The Hackberry Tree and a guy with a chainsaw

[wavinwayne]

This is the work I have accomplished on my in-laws' fallen Hackberry tree since I started cutting on it in August. In the first picture I had already cut approximately 20' out of the top of it. Pic 2 was a few weeks back where I had managed to get all the smaller limbs cut, and pic 3 was after a lot more cutting yesterday and a whole lot of hauling away today. All wood is being hauled to either the road or the burn pile in one of those cheap beach carts you can find at Walmart, pulled behind my FIL's Bad Boy zero turn. It's a slow process but I'm getting there.

 

[mdtn952]

Nice work! Is the Makita gas or battery? Huge hackberry!

 

[IndyIan]

Good work, looks like some good firewood in there too, but I guess not too many burn wood in Alabama.

 

[wavinwayne]

Nice work! Is the Makita gas or battery? Huge hackberry!

Makita XGT 40V battery saw. Part of this tree was cut using my ancient Craftsman 16" gas saw, when I needed to do sustained cutting of the large sections.

 

[wavinwayne]

Good work, looks like some good firewood in there too, but I guess not too many burn wood in Alabama.

I've hauled probably several thousand pounds of firewood to the road and people have stopped and picked it up. There are some folks who burn wood in their fireplace here, but not too many.

 

[gfh77665]

( Not trying to "one up" you! )

When hurricane Rita hit in 2005, 14 mature trees fell on my acre lot. 10 were pines and 4 were oaks. It looked like a bomb went off in my yard. The largest one was a huge pine about 20 feet directly in front of my front door. The thing had to be 60 ft. tall if not more. Trunk was 2.5 ft. in diameter. Thank God it fell away. Since so many people were like me, you just could not find tree services for the next 6-9 months. So, I started the cleanup with a medium size, 16" Craftsman chainsaw. Neighbors literally laughed at me for tackling the job by hand.

They asked me how could I possible do it, I told them "one downed tree at a time". It took 2 months, five or six new chains, and another chainsaw after mine gave out. My back and arms ached continually. Hopefully, never again!

 

[JeffKeryk]

I love running saws... Gotta put a nice edge on that chain first! Nice work, by the way.

 

[wavinwayne]

( Not trying to "one up" you! )

When hurricane Rita hit in 2005, 14 mature trees fell on my acre lot. 10 were pines and 4 were oaks. It looked like a bomb went off in my yard. The largest one was a huge pine about 20 feet directly in front of my front door. The thing had to be 60 ft. tall if not more. Trunk was 2.5 ft. in diameter. Thank God it fell away. Since so many people were like me, you just could not find tree services for the next 6-9 months. So, I started the cleanup with a medium size, 16" Craftsman chainsaw. Neighbors literally laughed at me for tackling the job by hand.

They asked me how could I possible do it, I told them "one downed tree at a time". It took 2 months, five or six new chains, and another chainsaw after mine gave out. My back and arms ached continually. Hopefully, never again!

View attachment 301604

You followed the "eat an elephant one bite at a time" philosophy, the same one I have been following with this tree. I'd have finished it long ago if it were at my place, but this is at my in-laws' house, so I have to do it in 2-3 hours blocks of spare time.

 

[wavinwayne]

I love running saws... Gotta put a nice edge on that chain first! Nice work, by the way.

I've been keeping the chains on both my saws SHARP for this job. Hackberry is a hardwood and a dull chain wouldn't stand a chance.

This is the most physically demanding thing I have done in a long time.

 

[fantastic]

I've been keeping the chains on both my saws SHARP for this job. Hackberry is a hardwood and a dull chain wouldn't stand a chance.

This is the most physically demanding thing I have done in a long time.

I loathe hackberry. Do you use just a simple round file to sharpen the chains?

 

[wavinwayne]

I loathe hackberry. Do you use just a simple round file to sharpen the chains?

I use a round 7/32 file with guide for my 3/8" LP chains. Some folks hate the guide, but it helps me.

 

[fantastic]

I use a round 7/32 file with guide for my 3/8" LP chains. Some folks hate the guide, but it helps me.

Yeah, I need to buy a simple guide. Sometimes I can get the right angle while other times I'm wasting energy just dulling the chain.
You did a good job getting that tree down it seems.

 

[TnT_M]

FWIW I bought a couple of these for my saws. I have a Stihl and a pole saw for my string trimmer, both with different chains. These are nice because it is a 1 step process.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08H1PN1MG?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3

 

[wavinwayne]

...You did a good job getting that tree down it seems.

Nature felled the tree for me several months ago.

 

[Kestas]

When hurricane Rita hit in 2005, 14 mature trees fell on my acre lot. 10 were pines and 4 were oaks. It looked like a bomb went off in my yard. The largest one was a huge pine about 20 feet directly in front of my front door. The thing had to be 60 ft. tall if not more. Trunk was 2.5 ft. in diameter. Thank God it fell away. Since so many people were like me, you just could not find tree services for the next 6-9 months. So, I started the cleanup with a medium size, 16" Craftsman chainsaw. Neighbors literally laughed at me for tackling the job by hand.

They asked me how could I possible do it, I told them "one downed tree at a time". It took 2 months, five or six new chains, and another chainsaw after mine gave out. My back and arms ached continually. Hopefully, never again!

I spending some of my time clearing the dead and misshapen trees on my 2 acre lot. It's a lot of work... many months. I consider it exercise. I save money at the same time.

 

[gfh77665]

You followed the "eat an elephant one bite at a time" philosophy, the same one I have been following with this tree. I'd have finished it long ago if it were at my place, but this is at my in-laws' house, so I have to do it in 2-3 hours blocks of spare time.

Exactly. I did it in 2hr sessions during my 60 hour weeks of 12hr shift work.

 

[fantastic]

Nature felled the tree for me several months ago.

Well, Good job, as well, mother nature...team work!

 

[wavinwayne]

Well, Good job, as well, mother nature...team work!

That tree leaned at a ~15° angle for years, and finally a big enough puff of wind took her down.

 

[53' Stude]

Always like way the dead branches etc crackled and burned. Reminds me of Christmas time. Nice work OP

 

[Kestas]

That tree leaned at a ~15° angle for years, and finally a big enough puff of wind took her down.

I had that happen to a leaner on my property. A good soaking rain loosened the soil around the roots before a good windstorm took it down.