Free Mower-A Man Of Integrity - Precision Cut

[Zee09]

It went down this morning. A few weeks ago I gave a distant neighbor a 23 HP. Troy Built mower. His blew up and he heard I had one and he stopped by and I said come and get it. He offered me money and I said no.
He looked between my garages in my field and seen a tree I never got to because of my health issues of late. I explained I was gone for several years and it just happened. This tree was only 6 years old. It got plenty of water.

He claimed he would help me.
I figured yeah and I assumed I work on it myself when I can.

Last night I got the call and at 10 this morning a follow up.
I trimmed some limbs with the pole saw and when he showed up he did too.. Notice the fiasco that this is for tree cutting novices.

Well we got it ready and we both had our own ideas on how to proceed. We tied it off and he nicked it real good and we both pulled and I looked him in the eye and I said, Kraig you know we're going to die right....? He said his wife asked him before he left if he had life insurance..lol

We both laughed and pulled.
It slowly started coming our way and with surgical precision it missed everything and slowly landed on the step and the rest went into the woods. Perfection indeed. His doing not mine. I just rode it out... I'm sure tree experts would laugh but it was over 50 foot tall.

We cut it up and the fiasco is no more. Kraig I found out is a younger man with integrity and afterwards he said I still owe you Jim... He took a liking to my pole saw so today I snuck off and sent him one from Amazon.

In my area I would have paid a mint if I hired a tree service.
And no guarantee they wouldn't do damage.

 

[Kestas]

Amazing what you get in 10 years if you blink. I try to stay on top of my trees, but it can be a chore.

 

[doitmyself]

Tulip poplar. The width of the growth rings is phenominal (happy tree up til it's demise). Besides the obvious, good to get it out of there to alleviate the roots possibly damaging your buildings.

Great job getting it down, but the geometry of the face cut and back cut make no sense. Ladders on trees makes me nervous - lots of bad injuries from those hijinks. All's well that ends well.

 

[cptbarkey]

wow. that was a really good precision job.

this might be more insanity, but having a fun discussion following @oil pan 4 about his home made stump grinder fondly named "collateral damage" and how he added an oil filter to it. I also discovered if you buy a run of the mill gas edger, you can put on 3 circular saw blades, and you now have a poor mans stump grinder.

Anyone ever build a stump grinder?

I've been brainstorming buying a used tiller with front tines to create a murder machine inspired by @oil pan 4, but just ran across what I think is the poor man's version using a run of the mill gas edger, put on 3 saw blades separated by washers. Here is a gentleman who made short work of a...

bobistheoilguy.com

 

[ecotourist]

That's precision falling! I'm impressed.

 

[Zee09]

Tulip poplar. The width of the growth rings is phenominal (happy tree up til it's demise). Besides the obvious, good to get it out of there to alleviate the roots possibly damaging your buildings.

Great job getting it down, but the geometry of the face cut and back cut make no sense. I cringe when I see people on ladders against trees - lots of bad injuries from those hijinks. All's well that ends well.

Thanks.
I lived my life on ladders.
Wood ladders...and ladder jacks on 40 footers.
Second nature to me.

 

[Elkins45]

The smartest thing I ever did when it comes to dropping trees was buy one of those augers they use to tie down mobile homes. I screw it into the ground where I want the tree to drop, attach my line (preferably a chain) as high as I can and then use the auger as an anchor point. I make a small guide cut and then use a come along to get as much tension on the chain as I possibly can. Then I start cutting from the back.

I‘ve found that having the pull already being applied when it first starts to fall does a better job of placing it than trying to start it in the right direction. YMMV. Regardless, you guys did a really nice job.

 

[Ursatdx]

Nice fell.

 

[spasm3]

T

Great job getting it down, but the geometry of the face cut and back cut make no sense.

It looked like the tree fell opposite of the notch. It fell toward the back cut. I'm not sure how that happened.

Either way, it turned out well, with a narrow margin. Luck was on your side.

 

[andyd]

Felling trees is like landing planes. Any one you can walk away from is a good one

 

[oil pan 4]

It went down this morning. A few weeks ago I gave a distant neighbor a 23 HP. Troy Built mower. His blew up and he heard I had one and he stopped by and I said come and get it. He offered me money and I said no.
He looked between my garages in my field and seen a tree I never got to because of my health issues of late. I explained I was gone for several years and it just happened. This tree was only 6 years old. It got plenty of water.

He claimed he would help me.
I figured yeah and I assumed I work on it myself when I can.

Last night I got the call and at 10 this morning a follow up.
I trimmed some limbs with the pole saw and when he showed up he did too.. Notice the fiasco that this is for tree cutting novices.

Well we got it ready and we both had our own ideas on how to proceed. We tied it off and he nicked it real good and we both pulled and I looked him in the eye and I said, Kraig you know we're going to die right....? He said his wife asked him before he left if he had life insurance..lol

We both laughed and pulled.
It slowly started coming our way and with surgical precision it missed everything and slowly landed on the step and the rest went into the woods. Perfection indeed. His doing not mine. I just rode it out... I'm sure tree experts would laugh but it was over 50 foot tall.

We cut it up and the fiasco is no more. Kraig I found out is a younger man with integrity and afterwards he said I still owe you Jim... He took a liking to my pole saw so today I snuck off and sent him one from Amazon.

In my area I would have paid a mint if I hired a tree service.
And no guarantee they wouldn't do damage.

View attachment 179087View attachment 179082View attachment 179083View attachment 179084View attachment 179086

Where are you?
It looks like I need to get a pickup truck load of that dirt if I come out that way.
I water trees and they grow nothing like that.

 

[Zee09]

Where are you?
It looks like I need to get a pickup truck load of that dirt if I come out that way.
I water trees and they grow nothing like that.

Northeast Maryland

 

[Zee09]

It looked like the tree fell opposite of the notch. It fell toward the back cut. I'm not sure how that happened.

Either way, it turned out well, with a narrow margin. Luck was on your side.

Look at pics 4 and 5.
The tree rolls a bit as we start cutting it up on the spot. That's what you're seeing. Thanks

 

[walterjay]

Awesome....just awesome.

 

[spasm3]

Look at pics 4 and 5.
The tree rolls a bit as we start cutting it up on the spot. That's what you're seeing. Thanks

Gotcha. Nice job!

 

[oil pan 4]

Northeast Maryland

Ueah east coast dirt is way better than new Mexico sand.

 

[zzyzzx]

Even if the step was damaged, you probably did good compared to what it costs to get trees felled these days,

 

[Zee09]

Even if the step was damaged, you probably did good compared to what it costs to get then felled these days,

Thanks
It fell so softy that it didn't even leave a bark mark on the step. The tallest part of the tree gently got cushioned in the woods by sticker bushes

The block and brick garage now gets power washed and painted using my nibble system. A little bit at a time

 

[doitmyself]

Look at pics 4 and 5.
The tree rolls a bit as we start cutting it up on the spot. That's what you're seeing. Thanks

Nit picking here just for fun. Again, all's well that ends well. The hinge is level and perpendicular, so I do not see any roll or twisting there. Your rope controlled the direction of fall and in spite of the incorrect cuts, there IS a substantial hinge present to control the fall. Reading the stump, my picture below shows what I see.

 

[doitmyself]

Nit picking here just for fun. Again, all's well that ends well. The hinge is level and perpendicular, so I do not see any roll or twisting there. Your rope controlled the direction of fall and in spite of the incorrect cuts, there IS a substantial hinge present to control the direction. Reading the stump, my picture below shows what I see.
View attachment 179190