Is there an equipment rental near you? You could rent an articulated man lift. I have used one in the past to top trees out over the river above where my boat dock floats. A bit unnerving, but much better than a ladder/climbing.
In keeping things on schedule, I went out this morning and took off as many branches as I could. The winds had started kicking up a bit, but it didn't take me very long to finish my task. It would have been nice if I were able to have went up another 20 feet, but sometimes it's just not possible. As promised, here are a couple of pictures. They really don't show just how tall this tree actually is though. The first one is the before, and the second one is after my handy work. The main trunk itself is 23 inches across to give y'all a basic idea.
There aren't any equipment rentals that I know of nearby that would carry such a thing. One that might is about 65 miles from me. Even then I have my doubts they would carry one that would reach far enough. (80 plus feet)
I mentioned earlier in this thread how dense the branches were to Shawn Curry. This picture shows how close together the growth rings are. The wood is heavy even though it's small. I realize some of the weight is water and other fluids, but for a pine species, it almost seems to be one of the harder softwoods. At least the branches. The larger pieces in the picture are about 2 inches across.
Star Gazer first of all I admire and respect your attitude.. your self reliance is admirable.... but please be SAFE! we need great women like you in this world!
I don't know about being "great," I'm just me, doing things myself out of necessity using skills acquired in the past. I live alone out in the boonies and hardly know a soul here. Actually, I only know my neighbors names and very little about them. In town I may speak to several, but I don't even know their names. So if something were to happen to me, it's doubtful anyone would notice for weeks or even months. Even then they might think I'm off on some trip on my bike. So my bones would be picked clean by the animals around here. Heck, some of my bones might be hauled off for a snack later on. In other words, I do have to be careful in everything I do. Safety is one thing I do take seriously though some might not see it that way. I try to plan well in advance including what to do with the "What if's? Tomorrow I will be felling the tree. PPE is ready. My saws chains have been sharpened, one as the main cutter, and another as a backup, wedges, hatchet, and axe are ready, the direction of the fall (58 degrees off of magnetic north) Wind speed and direction. (1 to 4mph from the SSE to SE) The temperature will be 32 degrees at 9am rising to 46 degrees by noon. (the window I will be cutting in) Types of cuts I'll be making and when and how thick I want the hinge to be along with the height and depth of the cuts. And finally, my escape route. I assure all y'all, there will be no "Oh chit" moments as every precaution will be taken. Sorry, but no video's though I will be sure to take plenty of pictures.
The second of the two Norway Spruce met it's demise at 10:08 this morning after meeting my wood eater, the Stihl MS361 at 10:05 wearing a 24" bar. Yep, it left the stump and ultimately went to pieces. Poor thing! It has been felled, limbed, bucked into 16" rounds and is awaiting transport to my yard for further processing. It's Sunday so I just cleaned up my mess leaving multiple piles, approximately 8 pickup truck loads. As promised, pictures! First up is the notch. I could have sworn I had a picture of the face showing a clean cut after I made the adjustment to the 70 degree cut, but evidently not. I did have to adjust the 70 degree cut because it was off by a few degrees so pardon it's tallness. I also did the bore cut and deposited wedges on both sides in case it might lean back or need to be wedged over. But neither case happened. I should also mention, I did not use any tie lines, cables or otherwise, and of course no power pull or winch. It was just my saws, the wedges, an axe and hatchet, and myself. Releasing the back: Well, the stump itself needs to be in this series: The limbing in progress: And sort of an overview of the cleanup, and my piles of wood and other debris: You'll note, the stump has been trimmed down to size. I prefer the 34" height for initial felling, then cut the stump back to 2" leaving a 32" round. From there the round is divided into two 16" rounds Continued in the next message since I have reached the limit for pictures in this one (8)
The next picture is of the Arborvitae which were at risk of being damaged, which as you can see, none were damaged. Although it isn't noticeable in any of these pictures, they were infected with a fungus, the Cytospora Canker. I don't think I have any pictures from last year when they were saturated with white like resin which was running down their trunks exuded from within the cankers. The infection was rather extensive which was why the trees were re-purposed (firewood). Both trees were 35 year of age if I'm reading the growth rings properly.
Awesome - a successful falling venture. I am so glad that everything went well. More BTUs for the coming winters.
The final chapter of your saga with that Spruce. Your pics and descriptions tell the story nicely. Great job!
I moved the all of the branches and rounds into the yard for processing. Some of the rounds had to be noodled so I could load them onto the truck since they were way to heavy and large for me to handle. So at least that part is done. I have two small piles of debris to pick up yet, but I had already used up my energy doing the basic cleanup. Tomorrow is another day! I kept looking at the two stumps, and I'm tempted to put flower pots on them and plant some flowers there, but then I'm afraid with them being so close to the road, someone might decide to walk off with them. That gave me another idea. Why not take a chainsaw and make a pot out of the stumps themselves! Then fill them with some good dirt and put in some kind of perennial flower seed or some flowers that are already growing. It's a thought that might be worth pursuing! Like this:
You did it, but I don't agree that you were all alone. I think there is always Someone watching his flock. Good job. Hope you don't have more nail biting trees to take down. We know you can. You know you can. We want you here with us.
Excellent work Star Gazer Poor Spruces never stood a chance. I like your thought of hollowing out the trunk for a natural planter.
