...with of course, Joe wielding the saw.
And for this project, he enlisted the aid of a big bucket lift and a tough little Toyota pickup. But really, they were all just supporting players: the real star of the show was the 16 inch Stihl workhorse that turned tree into wood.
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Chapter 1:
A little over a year ago, on February 15th, 2011, Joe and Mick took down the large willow tree in front of G + M's house. The tree was no longer safe and needed to come down. They rented a bucket lift, then Joe fired up the Stihl and started sawing.
The bucket lift had a reach of 50 feet when fully extended; Joe needed every bit of that for this job.
Joe had a bird's eye view
Branch by branch, the willow came down
This was a good sized bucket lift, able to be towed with a pickup
Not much left of the willow tree at this point
the tree had become wood and branches on the ground
*note: all of the chapter 1 pictures were taken by Mick*
Chapter 2:
Yesterday the 16 inch Stihl, ably assisted by Joe and Mick and an '80s Toyota pickup, finished up the job by cutting through the GIANT-diameter stump that remained.
Joe made a continuous cut around the diameter of the stump, then he and Mick wrapped a chain around the upper section and used the pickup to loosen and then pull the top section of the stump off. It all went pretty smoothly. The saw took awhile to make the all-the-way-around the stump cut, but it was certainly up to the job. The pickup had little trouble pulling the stump-top free, and then easily pulled it off the base, guided some by Joe standing behind and using a long, thick branch as a lever.
Everyone present was shocked when we realized just how rotten this tree had been!! How fortunate it had remained upright long enough to be safely cut down!
Top view of the the top section of the stump, pulled off its base
View from the other side, showing the small amount of tree that remained around the diameter. The interior was completely rotten
close-up of the top portion of the stump
close up of the stump base
Mick cleaned out all the rotted matter, several wheelbarrows full, and added it to the garden compost. Then Gail blew away the remaining bits and painted the freshly-cut base with a growth retardant.
Joe's 16 inch Stihl ROCKS!
The End.
