The branches and base have already be taken to the burn pile.
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Here is a neighbor tree showing the "downed" tree being held up high in Hybred Willows in the next row.
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The cutting technique was to cut out sections from the bottom up. This brought the trunk down to be able to reach the next segement. In that technique a notch is cut 2/3rd of the way through the upper surface, then start cutting from the bottomside up until the tree starts making cracking noise. Then run, because you can never be sure which way it will fall or bring down with it.
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As sections are removed from the bottom, eventually the remainder of the tree top is standing almost straight up.
The cutting technique then changes slightly. The large notch is on the side that the tree will fall. A good lumberjack can lay a tree down in almost any direction he wants. For the rest of us, we guess the direction it will fall. In this case with the top being held up by trees, the cuts can be made all around never knowing when it will finally give way.
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At this point we had to drag the top down with the tractor.
We have started on another tree. The root ball cannot be seen on the left. The tree was laying at 30° held up by several trees. Aften making the notch and a cut made from the underside until all the way through, the top failed to fall -- it was perfectly balanced. This made it easy to cut out addition sections. These sections were put around young trees as protection for when it did fall. In this picture, the top had been dragged by a chain from the tractor to bring a higher section down to working level.
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Five two-foot sections were cut out and the tractor brought in to drag it further down. Then we climbed a ladder at the other end to cut-off the top so the many side branches did not destroy the supporting trees. Total height was measured as 75 feet.
There were twelve such trees of greater than 12 diameter.
Back to Storm of 2011
on to barn repair
or to Manorborn