Getting a line up HIGH in a tree...how...???

[AJMD429]

Would a bow-fishing rig work, or are they just designed to shoot 10-20 feet for actual fishing...?

It seems like it would be so easy to throw a weighted line UP into a tree 50 feet, but it really isn't.

We have lots of standing dead/fragile tuliptree that need a line to stabilize them for cutting, or to haul a bigger line up for pulling them down. Often the lowest branch is 40-50 feet up.

[J Miller]

You could get one of those line shooting shot guns the Navy uses to shoot lines from ship to ship .....


Joe

[Malamute]

We had a rope swing hung pretty high up in a very large tree when I was a kid. One of my dads bow shooting buddies shot a line over the branch, then pulled progressively heavier lines to get the heavy rope up there.

I don't know specifically about average bowfishing rigs, youd have to see how much line they hold or that enough line is on it. I think the guy that shot the line for our swing used a bowfishing rig though.

[Marlin32]

There are "sling shot" type devices just for that purpose. Shoots small throw ball with line attached, then you can tie on whatever to it.

[earlmck]

A rope? That takes most of the sport out of tree felling. I'm suprised at you!

[Pisgah]

I have a line-carrying monkey I rent out at reasonable rates...

[walks with gun]

I'm sure you can tie and tape a light line like decoy line ( very light and strong) to any Target tipped arrow. Have one of the in-laws catch it on the other side.

[ollogger]

what dia. are they & how tall? dead trees are notorious widow makers!!! if good sized on the stump
I would use a stubby bottle jack if tree is fairly solid, ive seen to many wrecks pulling trees over
either by hand, skidder or pickup


Brad

[Tycer]

Poplar make good candidates for coppicing.

[AJMD429]

These are rickety standing dead trees with everything already fallen-off that is smaller than about four inches. They 'wiggle' in the wind, and instead of the whole tree falling, sometimes just a 10 foot section six inches in diameter breaks off from 50-60 feet up, and there is no time to duck, run, or yell 't-i-i-i-m-b-e-r'.

The ones way back in the woods we just avoid walking near if it is at all windy.

The ones near frequently used paths we have carefully drilled with a hole-saw and packed with Tannerite, then shot down (may just try taping it).

One in between our house and woodshed probably won't hit either from the wind, but could, and could smash a car up where we usually have to park, so I'm hoping to get a line in it, and tether it to a much larger tree and just put a little strain on it so if it breaks low enough to fall very far, it will probably fall towards the tether. We've done that before but this one only has one place to get a line over a branch, and it's too high to throw.

I know what you mean about pulling them down with vehicles - it works really well IF the tree never gets a lean going away from the vehicle, but once a tree leans more than about five degrees, the 'vehicle' better weigh a few dozen tons or it's going to get yanked hard and far unless there is a quick-release available for bailing out. I nearly always pull by hand from a bigger tree down near the base, and use two blocks of four pulleys so I get some leverage. I also make sure that I have a long enough rope that wherever I am is farther than the tree top will go.

I will have to check into the 'slingshot' thing. Anyone know a source for ones set up just for line-slinging...? If not I suppose it shouldn't be too hard to modify a regular 'wrist rocket'...

[AJMD429]

Found this idea....
http://www.instructables.com/id/Line-thrower/

[KeithNyst]

Try a fishing rod with a 1/2oz bell sinker for the starter line.

[williamranks]

Get one of your buddies drunk and bet him he can't climb that high.

[claybob86]

You could get one of those line shooting shot guns the Navy uses to shoot lines from ship to ship .....


Joe

The Navy used to use 1886 Winchesters for that!

[rossim92]

Try a fishing rod with a 1/2oz bell sinker for the starter line.

thats how i do mine.

[Rusty]

I've put quite a few wire antennas up in trees for my ham radio using a slingshot.

Take a Zebco 33 and mount it to the bottom of a Wrist Rocket. Shoot a 1/2 to 3/4 oz weight up into the tree and use the line to pull a larger line up into the tree.

You can use a bow fishing set up but I find the sling shot more compact.

[AJMD429]

Get one of your buddies drunk and bet him he can't climb that high.

Now that's the BEST suggestion...!!!

I already have a spare spin-casting reel, so I ordered a 'wrist rocket', and it must be a good one, because it says "cannot be shipped to New Jersey"...

[Griff]

You could get one of those line shooting shot guns the Navy uses to shoot lines from ship to ship .....
Joe

The Navy used to use 1886 Winchesters for that!

NOT! Generally trapdoors

or topbreak H&R shotguns
But have used everything pretty much everything up to M-16s with adapters.

Simply tying a heaving knot to the line end will extend the range you can throw a line. A monkey's fist knot can really extend the distance a line can be heaved... Put a lead ball inside the fist...

[claybob86]

Well, shiver me timbers! I knew about the trapdoors and some others, but I'd of sworn I read somewhere that 1886s got used some for that too. If I find it again, I'll post it.

[Pete44ru]

.


I just cut them down with a chainsaw, making sure that the tree falls in the desired direction.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/know-how_h ... a-chainsaw


.

[Griff]

.
I just cut them down with a chainsaw, making sure that the tree falls in the desired direction.
http://www.tractorsupply.com/know-how_h ... a-chainsaw
.

Step one: Go out and buy a chainsaw. Since they don't make Homelites anymore, get a Husquvarna!

[claybob86]

Well, shiver me timbers! I knew about the trapdoors and some others, but I'd of sworn I read somewhere that 1886s got used some for that too. If I find it again, I'll post it.

Page 324 of Madis' Winchester book shows an 1886 in .45-70 with a 14 1/2" smooth bore barrel. Madis says a few of these were made for the Coast Guard as line guns, then goes on to say that some are marked Coast Guard, some Navy.

[otteray]

Use a ski lift rescue launcher.

[Alan in Vermont]

There's a guy at our club who does tree work. He can rig a line like nobody I have ever seen.

I found this on a search for "arborist throw line" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLTEzaIz7NM The first one shown, the "cradle toss" is how he does it. Hi method is to throw the line over whatever he can get as high as possible. Then he pulls the main line up and brings the end down to where he can walk it around the tree a couple times, flipping it over whatever branches he can get it over. Then he ties the end off around the trunk. The other end goes to whatever pulling source is available, we were using a mid-sized farm tractor and had probably 100' of rope between tractor & tree. He made his cuts after I put just a bit of a strain on the line. Once it was cut through enough to wiggle I just pulled it the rest of the way over. We took down several large-ish deal elms in just a few minutes.

[AJMD429]

.
I just cut them down with a chainsaw, making sure that the tree falls in the desired direction.
http://www.tractorsupply.com/know-how_h ... a-chainsaw
.

Step one: Go out and buy a chainsaw. Since they don't make Homelites anymore, get a Husquvarna!

These trees are like an 80-100 foot tall stack of tall dominoes end-to-end; they don't "fall in the desired direction" - they fragment into pieces that go every which way, even if all there is is one main trunk and few side branches. They break before they start falling.

[piller]

Sounds as if the hole saw and tannerite is the best solution to me. You can get far enough away that the tree cannot fall on you when the tannerite goes off. Putting it in is the dangerous part, since, as you say, parts break off of those trees at random times.

[vancelw]

I use a recurve bow and a cheap wooden arrow. I tie a thin line to it (fishing line has less friction) and use that to pull up a heavier rope if I need it. Got lots of practice after our last 2 ice storms, pulling broken limbs out of the trees.

[jazman]

I remember Jim T having good luck removing widow makers with a 12 gauge, and enjoying the afternoons doing so...

[AJMD429]

I remember Jim T having good luck removing widow makers with a 12 gauge, and enjoying the afternoons doing so...

We had an 80 foot tall black willow in the woods that fell onto two 40 foot sycamores, bending their 12" trunks enough that they were horizontal about 10 feet in the air - - - over our favorite walking trail...

No way I was going near that spring-tensioned mess with a chainsaw, so I got some bulk 308 surplus ammo, my 1898 Mauser, and on about the 30th shot (of FMJ no less) into the same part of one of the bent sycamores, it shattered, collapsed, and then the whole mess came crashing down to ground level.

In those days we didn't have cellphone cameras, or even a video cassette recorder, but it would have been fun to film with my current cellphone's "slow-motion" mode...