# How to drop trees in a heavily wooded area



## jessesnowden (Mar 15, 2015)

I'm on the market for land here in the northwest part of washington state. Lots of big douglas fir, western hemlock and western red cedar. Along with big leaf maples and red alders. 

To you old timber workers, how do you approach something that hasn't been logged in 100 years? 

Different scenarios will exist, it may be sloped, it may have small streams or ponds, it may not even have legal access when I buy it. What advice to you have for dropping trees that are in tight groups?


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Try to drop the tree clear of other trees, if one hangs it can kill you, they aren't called widow makers for nothing. Get several good wedges and make two or three hardwood long wedges, drive the wedges in the opposite side of the direction you want it to fall. I am sure you know how to drop a tree where you want it, right?

One more thing, (if you didn't already know it) look to see how top heavy the side of the tree is, which way the tree favors and which way the wind is blowing.


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## Kerrys (May 2, 2016)

Hire a professional faller. I live in Sedro Woolley, WA. and know a couple of pros if you are interested.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

First get legal access. Then work from the outside in.

Have you ever done timber work? If not follow the advise of hiring a professionsl.

George


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## mat 60 (Jul 9, 2012)

All I can say is I dont worry about doing much but droping trees is something I dont like ..Get someone to at least do that..


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## jessesnowden (Mar 15, 2015)

I've dropped a dozen large trees. But I've never worked for a professional who knows all the tricks. Like setting up winches with a sheave or hanging a zip line. Guess I'll have to take a summer job with a forestry service or something. Haha


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Suppose you can find and buy the land and that you have access. Did you buy timber rights as well? What's the end use for the logs? Timber sale? To whom and where? If there's no market, why harvest at all? Got a road? Professional fallers will drop your logs for maximum value, they know how to avoid such things as internal shatter.
Once those trees are on the ground, the rest of it is up to you. Specialty mills may come to your rescue, depends on demand.
Thinning dense stands of big trees increases the risk of other trees being wind-thrown with storms and then you really will have risky harvesting issues to 
pre-empt the invasion of bark boring insects.
Highly selective logging in very sensitive areas up here is done with an Erikson Sky Crane (musical instrument tone wood) lifting log lengths out, one at a time.
Hard to ignore when they fly into town.
Rarely more than 1 tree in 5,000. For minimum impact, we have quite a few horse-loggers with teams of magnificent draught horses.


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## jessesnowden (Mar 15, 2015)

Thanks! Those are some good questions I'll havevto consider as I'm looking at each piece of land. The reason for harvesting is the utilize the timber for my home. I'm looking at 23 acres of nothing but forest for dirt cheap. Cheap because it's completely land locked. So until I can get a road, which could take a few years in the worst-case, I'll be going in on foot or maybe sneaking my truck in once in a while. 

Which is why I'm thinking as if it were 1889. Can't count on large dozers or 4x4 trucks. There is a small clearing I can stage from on flat ground. My "plan" was to drop the trees surrounding that clearing, mill them into beams and stack them right where they sit to dry. Which is easily a years worth of work right there. In which case there may be an easement by then. 

Has anyone had experience with hitching tow lines/ winches or using come-alongs to move large timbers?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

That can be tough sometimes. I cleared 10 acres of woods that has never been logged. The only thing you can do is try to drop the tree where there is a clearing. That isn't always possible though. I remember one time cutting a tree down and it fell different than I expected and fell against the tree next to it. Then I cut that tree and the two of them fell against a third tree. I ended up having to cut the third tree before I could get them to fall.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

jessesnowden said:


> Thanks! Those are some good questions I'll havevto consider as I'm looking at each piece of land. The reason for harvesting is the utilize the timber for my home. I'm looking at 23 acres of nothing but forest for dirt cheap. Cheap because it's completely land locked. So until I can get a road, which could take a few years in the worst-case, I'll be going in on foot or maybe sneaking my truck in once in a while.
> 
> Which is why I'm thinking as if it were 1889. Can't count on large dozers or 4x4 trucks. There is a small clearing I can stage from on flat ground. My "plan" was to drop the trees surrounding that clearing, mill them into beams and stack them right where they sit to dry. Which is easily a years worth of work right there. In which case there may be an easement by then.
> 
> Has anyone had experience with hitching tow lines/ winches or using come-alongs to move large timbers?


Go to your county deeds and ask to see your plot, if it shows there has ever been so much as a dirt drive to your land, you can get a right of way and there is nothing the person who owns the land the road/drive was on can do. That was the way it was here in Tennessee when I bought some land locked property.


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## jessesnowden (Mar 15, 2015)

well guys, no offense but I found what I was looking for on youtube. Haha 

They call it high-lead skidding, or cable logging. There is a steel cable strung up from trees/poles at two points in an area to be cleared. Then a large pulley is setup on the line with two winches. One winches pulls the assembly down to where the felled tree is to be picked from. The other cable is layed through the pulley and has a noose hanging down from it. A winch is on the other end to tug the tree along the line.

In big logging outfits there are motorized yarders on the line that can pull many trees at once up hill. If I'm doing this myself, I'll stick to one log at a time and a few pulleys. Should be exciting work. Definitely a lot of time spent out in the woods. Wish me luck!

This video is a bit corporate, but it goes over how a smaller logging operation can be set up. Hope you enjoy watching and learning


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*"land locked" land is a PITA*



jessesnowden said:


> Thanks! Those are some good questions I'll havevto consider as I'm looking at each piece of land. The reason for harvesting is the utilize the timber for my home. I'm looking at 23 acres of nothing but forest for dirt cheap. Cheap because it's completely land locked. So until I can get a road, which could take a few years in the worst-case, I'll be going in on foot or maybe sneaking my truck in once in a while.
> 
> Which is why I'm thinking as if it were 1889. Can't count on large dozers or 4x4 trucks. There is a small clearing I can stage from on flat ground. My "plan" was to drop the trees surrounding that clearing, mill them into beams and stack them right where they sit to dry. Which is easily a years worth of work right there. In which case there may be an easement by then.
> 
> Has anyone had experience with hitching tow lines/ winches or using come-alongs to move large timbers?



If you have to trespass to get to your land that could be a big issue, but that's why the prices is dirt cheap.
Before you do any planning or buying any equipment, contact the adjoining property owners for easement or access rights. Without that, you are wasting your time.
My mom inherited a landlocked parcel and it was a legal nightmare.


Then you have a significant logging issue in my opinion. Felling trees that are close together requires a skill that is acquired over time and with previous experience, and even then it doesn't always go as "planned" :surprise2: I 
Ive had more than a few "leaners" when logging out the woods on my property and they are very dangerous. You may require a second chainsaw to free up one that gets stuck when the blade gets pinched. You never know which way a leaner will roll off the stump OR if it will slide backwards, OR if it will blow out above the cut. You will also want to have a bucket full of wedges and a maul for driving them in. etc. You can't have too many ropes, and a 4 X 4 tractor is a big plus. :smile3:


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Generally when you purchase any undeveloped property the seller is suppose to provide an easement for access to your property. It may be they might let you do the work clearing the easement but there should be something in the contract giving you access. I know I wouldn't buy land unless this issue was all written into the contract including clearing the easement. Since you are interested in logging clearing an easement would just give you free wood. It would also improve the value of the sellers land making it more sellable for pad sites. Win win for everyone so you might talk to them.


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## jessesnowden (Mar 15, 2015)

I've got a plan for gaining access to the property. I was wondering if anyone has any input on the logging.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

jessesnowden said:


> I've got a plan for gaining access to the property. I was wondering if anyone has any input on the logging.


That could vary so much depending on the funding. They have machines now that can drive up to a tree, grab hold of it and saw the tree and lay it down without so much as getting a wood chip on the operator. If you're like most of us with limited funding it's probably best if you set up a portable mill onsite and mill the lumber as you are cutting the trees down so all you have to haul off is the boards.


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## johnstoneb (Jul 1, 2012)

If you have to ask the questions you are asking. You probably should hire somebody that knows what they are doing to fall the trees for you. Logging is a very dangerous occupation even for those that know what they are doing. You are just asking to kill yourself.


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