I need a laser that will start a fire.

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ghostman11 said:
scafholding isnt not a great idea in this situation at all, but a cherry picker correctly place and of a decent size is a good safe way and you can rope smallish sections as you go to the picker and lift them straight down.
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I rented a "genie" which is a tow-behind bucket lift to trim a huge pecan tree that was whipping the neighbor's roof. Like you said, I was taking 2-3 foot sections because I didn't know how much the branches were gonna weight and how much extra weight the genie could hold before tipping over. It took all day, but I got it done eventually.

Gary- if you go this route, I strongly suggest you have the power cut by the electric company before you proceed. Watch the video of the Indian man grabbing the train overhead power line to see why this is a good idea
 
You can use a chainsaw, cut a wedge out of one side, the uncut side will tip over,

Prior to this cut the secndary branches off to stop the tree bouncing off the ground

There is a TV programme called james mays man lab, in series 2 episode 1 he demonstrates how to cut down a treem he then makes it into toile paper.

This I feel is a good explanation of how to fell a tree.
 

to be fair to the OP twice he has said he dosnt have branches! twice he has said he dosnt have the room to fell in one go...
TWICE you havnt read this
 
gary350 said:
A bucket truck is $250 per hour
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Garry, I rented a 'genie' for 250 for all day ( see post #21 ). See if you have a Robins Rents or a similar tool rental. You don't live that far from me, so quite possibly you have similar services.
 
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One of the simplest ways to take that tree off in sections while staying on the ground is with a simple length of fine steel cable and a pair of small ropes.

You put a length of the smallest multi strand aircraft grade cable, 1/16 - 3/32 inch diameter preferably, between two lengths of rope and toss one of the ropes over the tree as high as you can get it then work the steel cable section up to that point and simply put tension on the two ropes while pulling each end back and forth is a sawing motion.

The thin steel cable makes a surprisingly good saw blade and will cut the tree off at a point high up without you ever having to get near it let alone on it!

It may not be fast, high tech, or cool but its safe, simple, cheap, and effective.
 
Nigel Goodwin said:
It's not going to slice a tree up is it?
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The one in my laser cutter is only 50W and generates a nice little gout of flame. The bigger one might not slice through tree limbs, but if most of the output could make it to a concentrated spot on the dry wood of a dead tree, it seems like you could set it on fire from the top down, like Gary is talking about.
 
duffy said:
I took you seriously and found you a source for a powerful, inexpensive laser.

You ignored it.
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That laser looks interesting. 80 watts for $650. That would set the tree on fire at the top and it could burn all day like a large candle. It would probably take a week to burn it down below the power lines then I could saw the rest of it down. For $140 I can rent a lift bucket trailer for the whole day and have it cut down in about an hour. I am talking to the seller about that 80 watt laser it might be fun to experement with for a while but I'm not sure it will be $650 worth of fun. I talked to a friend that use to have several lasers he says 5 watts is all I need to set the top of the tree on fire and let it burn itself down from the top. A laser would be more fun that a lift bucket trailer.
 
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Any laser would set it on fire. There isn't one in the world that can just cut through wood like that instantly, or at least not a portable one. The world's most powerful laser may be able to cut right through it without setting it on fire, but that's unlikely. There's also no way to move it. A photo is posted below.

**broken link removed**

I suggest you just hire professionals to do the job
Regards,
Der Strom
 
Dragon Tamer said:
If we are talking rediculously over complicated ways to cut a tree down, may I suggest a RPC?

I don't know what's more disturbing, the fact that someone made something like this or the fact that people take it seriously to draw blue prints for it.
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Its the internet. Nuff said. Look how many people are claiming the end of the world will come in 2012... and yet they're wasting the last twelve months of existance making flash animations of how it will happen and posting in forums.... If its thought of, it'll be discussed to the point of lunacy. I still haven't seen a rocket-propelled rocket-propelled grenade though.. or an RPL!
 
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Couldn't agree more. Branches or not branches, if you have a tall unstable pole of wood you want rid of, chopping off the top in sections might be the only way. A practical (read: obtainable) CO2 laser would smoulder it, and if you did set it on fire, you would have a tall unstable pole of burnt wood - same problem, different colour. I've never seen tree's/wood burnt like candles, they simply don't melt. A chemical H2-Flourine laser, or an iodine laser would certianly set it on fire, with the same effect but quicker. Any 'mocking' here (which has proably gone too far, and I was a part of it ) isn't really about your specific problem, purely the use of the word 'laser'.

I try to use/abuse electronics to solve every problem, but thats no way to get things done Aside from going up there with a ladder and chopping away, or even using controlled explosives to blow out the mid section one way, and the top section the other way, its going to cost either money, damage, or limbs.
 

Who said anything about cutting through wood instantly??????? Where did you get that idea???????????
 
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gary350 said:
Who said anything about cutting through wood instantly??????? Where did you get that idea???????????

I think the thread is finished. THE END.
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In order for it to not just set it on fire, it would have to cut right through almost instantly.

BTW, not very good forum etiquette to ask a question and end the thread in the same post....
 
DerStrom8 said:
In order for it to not just set it on fire, it would have to cut right through almost instantly.
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In fairness to the OP - the title of the thread is 'need a laser to start a fire'. His idea being, to set the top on fire, in the (false) hope it will burn evenly from the top, to the ground, leaving a stump - all so he doesn't have to go up there with a box of matches and a can of lighter fluid. - no mention of chopping down tree's with it in his first post.
 
If he sets the tree on fire, what's to say that the fire isn't going to spread? I think the OP is being rediculous and needs to just hire someone who knows what they are doing.
 

Here is the first post. It says, If I cut the tree down no matter which way it falls it will take out something. I thought it was obvious I am trying to avoid distroying power lines, fence and other things by cutting it down. Any direction it falls the tree will land on a house, car, shed, fence, power lines. I took several photos but you really can't tell much from the photos you have to be there. The tree will burn fine the wood looks like a swiss cheese every time a piece falls I burn it now the only thing that is left is a 50 ft tall pole. I know a laser will not cut it down in pieces but I can set it on fire at the top and burn 3 ft off each time over and over until it gets shorter. The tree is so rotten it will probably burn fast. If I had a 50 ft long broom handle I could attach a torch to it send it up and set it on fire at the top. Maybe I could get an indian to shoot a burning arrow up there. LOL. Maybe I could get a pogo stick and jump up there or maybe a trampoline first jump I could squirt some BBQ grill lighter flood at the top second jump strike a match. Maybe I could get helicoper. I could get a bull dozer to push up a 50 ft pile of dirt then I would walk up there. How about a helium balloon with a candle. See how silly all that sounds. A 5 watt laser is probably all I need. I will keep watching ebay there will probably be the perfect laser for sale one of these days.

I have a 50 foot tall dead tree in my yard that needs to come down before it falls and distroys something. All the limbs have fallen off. The tree is so rotten it wiggles in the wind. The tree is leaning slightly south if it falls it will take out the power lines to my house, the neighbors power lines and the fence. It is only 20 feet from the power line pole with 5 sets of wires to several houses and a transformer on the pole. If I cut the tree down no matter which way it falls it will take out something. The power company refuses to cut it down because it is in my yard. If the tree falls the power company will put the wires up again free but if it damages the electrical service going into my house then I may have to pay $2000 to get it repaired and inspected. A bucket truck is $250 per hour. If I didn't live in the city I could borrow a friends high powered rifle and shoot the top off piece by piece. What I need is a laser that I can use to cut the tree off in short 3 ft pieces from the top down. The tree is pretty rotten if I could set it on fire near the top I think it might burn itself down like a large candle. I tried using a lens from a photographic enlarger to make a straight sun light beam to reflect off of a mirror to the top of the tree but the tiny lens does not capture enough sun light to burn anything.
 
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It sounds like he wants an excuse to buy a laser so that he has an excessive way to go out and burn ant hills. There is always a way of cutting the tree down properly.
 
gary350 said:
A 5 watt laser is probably all I need.
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Seriously, I think you are going to need a bigger laser.

"Full sun" is about 1,000 watts per square meter. So a 5w laser is about the same as using a 3" diameter magnifying glass in the sunlight.

It's easy enough to make some burn marks, but have you ever gotten a fireplace log to burst into flames with a handheld magnifying glass?
 
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