How to Fell a Tree With a Tractor

Determine the height of the tree. If the tree is too tall to climb, hammer a 3-1/2-foot stake six inches into the ground. Determine the tree's height by measuring and recording the length of the shadows of the stake and the tree. Say that the stake shadow is five feet and the tree shadow is 80 feet; keep in mind that the exposed part of the stake is three feet tall. The formula for calculating the height of the tree would be: 3/5 = X/80. Cross-multiply 3 and 80 to get 240, then divide 240 by 5 to solve for "X." "X" equals 48, so the tree is 48 feet high.

Measure out and mark with landscape paint an area 48 feet long, where the tree will fall. This will be the path the tractor will take to pull out the tree.

Wrap the chain or cable around the tree 10 feet up from the ground. Pin the clevis onto the drawbar of the tractor. Hook the chain or cable to the clevis. A clevis is a C-shaped bracket with two holes, one on top and one on the bottom where a pin slides through to attach it to the hole in the tractor drawbar.

Start the tractor and slowly proceed forward on the marked path where the tree will fall until the chain or cable is tightened. This should place the tractor 48 feet from the tree -- far enough away from the tree so that the tree will clear the tractor when it falls. Place the tractor in a low gear and pull with a sturdy forward tension until the tree falls. It may require a few tries to fell a stubborn tree.

Remove the chain for cable from the fallen tree and dispose of the tree as desired.