Unfortunately, we recently had to take down a large fir* tree. Birds had been drilling into it to the point that the whole middle of the tree was dead. I wonder if it was the same birds that liked to roost in the top of the tree? I guess we'll never know.
Anyway, the tree guy, Sonny, was amazing. The fir was close to Ward's shop, our new fence, and the neighbor's new garage. A tricky business for a 40' tree, but he didn't even brush a branch on any of those things. Tree felling is a very dangerous and skilled job. While the job was expensive, I think he earned every penny of it. Here are some pictures from the day.
This is the back corner of our lot where 3 lots come together. You can see that Sonny and his helper have to work in close quarters. After throwing a rope (with a weight) over a tall branch, Sonny suited up with his safety and cutting gear and started climbing.
He cut the branches off one by one as he climbed.
Sonny looped the rope around the branch he was cutting, while his helper on the ground held the rope taut and helped control where the branch fell.
 |
| They continued with this until the top of the tree was small enough to be cut with its branches. |
 |
| Sonny then went back down the trunk, cutting ~3' sections at a time until he reached the base. |
 |
| The trunk was about 30" across at its base, so they had to cut it into pieces before they could carry it back to their truck. |
 |
| They chipped what they could and hauled the rest away for a bigger chipper. Later that day, he came back and ground the stump. |
I was sad to see the tree go, but with the new sunlight, I'm already thinking about what things we might be able to grow in this spot. However, it's going to take some cleanup of wood chips and roots before it will be ready for planting. But I will be dreaming about it until then. 😀
Until next time...
*Ward and I aren't very good at identifying the different kinds of evergreens. I thought the tree was a spruce, and he thought it was a pine. Its pine cones suggest it was a fir, according to Google.
Note: Thanks to Ward for taking these pictures. He was very fascinated by the process and also took several videos. However, I couldn't figure out how to embed them. I thought I was following instructions, but had no luck.
