Rigging Explanation for Moving Cut Trees from Forest to Organized Wood Pile.

It's crucial to first select the right location for storing the trees.

Thick and sturdy trees with robust trunks should grow on both sides of the future log woodpile, bearing the main load from the tensioned ropes. I used two birch trees, of which I had very few on the plot. Hence, their location in this spot forced me to pause in choosing the site for the future log pile between them.

A straight road should lead away from this tree woodpile location at an angle of about 90 degrees from the direction to the forest from which you'll pull the felled trees. Along this road or simply cleared land, your vehicle should be able to move freely back and forth. I arranged such a road about 100 feet long several years earlier by shifting soil with a loader (bulldozer) from a higher area of the plot to a lower one, which was then leveled by machinery. The soil settled, dried, and turned into firm ground, making it easy for any vehicle to drive on without slipping.

I tied two strong towing ropes to each of these two birch tree trunks, threading them through the loop at the end of the rope. The higher the rope can be tied to the tree, the better. Therefore, I used a ladder to secure the rope at a height of about 12 feet above the ground, but it's even better to secure them higher.

The length of these two ropes should be such that when tensioned towards each other, they almost touch high above the ground. If the rope turns out to be too long, the excess length can be reduced by tying it with one or two loops around the tree. I attached a device to the ends of the ropes, which I bought on Amazon. It's called a "12 ton Snatch Block For Side By Side Winch" and cost about $50. I must say that I dragged more than 100 trees using this device. Somewhere after the 50th tree, the wheel of this device wore out and got punctured, so I had to repair this block by replacing its internals. Since the orange side panels turned out to be very strong, practically "indestructible," I kept them, and instead of the wheel, I inserted a thick bolt, securing it from the outside with two nuts. In the middle of the bolt, between the panels, I placed a piece of steel pipe, which easily allowed the rope to slide on it, as the pipe could rotate on the bolt.

The rest turned out to be very straightforward. I would cut down the tree with a chainsaw, attach a rope to it, which was threaded through the block, and the other end of the rope was tied to my car at an angle of about 90 degrees. I would drive backward, observing what was happening ahead. The tree would be pulled out of the forest by the rope, and, which is a particularly important part of the whole operation, at a distance of 20 feet from the beginning of the log deck, I had another very sturdy birch tree, which served as a stop and guiding axis for the rope and the tree trunk. Even if the trees grew aside from the trajectory, they still had to be pulled towards this birch tree, and as the rope climbed up the tree trunk, it directed them towards the log deck. Unfortunately, the bark of this birch tree on one side ended up worn out, but I hope the birch will survive. To protect the tree from bark abrasion, you can wrap the trunk at ground level with corrugated plastic pipe.

For towing the trunks, it's better to use a powerful vehicle, such as a truck or SUV. As I pulled the trunk out of the forest, I watched as it crawled out of the forest, scraped along the ground towards the log pile, and then, as the rope tightened, the front part of the trunk sharply rose to a greater height where the two ropes attached to two trees converge through the Snatch Block. Thus, the tree trunk ends up raised at one end above the rear part of the log pile. In this position, it can be temporarily secured simply by pressing the brake on the car and leaving it in park mode. Then, with the chainsaw, it's very convenient to trim all the branches from the trunk, which will fall to your feet, and you won't have to bend down while cutting branches. I immediately collected these branches and piled them aside for burning in a bonfire. It's crucial to trim the branches immediately so that the tree trunks lie on top of each other as tightly as possible, so they don't roll sideways later.

When the branches from the trunk are cut and removed, I would slowly move forward just a few feet to the length corresponding to the height of the raised end of the tree trunk. As a result, the tree would descend and gently lie on the log pile. If necessary, I would adjust the lying tree to better secure the trunks to each other.

Then I would detach the rope from the car and thread it through the block towards the forest, where I would tie it to the next tree, until all of them were cut down and towed to the top of the log deck. Then I would drive closer to the log deck and again put the end of the rope on the car.

Video by Fyodor Soloview, Alaska, USA.