How to fell a tree near houses without using a lift or ropes.

My cousin Josh decided that he had had enough pine needles and dead grass over the past few years since he bought their new house. With my 20 plus years of logging experience in the northwest he summoned my expertise. The tree was around 30 inches at the base.
The most difficult part was loading the logs onto a flatbed 5th wheel trailer. The next most difficult part was stump grinding the stump and all the protruding roots. Everything went well; no complaining neighbors, falls, stuck chains, or severed limbs.
The bid we got was for around $2200. It took us 6 hours to down the trees, 6 hours to haul it away, and 5 hours of stump grinding. We ended up with around 6-7 cubic yards of mulch from stump grinding. Couldn't believe it......probably half was the roots.
Anyway, enjoy....

[@jimFcooper]

I was pissed with the tree at the beginning. Thx for coming through with something interesting.

[@toddjacks8288]

Love ur video brother

[@toddjacks8288]

Good evening brother

[@masterx11a]

I always love watching tree felling videos. mainly from all the pro lumberjacks/ safety Nazis in the comment section. pay little attention to them there just mad you're not in there lumberjack fraternity. people these days are such sissy's never taking any risks and never getting anything done.

[@TonyMontgomery18]

Dude exactly!

[@mrrage2797]

Hard hat! Safety glasses! Two lines! Primary lifeline( climbing line) needs to Be installed at a high point in the tree, allowing you to maneuver with ease and keeps you from falling. your secondary lifeline will be your flip line or lanyard that comes with your belt harness or saddle. Chain break must be applied after every cut or after breaking a pivot like in basketball you break your pivot you break your chainsaw. Always cut the lowest branches first to ensure that the following branches don’t roll off the bottom branches and do something unexpected with added pressure and tension on the bottom branches from the branches that you cut from the top Will add to the tension and also make the branches do unexpected things. when taking a tree down, and only when taking a tree down you should wear tree spikes. Tree work is considered one of the most dangerous jobs in America and across the planet. many of people have died doing what you did, consider yourself lucky, and please try to exercise proper safety protocol when doing tree work. God bless you brother and be safe. Learn the Blake’s hitch it is a useful knot to climb on for beginners and always tend your slack when climbing with a rope a fall should only measure up to be no greater than three feet when an accident or slippage occurs.

[@BryceMiller83husker]

Thank you Mr. Rage but the "20 years of experience" comment was a joke. I'm actually a Doctor and had never done this before. Thank you for calling to my attention how awesome my skills really are since I was very successful in accomplishing this job without using all the tools and equipment that are deemed necessary. I agree with what you say and if I were to make a career out of this, I would probably purchase all the necessary equipment to make it more efficient as well as safer.

[@jasonblanton7185]

I've always cut the limbs off as I go up lol ,no way I would ever do like that lmao lol but hey we all do things our own way I quess right lol

[@tomgilbert8927]

Ever hear of dropping bottom to top so upper branches don't get hung up in lower branches. Tree removal is a art not a side show

[@corylefebvre8488]

What do.the branches matter in that sense? When the trunk is cut they're all going down and can be dealt with then. They're cutting upper branches that will possibly hit the houses or cars when it all drops...dinlo.

[@d-op1502]

Wow! I am speechless! What a hack. I hope you aren't charging people for this?

[@drinogordrummer2124]

This video is painfully missing top handled saw

[@bryanbabb5185]

Why didn't you drop the tree whole towards the street?

[@BryceMiller83husker]

I didn't trust the tree or my skills. The street was to the east of the tree. There was just too much foliage on the west and south which would have been catastrophic had it fallen either of those directions.

[@ethensuppes6250]

no hard hat or safetyglasses

[@jgbelmont]

Undercut the back cut? Notched face cut? Wth is going on here?

[@jasonblanton7185]

That's about the longest and hardest way to do a top down removal lol just saying

[@fustratedfisher]

This person is no professional, if it was myself I would have thrown a life line up to the top with a alpine butterfly and a beener tip tied. Then worked from the bottom up cutting limbs off as I go then chunk it down till its a stick and drop the stick. Done. Is he licenced?

[@BryceMiller83husker]

Shane, the "20 years of experience" comment was a joke. I'm actually a Doctor and had never done this before. Thank you for calling to my attention how awesome my skills really are since I was very successful in accomplishing this job without using all the tools and equipment that are deemed necessary. I agree with what you say and if I were to make a career out of this, I would probably purchase all the necessary equipment to make it more efficient as well as safer.

[@RickF1558]

Shane Aubuchon How about a running bowline, and no beener? It's more betterer.

[@fredschnepel7772]

Hey Woodhead, You forgot your most important piece of equipment, a body bag. Remind me never to hire you, common sense and insurance for starters.

[@BryceMiller83husker]

Why is that?

[@johns3106]

It will cost a lot more than $2200 when cousin Josh falls out of the tree he's "working" in or receives a traumatic brain injury from a branch whipping him in the noggin. This level of "professionalism" is nothing to be proud of!

[@jimwittneben7719]

This was dangerous tree felling. Not much personal protection equipment. It looked like cut and hope it doesn't bounce off a lower branch into the house or fence - cut limbs off tree as you ascend. Tree felling for logging is different than residential tree removal. Please stay safe.

[@BryceMiller83husker]

Hello Jim. We've done just fine for over 20 years with zero incidents or injuries. When you know what you're doing, you know what you're doing. In another video that I have included the hyper link below, I knew that this job would be tough so I used a lift. If I ever feel unsafe or in danger, I take the necessary precautions to prevent such. I would never ask or recommend a novice to incorporate our techniques. You should see some the the dangerous techniques that loggers in the upper northwest will take. They are things that I would never chance for myself or my crew with our experience and my comfort with my own limitations. Those with God given common sense know their limitations and continue to thrive based on their own decisions. Thank you for your comment and your wish for out well being. God Bless.

[@zerocool212121]

i would have to agree with ya on this, no way in hell 20 years of experience give you the results of that last cut that tree had no bite left to hold or direct it where to go. if you think im lying then look at 7:19 that shit should make you cringe, that will get someone hurt one day without a doubt. im not one to be a safety sally but fixing those cuts and running some xrings would mitigate any damage to employees or the property. just my opinion

[@BryceMiller83husker]

That was my cousin who has very little experience with chain saws. He asked if he could make the last cut so I let him give it a shot. I thought he did a pretty good job with it being the first time that he had used a big saw on a big tree.

[@zerocool212121]

thats fine and all being a first time but then you should walk them through the process, as if that was a more dangerous cut it would easily turn out going not the way you/he planned. the front cut looks great until you see the bottom going back farther than the top/face of the cut, the back cut needed to be higher (idc about that angle) but it then went below the front cut and past it eliminating any foot hold to make the tree fall where you need it. this is not a video that people should emulate. ive known of way to many accidents from this type of carelessness, and im one for doing stupid shit out of the norm but there are some golden rules you dont break. no one wants that to turn into a widow maker which is why you see many commenting on this.

[@BryceMiller83husker]

I'll try to clear things up. I started running a chainsaw when I was around 13. That would give me nearly 30 years of experience depending on how you look at it. I grew up on a farm and we didn't have much money. It wasn't until I was in High School that we got a furnace and AC. Thus we had a wood stove and we cut A LOT of fire wood. We also sold fire wood. So needless to say, I'm not a professional arborist unless you consider that I cut trees down to sell the wood. Obviously when I moved out at the age of 18, I didn't do as much cutting. Over the years we have been very careful and vigilant when it comes to safety and dangerous situations. Being smart and using common sense will get you very far and keep you safe. I grew up not having all the safety gear because we couldn't afford it. We also couldn't afford the necessary equipment that would have made it much easier and safer felling trees that were difficult to bring down safely. So with all that being said, we've never had an accident or injury, so why would we want to change things now? It's kind of funny that now I can afford all of the safety gear, I don't want it.

[@treeclimberman3337]

Ropes are mostly so we can work with both hands at all times, u don't know anything bout trees Lmao We would just pull that tree over in 20 mins 10 mins to chip branch's. While wood is getting picked up. we would do this little tree on our lunch break