A strong wind that would create an equally loaded force can uproot
a pine. Pines do have a weaker root system than most trees but putting
a winch at one point on the tree will not uproot the pine. It will
only snap the trunk and cause your winch to fly back at you.

Don't pines typically snap, rather than uproot in strong winds?
I hope so. I have some big muthas too damn close to the house. G

No. If they are in the open and see the full brunt of the wind they
will actually partially pull out of the ground because of the weak
root system. I have had two pines on different occasions pull down
to a 45 degree angle. I had to remove them. My neighbor has three
pines right now that have a 20 degree tilt at the base but have grown
to re-righted the top half of the trunk through the years.


It depends in where they're growing, how long it's been
raining, and whether you've recently changed their wind
exposure. A pine tree that's grown in the middle
of a pine forest and has spend all it's energy lunging
for the sky in order to beat it's brethren to the sunlight
will blow over in the next big storm if you cut down
all the trees around it. A pine tree that's
grown up in the middle of a field because it's too
close to the pigsty to mow isn't going anywhere.