Topping a dead oak while feeling like crap

[muddstopper]

My tree climbing buddy showed up this morning at about 8am. I have a old redoak that I have been babying for several years. Full of big black ants, hollow, dead limbs hanging everywhere. Plan was to take out the limbs so it wouldnt take out the rest of the trees when we cut it down. Matt climbed up in it and went as high as he could to set his ropes. With the dogwood and hickory below the tree he decided to just block the limbs instead of lopping them off. I tell you it took some balls to climb out on those dead limbs, but Matt made extra sure he had two lines hooked up in the event the limbs broke out. I have a bad case of the spring fever, but I bucked the limbs into firewood and loaded the brush on the trailer as he cut it down. As with everything, the tree felling plan sort of changed once he started trimming out the dead stuff. He was able to get all the dead limbs out and while he was climbing down, trimming on his way, the tree seemed to hit that just right look so we decided to leave it standing. It will eventually have to come down, but for now, I still have my big shade tree and we removed the widow makers and car crushers. so the world is good again, and I ended up with about a 1/2 cord of good dry firewood.

 

[Jere39]

Cool story, could have been so much better with a picture, or two

 

[muddstopper]

I didnt get a before pic, and by the time I got around to posting, it was getting to dark for a after pic. I actually tried to take a after pic when I posted. I'll get one tomorrow.

 

[unclemoustache]

Yes, it takes some guts to climb at all, but to climb onto dead limbs and all that is too much for me. Glad he knew what he was doing so well.

 

[muddstopper]

This is the tree I had topped. Hard to vision what it looked like before the trim. If you can see the large broken off limb high on the right, the rest of that limb was just hangin in the hickory beside it, and you can see where My truck is parked. we didnt cut that limb like that, thats how it broke. We left it because it has another green limb growing up from it. There was also another limb hangin low and in the front, notice the white car parked. You can also see where lighting hit the tree up near the fork. There are still a few little dead limbs, they where to hard to get to with a rope and chainsaw. I still figure the tree will eventually have to come down, but I'll cross that bridge when I have to.