Heat was pumping.

[troythetreeman]

Heart was pumping.

Yesterday i had a removal of a large, 40" cottonwood over the lake.
The base had a lot of decay. I climbed up into it, I'm looking at the limbs i need to rope down and I'm thinking about the rot in the base, the shock load and the forces of these heavy limbs swinging.
I'm thinking about how if the base fails I'm a dead man.
I decide I'm going to come down, fell it into the lake and were going swimming.
I put a rope in it thinking we can use a pulley and the skid steer to bring it toward our shore access.
I came down and made a high notch thinking to get the best wood for my hinge.
I discovered the rot was much worse then i had originally thought.
Not liking the way it was going i changed the plan and started a low notch directly into the lake.
10% in my cut began to close, so i made the notch, then began to whittle it a little deeper. 15% in the base crumbled and the tree barber chaired into the lake.
At the base the tree was 85-90% decay, I'm so glad my gut told me to get out.
After 16 years of doing this there are very few times I'm truly nervous, that tree nerved me out, right up to the point of splashdown.

WHEW!

 

[brookpederson]

I hate Cottonwoods let me count the ways
#1 They are brittle and don't hinge well.
#2 They stink like piss.
#3 Bark is thick and you can't trust spiking them.
#4 When they seed it looks like january in yur yard.
#5 The wood is pert near worthless, exept for pallets and vampire stakes.
#6 The firewood is even more worthless than the lumber.
#7 Rots and decays easily.
#8 They get huge! here is a little video of a 17' DBH Monster residing by la qui parle lake
Chippewa Co, MN.
[video=youtube_share;w4VSZA_7rEg]http://youtu.be/w4VSZA_7rEg[/video]

Glad your OK, and watch out for the cottonwoods

 

[richard88]

I climb cottonwoods on a regular basis here in wyoming, as they are one of our bigger problems in this area. Whenever i approach a large cottonwood I always go through my mental risk assesment checklist very carefully. Ive seen very large failures. One option for removals that i've seen done (never done myself) is to drill into the tree with a long drill bit to get an idea of the soundness of the tree and ultimately the risks assosiated with climbing it.

Stay safe out there, going home at the end of the day is always the point.

-Richard