Had a large dying tree that grew out of the bank of our creek. Cut most of it down last week and had the trunk to deal with today. That provided a chance to play. Never been real good scampering around trees - and I slowed down a bit after my 70th birthday. Wanting to stay dry meant setting something to stand on. That ended up being an extension ladder with a few 2x4's laid on the rungs. Yep, I know that's wrong, but there weren't any 16' picks laying around here. And I did eat a light breakfast.
The tree trunk was almost in the middle of the creek and the tractor couldn't reach it without going in the drink. For reaching out I slipped a length of 3" EMT (Thinwall Conduit) over one of the forks. I slotted the end a couple inches so a chain would engage at 12:00 and 6:00. One 20' chain had the ends dropped in the slots on the brush fork frame. That formed a loop that was about a foot short of the far end of the conduit. A single chain was hooked to the loop and secured in the slots in the end of the conduit. That left me set the ladder across the creek and then caught the big pieces and kept them out of the creek.
The trunk pieces were very heavy, but with the chain bridle supporting it the load on the conduit was such that it was being compressed (like a spreader bar). This was evident from the way the gusset on the fork mount mount peeled metal and the drop chain dug into the other end of the pipe a little. When that happened, the chain bridle became a little short for the job and allowed the fork to flex quite a bit. Fortunately, it sprung back to its original straight position If I need to do this again I'll reinforce the ends of the conduit to avoid that.
Before cutting through the pieces of trunk, the choker end of one of the log chains was wrapped around the piece to be removed and snugged slightly with the "crane".
The tree trunk was almost in the middle of the creek and the tractor couldn't reach it without going in the drink. For reaching out I slipped a length of 3" EMT (Thinwall Conduit) over one of the forks. I slotted the end a couple inches so a chain would engage at 12:00 and 6:00. One 20' chain had the ends dropped in the slots on the brush fork frame. That formed a loop that was about a foot short of the far end of the conduit. A single chain was hooked to the loop and secured in the slots in the end of the conduit. That left me set the ladder across the creek and then caught the big pieces and kept them out of the creek.
The trunk pieces were very heavy, but with the chain bridle supporting it the load on the conduit was such that it was being compressed (like a spreader bar). This was evident from the way the gusset on the fork mount mount peeled metal and the drop chain dug into the other end of the pipe a little. When that happened, the chain bridle became a little short for the job and allowed the fork to flex quite a bit. Fortunately, it sprung back to its original straight position If I need to do this again I'll reinforce the ends of the conduit to avoid that.
Before cutting through the pieces of trunk, the choker end of one of the log chains was wrapped around the piece to be removed and snugged slightly with the "crane".
