Took down an ash today

I think this is the biggest tree I have ever taken down. Not huge, but about 18-20" trunk.

Hated to do it, an EAB kill. When I moved here this was a gorgeous mature ash in perfect health. 10/10. I wish I had tried to save it.

The wedge cut went FAST on my electric so I got a little cautious. I put a winch line on it and got my milwaukee pole saw out which I use to put a little distance between me and a tree for back cuts. BTW protip you can run any bar that the M18 saw can run on these. So I have a 14" on there. Anyway got it 90% and walked back to my garage for wedges and when I came back I decided to re-tension the winch line. Soon as I did that the tree just came down.

Not a great hinge as a result of sloppy cuts but it did end up dropping exactly where I was aiming.

This will heat my house for 2 weeks next winter, and I now have a sunny backyard.

 

Also should mention that I took a number of lower limbs off with the pole saw before dropping the tree, just to get some things out of the way and have more clearance.

 

It's been really sad to lose the ash trees, but at least they do make really fine firewood!

 

The USFS is offering grants to treat Ash trees. That’s about a decade too late for ours, but maybe there are some further west they can burn money on.

 

There is hope on the horizon for the Ash. Naturally occurring bug resistant trees have been located and are being planted in regional nurseries as we speak. I’m confident it will make a comeback.

 

Kinda reminds me of the CDC saying in January every year that the flu vaccine developed for the current season is for the wrong strain.

 

A couple years ago i delivered a rick and a little more of ash to a friend. Lamented that was the last ash firewood i will cut and split. We had a few live trees on our timber harvest in 2021. Glad some use was had from them

 

Not at all. These are native, naturally bug resistant trees that are being used to produce more native naturally occurring bug resistant trees. Some of the survivor trees that have been found are even able to kill the larvae on their own. In other words, it appears as though the ash would have bounced back on its own naturally. We’re just hastening that process. Sadly not entirely the case with the chestnut.

 

Removed the stump this morning.







Gotten pretty good at this technique. I basically dig out the stump below grade and then wreck a few chains cutting it out. Cheaper than a stump grinder.

 

This is also how I remove stumps. Consider switching to cheap sawzall blades made for pruning though. They last way longer in dirty conditions than a chainsaw chain.

 

Not a bad idea. I already have a stack of cheap pruning blades.

You'd still need the saw for a lot of it but the pruning blades would take some of the load off for sure.

 

I do a lot of root pruning in the normal course of my arborist duties. I use a rented tow behind air compressor and an air spade for root excavation, but I digress. We used to use past their prime hand pruning saws for root pruning. That’s where I first got the idea for stump removal. These days they have 12” or longer pruning blades for a sawzall. I buy the Ezarc brand by the 10 pack because the Lee Valley ones must be made of silver for the price they want. One blade will do a few stumps. I haven’t needed to ruin a chainsaw chain on below grade work in years.

 

I also forgot to mention that you can turn any pruning blade into a blade that will fit a sawzall with a little tracing of an existing recip. saw blade tail. A little work with a grinder and drill bit and bobs your uncle.