer who kept machines gassed up and oiled and thats aside from the guys operating the shreadder and loading stuff in the truck.
So two guys might actually be a little light for an all out removal. Though maybe more appropriate for a trimming/pruning advance team kind of thing. They could be getting the lesser branches out of the way before the big guys show up.

auzerais · May 8, 2015

Thanks you guys, it really helps.

beckethm · May 8, 2015

We had a large willow tree removed last summer and the process was very similar to what mrsmig described. There were six men in the work crew: one up in the tree to cut down the top branches, one man spotting him, one operating a caterpillar to move the branches from the backyard to the street, and the others to cut up large branches, feed the wood chipper, and do general clean up. IIRC, the whole thing took about 90 minutes.

Dave Williams · May 8, 2015

Pretty much the same experience as others have posted, with the note that, unless the tree is out in the middle of a field somewhere, they don't cut it down as much as disassemble it, working around power lines, fences, buildings, and so forth. They cut the tree into pieces small enough to drop or rope down without damaging what's underneath.

WeaselFire · May 11, 2015

What do you need for your story? I felled a 75' tree solo with just a chainsaw and wedge and I've helped with several large trees that went pretty much as others described. In residential areas you likely also have a guy running a chipper and sending the small branches (and some pretty large ones) into the back of a truck as mulch. So you can pretty much write it from either end.

Jeff

auzerais · May 11, 2015

Thanks, guys. The tree is in the backyard and is perfectly healthy. A little boy falls to his death from the branches and his sister is now watching as it is being cut down, so I'm trying to have one guy in the branches being the metaphorical brother stand in, and a guy or two on the ground being sister stand ins, because this is all kinds of metaphor I need to get my hands on. Your info has been very useful.

Oberon · May 12, 2015

You didn't say what kind of tree it was. I assume it must have been something like an oak, an elm or something of that sort rather than an evergreen such as pine, spruce or fir, which are harder to climb. I have cut down many trees, mostly pine, spruce, fir, but the principle is the same. I think you have all the info you need to construct your scene. When it comes to making the last, felling, cut, they will saw a wedge on the side the tree should fall then make a back cut on the other side. On a large tree, they wouldn't cut straight across, the saw would jam. You probably don't need all that detail to achieve your metaphors.

namejohn · May 12, 2015

A large tree was cut, in front lawn, from top down as explained in other replies.
A light wire, which ran to the house was near the tree.
They used the long pole, which is commonly used, to connect onto the wire to move the wire.
The pole was to short to reach the ground.
They had a rope tied to this pole which they tied to trunk of another tree to hold the light wire back from the branches of the tree that was being cut down.

Cutting down a big tree

auzerais

I like puppies.

alleycat

Still around

MaryMumsy

the original blond bombshell

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

Pony.

Aspiring supervillain

auzerais

I like puppies.

beckethm

Dave Williams

Zappa isn't frank!

WeaselFire

Benefactor Member

auzerais

I like puppies.

Oberon

namejohn