Timberrrr!!!!

It was tree cutting time at the homestead. there was a monster oak tree with multiple trunks in the middle of the yard that had died and a very tall locust tree, also with multiple trunks, up by the house where we park our vehicles that was on its last leg. in front of the studio was a 3 story tall sycamore that had been dropping branches for a year and was rather lopsided without a lot of leaves and it had to go, too.

We got a recommendation from our local logging company of a tree cutting service that was reliable and who knew what he was doing. he showed up and gave us a very reasonable price for taking down 3 trees and said he could do it in about 3 hours. i was a bit sceptical about the time frame but loved the price.

He came last Friday evening and started with the sycamore and indeed did have it down in a hour. he had a huge truck with one of those buckets on the end of a pipe that took him up into the tree. this tree was easy since it wasn't near any wires or buildings or anything else. he worked from the top down and just dropped it all. it was fascinating to watch him work his way down the tree. we agreed to cut it up ourselves so all he had to do was put the tree on the ground.

 Then he proceeded to the huge oak in the middle of the yard. it was near electric wires...which may have contributed to its demise....since the electric company regularly came out and whacked off the side of the tree that would interfere with the wires if there were an ice storm and branches fell. but, again, in an hour he had it stripped of its branches and most of the tree on the ground. he left the multiple trunks...about 15 feet of them....for the next day. the main trunk measured 39" across when it came down.

I loved watching this man work. he used the bucket to push the branches how he wanted them to fall. sometimes he put a pulley around the branch and held it as he cut it loose and then moved it where he wanted it to fall. the man knew what he was doing.

On saturday he showed up early and finished up the oak in the middle of the yard. and then moved up to the house to tackle the locust. this tree was the problem child. not only were there electric wires going to the house, but it grew on the very edge of a dropoff of about 8 foot. and there was a propane tank close by. this tree took 2 hours to get down but he managed to get it down without hurting the cedar tree growing next to it that i wanted to save; without killing a tomato plant that i had planted nearby; and dealing with chicken wire that was attached to the tree by a previous owner for vines to grow on. The man was very professional and knew his business. makes me want to have more trees for him to cut so i can watch him work. LOL

Here he is using what he called a stick saw to cut the branches away from the electric wires...a little bit at a time.

But, alas, now the work just begins for us. the last 2 days have been spent in turning the fallen tree trunks and branches on the ground into firewood and mulch. we have worked the locust at the house first since that is where we park our vehicles. i have taken the smaller branches and sticks and filled a large trailer for the chipper...the mulching process starts tonight if it doesn't rain.

The smaller trailer was filled numerous times with managable size logs and then moved closer to the woodshed. they will be cut into stove size pieces over the next several days and stacked in the woodshed. then we have to move to the other side of the dropoff and pick up all that stuff that fell down the hill and do it all over again.

I think we will tackle the sycamore at the studio next. jim has gone to town to buy longer blades for the chain saws. the trunk on this one is 27" across at the bottom. not sure if we can cut that and get it split. may have to find someone who wants it. there is a piece about 10' long.

But eventually, it will all be in the woodshed and awaiting the cold winter weather to keep us toasty warm.

My hands ache and i have been sweating up a storm. we work the early morning and later in the evening. in the daytime i take a nap. hahahahaha