We were recently hired to remove a very large and dangerous cottonwood tree in a trailer park in Wickenburg. The tree had been topped years ago, and had a very rotten & hollow trunk. We decided a crane was the only safe way to get the tree down, as rigging from the branches might have stressed the trunk and toppled the entire tree. There was room to work, but there were also hazards under the tree, so the crane made sense. We ordered 5 hours with the 40-ton crane (the largest) and set a removal date.
Things went smoothly. I wish I were able to get photos during some of the times I was up in the lift, but I had to work too! We had the crane raise a climber into the top of the tree to tie-off the crane’s load line, then rappel down to the ground. I cut off the piece that was tied off from my lift about 25ft up in the air, then the crane took it to the ground crew. They limbed and chipped the brush. Each piece coming down was 5000 to 7000lbs! Basically an entire tree! Here are a few shots with captions for explanation:
Limbing and chipping brush with the tree and lift in the background.
Local lumberjack Dave Robinson using his big Stihl 880 to cut the trunk!
The crane tied up to the final section of trunk, ready to ease it down!
Easy does it! This piece weighed over 16000lbs! The crane couldn't lift it, only one end at a time!
Hollow trunk section, what an accident waiting to happen!
We had an hour or so of cleanup after the crane left. The park manager thought this job would take 3 days!
Wow! What a job, thanks for the pictures!
Hey! I recognize that last photo! That’s an amazing sequence of photos.