Removal of Willow Tree that was circling the drain

[mikefunaro]

Literally and figuratively. It had been damaged in two to three bad, off-season snow and wind storms and also had ants. It was always an enemy though because willows seek water so ruthlessly and it had repeatedly managed to find its way into some drain lines, even when I poured concrete around the joints. I've learned my lesson and stay away from the corrugated stuff but...the tree was sick enough and so little of it was greening up that I decided to remove it.

First off, here was the beginning of the end for it when it sustained some heavy damage in 2010:



The tree in a fairly congested area. This is my folk's house, which is in the northern, semi-wooded suburbs of New York. They're on close to an acre but the side yard setbacks are minimal. If this went the wrong way it would have hit either their house or the neighbors, or the fence. They received a $700 bill for removal, however, and I thought for an hour or two's work it would definitely be worth doing myself.

Here's the tree in its semi-alive state just before it was cut down (2/3) of the main branches were dead:



Got a rope in it fairly high up and tied it to a sturdy, far away tree just in case things went really wrong.



Took lots and lots and lots of wedges (like 10 minutes of pounding) but I got it over, and didn't hit a thing! Not even a catch basin that I plated over with plywood just in case.



Just under 2' at the base.



all cut up (now for the fun of carrying it out of the back yard--NOT):



Lastly I should point out most of the motivation to get this done is as a result of a new 550xpg I picked up from Spike60. The saw is an absolute blast to run.

 

[zogger]

Nice job, lotta wood there! Itll be heavy now but after drying real light.

 

[ShaneLogs]

Nice job and excellent score too. Looks like fun

 

[CTYank]

Mike, maybe they could con some neighbors to haul the wood off for free? "Free firewood."

I've seen lots of suburbanites get in a feeding-frenzy over free willow, which was sprouting from big rounds in a stack. Honest. Some folks will be sniffing around after hearing the saw- just set the hook.

Just out of curiosity, where would you ever use heated saw handles? Northern NH, in Jan.?

 

[half]

willow

give it away, it not worth playing with, burns good when dry ,but no heat.there is a lot around here and no one wants it. leave it on the ground and it will grow again, just a pest

 

[mikefunaro]

I have an ad up on Craigslist offering the wood free, curbside and help loading, but no takers yet.

@CTYANK when buying these saws new they represent a very modest price increase. As long as it's below freezing and a little windy they are quite comfortable. Also nice if you're far away from shelter or your vehicle and don't have a place to warm up. It also makes it so you can wear regular work gloves rather than crazy high end ones that you then nearly need to change out when you handle wood because they will wear them out and damage them.