Up the creek without a paddle (pictures)

[treeclimber165]

Here's a job I did last month. Back yard, tree fell into the creek. 30" wide access through the gate and overgrown flowering vines along the side of the house. We used a 70 ton crane, but he could only reach as far as the edge of the creek.

 

[treeclimber165]

standing at the stump, looking down the trunk toward the creek.

 

[treeclimber165]

Lucky this didn't fall the other way. The trunk is over 3' diameter.

 

[treeclimber165]

Almost 100% of the brush is over or in the creek.

 

[treeclimber165]

Had to work this one backwards, trunk first then the brush.

 

[treeclimber165]

Stump cut, trunk was so rotten at the base I made most of the stump cut with my 025- 16" bar.

 

[treeclimber165]

ooops, forgot that picture.

 

[treeclimber165]

Dragging out one of the leads. I only fell in the creek twice.

 

[treeclimber165]

Trying to get what we could before dark. The tree was so brittle that most of the smallest stuff broke off.

 

[treeclimber165]

This is what we had left the next day.

 

[treeclimber165]

I rigged up a 3-1 pulley system to drag the remaining limbs out of the creek. You couldn't wade in it, I sank about 12" or more into the muck bottom. I used the customer's canoe to paddle out and hook what I could. We fought that crap for about 6-7 hours before deciding it was about as good as it was gonna get. We left a couple buried logs and a bit of 1" stuff floating around.

(Sorry for the neck strain, this one is sideways)

 

[mikey]

Nice Photos Brian,Was this tree dead? How did the trunk become split?(2nd photo)

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I think the tree must have been dead, that's why it had too many leaves on it. It's hard to figure out how it fell, it had all that decay in the base to hold it up.

 

[treeslayer]

Always fun to do tree work from a boat, huh?
(sneak a fishing rod.) was that a sycamore?Makes good firewood dried right. you guys in Fla have all the fun.

 

[treeclimber165]

Actually, it was an oak. We call them Laurel oaks, they live about 60-75 years and the wood is similar to the willow oaks I saw in North Carolina. They usually top out at about 75'-80'. I climb many laurel oaks. Nice trees, but not as nice as the Live oaks.

Excellent firewood, but we do not need much firewood in Florida. BBQ restaurants take a little, but 95% goes to the dump. We filled 2 roll-off dumpsters with the wood from this tree, not counting what went through the 1250 Vermeer.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I know a guy who knows a guy who is interested in importing hardwood into the Colorado area.

Maybe there is niche industry there? Truck logs out west for the rich folk to put in their fire places.

 

[DDM]

Brian, Too bad you didnt have Pedro & The 4 wheeler there huh?

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Maybe even split it an palattize the firewood