My weekend worth of cutting

[IchWarriorMkII]

Well thats just 40 feet, but we did hit a limb that was over 24" diameter and those rounds were making a big thump when they hit the lawn.

First, the tree:

Somewhere between 80-90 feet tall, maybe a few small branches top out at 100'. Its got some bad problems, mostly the rot that happens to all cottonwood trees.

Here is the basal hollow that has formed over the years.

I could drive a ground rod almost entirely though the stump through this hollow, Im interested to see what condition the stump is when we drop it.

The only vehicle we can round up thats capable of going that high. Elliot 105' bucket truck. Whats cool is when you hit the retract switch on the boom, it will extend... luckily this problem is intermittent

Obligatory chain saw pics. All my cutting tools and PPE. Yay for saftey.

We took a break around noon to let a thunderstorm pass, it went over so we attacked the tree again. Here is our progress around mid day

And we resumed cutting, until both my Husqvarna 353 and Stihl 361 ran out of fuel. My arms are completly and utterly smoked at this poind. 14 and 17lbs doesn't sound like much, until you hold it at your chest all damn day.

Tomorrow the top is coming out of that ????? and there is a good possibility we might drop it. My early measurements show the tree at 6' dbh. Tomorrow should be fun. (I've only got a 32" bar)

 

[KindlingKing]

Great photos. Can't wait to see the next day's work!

 

[SawTroll]

Great photos. Can't wait to see the next day's work!

Ditto! :rockn: :rockn:

 

[Peacock]

Awesome job. That sucker is gonna thump pretty hard when it hits.

Have you guys had an early spring? We don't have any buds yet around here except for the occasional silver maple.

 

[PA Plumber]

Good pics and story line. Looking forward to more.

 

[stihl 440]

great

Great photos warroir, keep them comming!:hmm3grin2orange: :biggrinbounce2:

 

[IchWarriorMkII]

As I type this message, I am physically, mentally, totally, and utterly beat.

Anyways, the weather man said our last day of uninterrupted (with pesky things like real work) would be nice and sunny, and it was. While I was a little bit sore(Read: So forkin' stiff I needed to be rolled out of bed) this am, we hit things early and hard.

One more tank of fuel through my 353 left the tree even more nekkid.

Shortly there after, another tank of fuel through the Husky left it even more bare. With the wind speed picking up, and our bellies getting empty, we left for a lunch break and an intermission to let us get some other projects done we had slated for this weekend.

I took this time to grab our new Rt650 Vermeer combo machine and sort some branches from rounds. Since my real job requires the use of this machine, I figured this was an excellent time to get familiar with the controls as well as clear me a path around the tree.

I wanted to make sure I could move around the tree when I dropped it, as well as had my escape routes planned out. Really wish it had a thumb on it...

What you don't see, is in the time being we sawed about half way though the large branch that was left and jerked it down with our Delta cable plow. I'll grab a pic of the plow tomorrow, but its essentially a D-6 Cat. Here is the tree as of really late this evening

Rigging our felling device, a 1.5" burlap rope. Its incredibly strong, but no match for the delta... we broke it twice. Once on the trunk and once dropping the large limb. It was a priceless item, and probably 400 feet (now 390) long.

I was madly attacking this trunk, making my notch and getting the back cut completed in the waning evening light. We could have cut our time any closer

With my 32" tapped out for reach, a little pressure on the rope started this big tree on its final drop.

 

[IchWarriorMkII]

Here is the new skyline, with my nerves racked and muscles tires... the job was finally completed.

Here's two tired souls that are extremely relieved to have this job done. Im on the right, with the Peltor helmet and chaps.

I could feel the rot in the center of the tree during the back cut, and here is the reason why the tree came down.

More pics tomorrow! Gotta shower up and hit the sack.

 

[livewire]

Really nice work!

Nice photos too! Good job!

 

[Ed*L]

Great job!!! Great pics!!!
You did a really nice job getting that thing on the ground. Very smart to put a rope on it and pull. The rotten/partially rotten tress are the scariest to fall, you just don't know what is really in there until it's on the ground.

Ed

 

[IchWarriorMkII]

Thanks for the comments and the +rep

I can't give most of it back, gotta spread some around I guess:jester:

 

[IchWarriorMkII]

My final bump and picture, a better look at the rot, and the saw that paid for itself on this job.