A sticky problem... (need to vent a bit)

Buddies fishing cabin out sorta in the sticks...

During Rita, a VERY large and mature Red Oak tree started to fall, as who'd have ever thunk a tree like that would have such a small root ball???? It stopped falling well up off the house, being held by an Ironwood tree and luck.

Anyhow, It would have been tough to remove at that, but it hadn't hit the house yet.

Further rains came several weeks ago, and the rain lubricated everything... a major branch of the Ironwood gave way and now the tree lays on one part of the roof and is wedged at the far end against a pine .
Our thinking is that if we make one wrong move, the house is toast. Also in removing what we could with a bucket lift and Stihl MS260 I estimate the reamiaining trunk to weigh many tons. It is some 25" in diameter, and is that size from the root ball to some 40' to the first Y. If we didn't cut down and move 3000+ Lbs we didn't do squat.

Two plans are loosely being discussed. Winch the trunk up off the roof, or jack it up. But it must come up high enough to be pulled off the end when another tree is cut. I don't honestly believe we have a jack(s) powerful enough, nor a winch strong enough. It makes my head hurt!

Anyhow, I worked harder yesterday than I do on most work days! I gotta go this AM and tow the bucket lift back to Conroe.

Not really looking for advice, but I'll read whatever you've got!

Going by the dimensions you gave, and assuming the wood is 1.5 times as dense as water, I calculated about 6 to 7 tons for the weight of the trunk. You're not going to be lifting that weight entirely off the ground, so perhaps a winch capable of moving 3 to 4 tons will be adequate. My main concern would be if the winch gave way. The house is toast then for sure. Another option is to cut the tree in two roughly halfway, the idea being to get the part on the roof to fall off and hit the ground. As for the small root ball, if you have heavy soil that's probably why, or maybe the main tap root just died and decayed away, leaving the tree vulnerable. I worry about this sort of thing where I live. We have lots of huge oaks planted by the curb, some over 50 feet tall. When they go, they'll definitely take some power lines with them, and perhaps even some houses. In fact, two years ago some branches gave way and we were without power for a couple of hours.

I too figure 7+ Tons. The problem with cutting anything from the supporting Y back is like so...

/\ is an extreme example of the roof shape. The root ball is on the ground some 25' behind the house still attached to the trunk. It is either helping or hurting us, but we have no earthly idea which. the FAT part of about 40' up to the first y is laying perfectly on one side, and hanging over the other. It extends further to another y which is wedged against another tree and has it bent over 10 degrees or so.

Our thinking is that if the trunk is not supported, once the wedged Y goes, the house will be crushed. In this area I've seen lesser bits of tree do SERIOUS damage to roofs. Maybe the roof won't go. But it is Tin over what appears to be 1x4" over 2x4". It's a fishing cabin with two rooms, and the kitchen is the threatened area. So I really think the trunk MUST be supported.

Nothing more than two axles, and not much longer wheelbase than a 4 door long bed can get into the area

It's a heck of a problem! The thing may stay as is indefinately... but maybe not....

At 7 tons, I wonder how many ropes you'd have to sling to nearby trees to make sure thhat it swings away from the house when the fork breaks or you cut it into pieces?

Just a thought.

Can you adequately support and stabilize it from below on the Y end of the house? If that's possible, you could lop off the part above the support without the tree falling and then take care of the rest. You could also discuss the problem with some local hydro people to get some suggestions.

A couple of pictures of the site posted here may generate some more suitable suggestions.

Paul