Reminds me of a job I did a few years ago for a new gas main. There was a section of large loblolly pines on a slope next to the road that had to be taken out. My customer, the prime contractor on the job, used his JD 290 to dig out numerous pines that were anything from 24"- 36"+ dbh trees and flop them up on the higher flat ground for me to mulch up. It was faster than me cabling off and saw cutting the big trees and the stumps were in line with the burial location. I would start at the stump ball and eat the entire tree, then go on to the next one. We must have had 2-3 dozen of those big trees on that section. I guess I never took pics of those as I could not find photo evidence in my files.
This big red oak was on the same job. The story was that the local road department would not touch it and they wanted it out so it was put into the gasline bid. Dirty jobs roll down hill and I was at the bottom of the totem pole so I got the job. 109 heat index that afternoon when I had to put the big bar on the Husqvarna that day.
It was really nerve wracking when the first 30k lb strap broke while I was trying to winch it over after making the hinge cuts. The second strap held but I had to have a second machine help me pull it over even though the strap was 20'+ up in the tree.
We were able to leave the stump in the ground as it was far enough away from the line location so I cut it to grade (right next to the road). This one was 5'4" at the cut. I had to have an IT28 tool carrier help me move it as my 40klb could not move that beast on its own when it started to slide back down into the road
. It was a shame not to be able to haul or cut this wood up but there was a lot of mulch left over to feed the worms.
