That was mostly to stop the trunk from falling further between the crotches of the trees it was hung up in and jamming up even worse. Had to cut the saw out of a jam once I wasn't gonna keep doing it. I've been hit with a barber-chair with maple growing in the swamp once before so every cut on a leaner or wedged branch is ready to split and pop and get me now. LOL. It is also easier on the back.
Ha! This is the one place I can stick the bar and chain in the ground. There is no "dirt" here. Picture a place that was a lake 10,000 years ago but trees slowly fell over starting at the edges and slowly filled up the lake with criss-crossing trees. Walking on it is kinda like walking on a trampoline raft with trees growing out of it and you're walking on the roots with a very thin layer of composting debris. Just enough to disguise a hole your foot can slip into and get soaking wet. You might get in here with a tracked machine. The kids with ATVs try it. Once. I'm only in here now because we've had a drought and the water level is still lower than usual. + there's no mosquitos yet.
Yeah, more often than not anything this size or larger is hollow. Dunno if it's from the roots standing in water year round or not or if it's just a characteristic of red maple.
Done. Finally. Well - not split and put up. About 1/5 cord or 25 cu ft. The most time consuming 1/5 cord I think I've ever done. Now to get the easy ones. 4 or 5 more trees and I'll have 2019/20 looking good and I can get back to stocking up some more pine.
