Clearing Fallen Trees Without Chainsaw?

There is a great little hidden trail that I ride sometimes and would be terrific if it wasn’t for the interruption of old fallen trees. Some are too big to bunnyhop/ride over or there are two in a row stopping you from bunnyhopping. I’m not planning on buying/renting a chainsaw as I wouldn’t know how to use one in the first place. I’m wondering if you could use a ratchet/tape/winch to haul the offending trees off trail. Slack Line type kits are often rated to fairly high loads but I’m unsure if it would even work.

Anyone tried anything similar?

http://www.husqvarnachainsaws.co.uk/acatalog/Hand_chain_saws_.html

build some ladders? build them into jumps?

you be needing a tirfor winch and a couple if strong chains

careful though, you can build up massive amounts of tension in boughs and thin trunks that when they snap can be like a gun shot

That’s what I use. 2 tonne hand winch and some straps. Not always easy as the logs dig in. Helps if you can pull slightly upwards to prevent this.

Mud/sticks/stuff ramps – use trail side debrie to turn it into a feature.

Are they all too big for a handsaw? We cut down an old tree in my mates garden the other week and then cut up the trunk to fit in the skip. Not a huge tree but well over a foot thick towards the bottom. Only took 1-2 minutes to cut through each bit.

Of course if the trunks are several feet across this is of no use to you.

Use a handspike and put your back into it.

http://www.scottishbeavers.org.uk/

Wouldn’t want to Google that at work….

Chainsaw is the best option, failng that an axe or handsaw?

Personally I always go for the Husky 372 XP 🙂

The trees probably vary from 1 to 2ft in diameter. Most of them are fairly old

Has anyone actually used a Husqvarna Chainsaw to get through a 2ft tree? I’d imagine it would take forever.

The Trifor winch looks like its the thing for the job but a little expensive and possibly OTT to be practical.

That’s what I use. 2 tonne hand winch and some straps. Not always easy as the logs dig in. Helps if you can pull slightly upwards to prevent this.

Is the hand winch you use like one you see on the back of truck i.e. ratchet system?

After googling, HSS hire out Trifor winches for as little as £20 a day. Now how strong do you need? 1200, 1500 or 5000 kg pulling weight? Probably better to air on the side of caution. Not sure how the pulling weight is calculated as presumably it varys massively depending on what surface your pulling on.

a chainsaw will go through 2ft of wood in under a minute (if your chain is sharp)
or use an axe!
http://www.thebushcraftstore.co.uk/gransfors-bruks-american-felling-axe-1491-p.asp
now thats a real axe
I used one of these and a 2 man saw to fell a bunch of douglas fir last year. they were coming on for 1m diameter (DBH) and 60ish ft tall
not as easy as a chainsaw but much more pleasurable to use (no noise or fumes)
not as hard as you might think

Has anyone actually used a Husqvarna Chainsaw to get through a 2ft tree? I’d imagine it would take forever.

about 20 seconds

2×6″ Planks. Use one as a ramp to get you up the first log, the second between the logs. You can drop 2 feet off the end. Depending on the gap, you might want a supporting bit in the middle.

richmars – Member

Has anyone actually used a Husqvarna Chainsaw to get through a 2ft tree? I’d imagine it would take forever.

about 20 seconds

I think he was refering to my hand-chain saw link, or were you just being funny…

No, didn’t see the hand saw link. That looks like hard work.
Winch I use is like this:
http://www.dropshiponline.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=1282

Personally I reckon the best option is to turn them into a feature rather than remove them (as others have said already). It seems like you are going to a lot of effort to remove them when you could go to less effort & turn them into something interesting to ride..

My 2c

pics would be good so a decent opinion could be made.

I’ve cleared trunks and boughs of fair diameters using a Wilkinson Sword (or whatever they’re badged as now) brush hook. It’s not the best tool for hte job but it’s a versatile and effective one for lots of trail work. People look at you funny in the woods when you meet them and are carrying one though 😉

If they’re old and rotten it should be do-able though quite probably a fair effort. Still, what that’s worthwhile in life isn’t 😉

Failing that – features.

turn it into a feature

Put you back in to it and turn it into a roller

Yeah I was reffering to the handsaw!

I did try briefly to try and turn a couple of them into something rideable just using a couple of neighboring rocks to allow riding over. However, someone removed them a few months later so I’m inclined to think any structures may get destroyed. I’m struggling to see how they could be made into a feature without North shore esque features. The woods already have a keep out sign at the entry even though there is no legal basis being in Scotland!

I’ve no pics to hand but I try to remember next time I’m out in daylight.

Take a look here then re-evaluate what you could do with some tackle:
http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2010/03/history-of-human-powered-cranes.html#more

They could always catch fire. 😈

balfa, I do a lot of this.

A trail feature is the easiest and best choice. That’s not always possible depending on the ground / type of trail / shared access etc. So then you’re into cutting it. A folding saw will take you up to just under 1ft but it’s a lot of work (6″ takes 5 minutes, 10″ takes over 20 minutes). A 2 man bushman saw will cope with 2 feet, it can be a bit of work (depending on the type of wood) but it’s totally satisfying.

If you’re in a hurry / lazy or there are a lot of fallen trees then you’ll be quicker hiring a chainsaw. For me it’s the last resort though because they’re a bugger to carry in on the bike and I’m quite nervous about using them when I’m alone and miles from help. I’d rather spend all day with a handsaw. If the woods are causing problems for access then you’ll definitely be better with a hand saw to keep the noise to a minimum. Winching is going to be noisy too I’d guess although I’ve never done it.

I’ve hacxked through 12″-18″ trees with one of those yellow hand saws from Lidl. It made my bow saw look like a piece of crap! It was a good work out! Any bigger and you are going to need winches to move it. Not my cup of tea when you can make nice skinnies or shore or jumps or drops out of them.

Cancel the hand winch, this is what you (and I) need:
http://www.specialisedforce.com.au/products/portable%20winch/

I cut through several 6inch>1foot thick trees with a 30cm Silky Saw the other week. 2 ft you could do in wedges easy enough, much better using a decent axe aswell. Lifting / moving might not be realistically posssible, are they still attached to the root ball ?

A hand auger and a 1/4 stick of Plastic Explosive will sort that for you…contact your local TA!