Well, about 2 weeks ago my boss approaches me and asks me if i would be interested in cutting down 2 trees. Im like ok, need to see them first. I explain to him that yeah, ive cut plenty of wood before but i have nearly zero experience with skillfully cutting down a tree without causing destruction. So these trees are on the property with a house on it in a small neighboring town. His girlfriend has been buying property left and right and turning them into rentals.. So he shows me the trees, i wish i had a before of the larger stupid tree of the 2 from the get go, but i do not. Only a few shots during and after. So the first tree is a big old hard maple. Sitting directly under high voltage power lines. Im not talking about lines that feed your house, im thinking these suckers are probably feeding this entire small town. This tree has had its center removed and maintained by the power company or whoever trims trees away from the lines around here. Tree looks alright to cut, nothing too crazy, other then it being stupid tall. One side branches out over the street, the other sides goes just about straight up but is a good 25' taller then the house and the house is maybe 15' away. So immediately im like alright, i can do it but Im going to need a hand and im going to need a lift. The other tree is a willow thats been cut, struck by lightning, has some rot and is just plain ugly. Its got the house feed power lines right down the middle of it but it is not very large at all. So around here, we have a steller relationship with Sunbelt Rentals. We basically get whatever we want from there. So i pick up a 46' articulating lift. Ive delivered these plenty of times to job sites and what not for Sunbelt but i have never once had one more then about 10-12' off the ground. As the days go on, Boss contacts me and says hey, there is a 3rd tree we want removed. So this 3rd tree and this willow are right near the garage. Luckily the garage gets demoed. Garage is gone, the 3rd tree is what i believe to be a white oak, maybe 35' tall and about 19'' at its base. Few more days pass, oh yeah hey there is another tree we want removed. We noticed its in bad shape. 2 trunks coming from 1 and they are split and rotten for about 8' starting at about 2' up from the base. And this isnt no small tree, its about 34" at the base and its very tall, around 60'. Oh, and its literally 7' from the house, 25ish feet from the high voltage lines and maybe 8' from the house feed power line. Sweet... I'll do it. Friday Nov 24th 12:45pm. I load up, get gas for my 2 saws. I have a Stihl MS290 that has about had it and then ive got a Jonsered 2252 from MMWS that i bought from a member on here. Stihl has a 20" bar that it hates, and the JRed has a 16" bar that it annihilates wood with. I text my firewood buddy on the way, we decided to team up on this. Split the payout, he took all of the wood since it was all mostly green and we are going to be moving middle of next year. I text him when im on my way, i get there about 30 minutes before him. I immediately grab the Jred and jump on the lift. Getting the feel for it and figuring out what does what. Now... everyone is afraid of heights to an extent. Ive got no business being 40' off the ground. Anything more then so far up is sketchy to me. So here i go... I wheel on over to the hard maple and i start on the limbs that are stretching out over the road. Easy peasy. 2.5 hours later and 2/3rds or more of the tree is done, cut up, logs separated from the brush and what not. 1 major limb left and its the tallest one. It comes out about 12' at a curve, nearly laying flat as it comes off the trunk and then shoots straight up, going way above the house. Keep in mind there is a 20-25mph wind. Called it a day with cutting, i had to report to work by 5pm. Came back Saturday at 8am and hit it hard. Got the hard maple completely on the ground. I borrowed a saw locally with a funked up chain. I made 2 cuts with it and that was it. Lucky i was even able to get the trunk cut. So got the hard maple down, got the willow down, willow took maybe 15 minutes from start to finish, i kid you not. By now im zipping around on the lift, almost like ive been operating this thing for a good few months now. Keeping my buddy on the ground, he's old, goofy and just not all there. Good worker though. I get down out of the sky and decide its time to go refuel my body. As i enter my truck, my other good buddy pulls up, same guy who found me the saw to borrow. He brought me a dingo. You guys know what a dingo is? Toro Dingo, google it. Freaking awesome piece of equipment. I talk to him for a few, he hangs out, i sent him 45' up to take the top off the tree next to the house that was split. He saved me 2 hours, easy. Dude has huge balls or not a care in the world, im not sure. He gotter done though. Actually, the biggest issue i had in the basket of that lift was controlling the stuff i was cutting. You've seen tree guys in buckets and what not grab the limb they are cutting as it is falling. Usually to better aim where it lands and to control where it goes, yeah the only thing i can think of is that this limb im cutting is going to remove me from the basket as it falls to earth. Didnt matter how big the limb was either, cigar thickess at 4' long or freaking the size of a beer can and 8' long. I wasnt grabbing them. I had that sucker every bit of 42' up there in the sky and i was for sure sketched out. I had the death grip on most of the railing. I bet there isnt a half an inch of top railing on the basket that doesnt have my prints on it. We got the job done, im running out of things to say. Turns out, the village offers brush pick up on the 2nd tuesday of every month. I didnt find this out until after we hand loaded a 38' trailer with brush. Great. Actually, one more thing. While we were cutting the tree that was near the house, the double trunker. I noticed a squirrel up top. This sucker was protesting! Didnt want his tree gone. Pretty sure he was living in the trunk.. We left him alone for nearly 2 hours and he didnt move. Well, he ended up coming down. He took a leap when the last limb was mid flight and about 35' off the ground. He smacked the road, never bounced and disappeared on foot. Never saw him again. Not sure if he survived long term but he survived immediately following his flight.. I took a few pictures, probably going to mix up the order these were taken in. The difference per picture should be obvious. Enjoy
First picture here is of the white oak, i think, on the ground and already cut. Took maybe 10 minutes.
And these are from today. Loaded 2 trunks onto our flatbed, stashed them on our property so my buddy can slice and dice them at a later time.
That was quite a lot of work, you had to have a lift to take those trees down so close to the power lines and house. Those are two places I don't like to cut near. You got it done, Kudos to you LinkedXJ
Cash money, Not nearly "Enough" But plenty to make me happy and it had to of been well below what a professional would of charged. Just trying to get the job done, learn a few things and help out some folks.
Looking back at it all, now on several occasions, i am so impressed with my self. I cant believe i managed to get done, what i had gotten done. Like im simply amazed. For having zero experience with cutting trees that are near dangerous and or important buildings or things, this is all crazy to me. I was seriously more nervous about the one near the house then i was about the one under the power lines though i can tell you that. I wish i had a before picture of that hard maple, man was it ugly! Few neighbors stopped by, they all complimented me on my work and said the property looks so much better with those select few trees gone.
And to my surprise, my back is feeling quite well. Just tired and the arthritis has set in hardcore as of about 3 hours ago.
Now thats a lift! I've used the tow around ones, cant quite remember how tall it extended to... But they make life so much easier to top a tree out, than I can climb. Looks like you've done good! Especially considering the area that you were dealing with, powerlines and house.
I'm impressed too! That whole experience is one that you'll remember all your life with pride. Now you'll start getting phone calls, "I have a tree...". Probably good that you're moving.
