top of page
Search

Harvesting Storm Damaged Trees

3rd Mar 2023

About few years ago we were offered a couple of big old Arbutus trees that were broken off during a winter snow event.
About few years ago we were offered a couple of big old Arbutus trees that were broken off during a winter snow event.

Under normal conditions we would have harvested the wood very shortly after being offered it. These two trees however required some planning and thinking as they are located on the top of a high ridge with no access. We could also only harvest in early winter so as not to disturb nesting birds and other factors.
Under normal conditions we would have harvested the wood very shortly after being offered it. These two trees however required some planning and thinking as they are located on the top of a high ridge with no access. We could also only harvest in early winter so as not to disturb nesting birds and other factors.


After cutting and clearing away the branches and broken portion we now have the burl to cut up into chunks for later processing.
After cutting and clearing away the branches and broken portion we now have the burl to cut up into chunks for later processing.

After a full days work and an awful lot of saw chains all that remains is what's underground.
After a full days work and an awful lot of saw chains all that remains is what's underground.

There is about a truck load of burl chunks and a few chunks of figured wood to haul out from this one tree.
There is about a truck load of burl chunks and a few chunks of figured wood to haul out from this one tree.

In order to move our burl chunks off the ridge and some 600 feet to the road we set up a ZIP line between the trees. The cable is about 150 feet long so using a ladder we secure one end of the cable  to a tree about 10 feet high on the tree. On the far end of the cable we use a chain style ratchet hoist with a Chicago Grip to grab onto the cable and pull it up tight from a 2nd tree. We then attach a pulley to the zip line and use a length of rope to control the downward speed and to retrieve the pulley back up the hill for the next load. For the first tree we hauled out we used a block and tackle to hoist the wood chunks up high to the pulley. We had some difficulty with that process so purchased a light chain block hoist and that proved to work far better and quicker. This is a very steep slope, too steep to climb up and difficult to get enough elevation without obstructions between the two trees for the zip line. There are a few videos below that better explain and show how the zip line process worked for us. This tree required 2 setups of the zip line and was a full days work to move to the trucks. The other tree was far more difficult and further away it required about 6 zip line setups and several along a rock face. That move took close to three full days, the work for both trees was spread out over a 5 week span so we had time to recuperate between days. Between the two trees we ended up with just over two pickup truck loads of Arbutus Burl.


Click on the Blue links below to view a short video of the ZIP line process


A controlled move along the ZIP line.


An out of controll ZIP Line Move


A hard landing!


A controlled Zip line move.




 
 
 

Comments

bottom of page