Owwwwwwwwwww...

[ellyssian]

Ever pick up a 60' tree with a diameter of about 16" diameter?

Yeeouch.

I have a timberjack, so that makes it easier - it makes the small bits cake.

Since the saw was new, only started by the manufacturer, the dealer, and once by me. Back in the Autumn when I first got it.

Took longer to get the saw running than it did to do the work. That actually wore me out a bit - especially when I had the compression set wrong (i.e. so it's impossible to pull the damn cord I was pulling. Or attempting to.) New power tools are so much fun! =)

Got it up and running, finally, after 5 minutes of fighting the compression, 2 minutes of reviewing the manual (the advantage of a newer, better saw is all the extra features Phil's saw - which I started a few times the other day - didn't have), about 10 minutes of struggling, and about 10 minutes after giving up.

The smaller section of the lawn ornament was done in 10-15 cuts, in about five minutes. The larger bits took about five minutes, most of which was spent wrangling the remaining log (diminishing from 30') so we could get it up on the jack and off the ground. The last 10' were murder to manipulate. Oy.

After that, it was a matter of clearing the stuff in the driveway - of course, the thickest sections of the trunk. We rolled 'em aside, chopped the top of the other trunk (it poked out into the driveway), and cleared those limbs, raked the debris, dropped the snowplow back off, parked the truck, and brought my car back up to its normal spot.

Deb will be able to zip right in when she gets back from taking Rachel to karate. Tomorrow, we'll clear the rest of the lawn ornamentation and maybe cut a bit of the other tree - it's not critical, but I don't want it falling on anyone or knocking over one of the smaller trees that caught it.

Comments

[patrixa.livejournal.com]

What will you do with all that wood? Pine's no good for fireplaces (which you don't have) so what is it good for?

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Pine is great for campfires.

This, on the other hand, is an oak tree. =)

Right now, it will rot and improve my soil.

[patrixa.livejournal.com]

Oh, I thought it was your pines that were dying. Guess it was your oaks which were pining!

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

There's a couple of pitch pines that have the dropsy of the limbs, and there's one scary one leaning away from the corner of the house...

...of course the other one I saw lose its head lost it in the opposite of the direction it was leaning.

[brandedeclipse.livejournal.com]

um... you mentioned you might be able to give me some advice about redo-ing the backyard.

It's getting to be that time.

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Send me an email (ellyssian at google's email service) with as much info as you can:

A scale drawing of the yard. Include direction, any shade sources outside (houses, tall trees). Any topography (unless it's flat). Any hardscaping. Pictures would be great.

Ideas on what you want to use the space for (people, pets, wild animals, entertaining, gardening, etc.)

Basically, the stuff I'd see if I was there, and what I'd talk about with you at that time.

[brandedeclipse.livejournal.com]

If it's decent weather tomorrow, I'll take some measurements and pictures.