25 June 2013

Tackled the two big hemlocks next to the woodshed today.  First one lost its top last winter and the other died this summer.  First tree was 26″ thru the butt, which is a bit of a challenge for a chainsaw with a 16″ bar.  Down and bucked, that tree created three 8′6″ logs with 345 board feet of lumber in them… and a really nice chopping block for over by the campfire.  I calculated the weight of the butt end log as 840 pounds, which the Kubota just barely lifted off the ground.  Then came the real challenge.  Used our 28′ aluminum extension ladder to hook Toby Rheaume’s steel cable high up in the second tree.  Chree didn’t get a picture of that evolution ‘cause the camera was in the RV and she wanted to stay close by in case she had to call 9∙1∙1.  Led the other end of the cable through Toby’s snatch block (chained to the base of a sturdy beech tree) thence to the rear end of the Kubota.  The concept was that, as I finished cutting the tree, Chree would pull it down with the tractor in the direction we wanted it to go.  Only two small problems: Chree had never done such a maneuver before and she couldn’t see me from where the tractor was positioned for the pull.  Can you spell “recipe for disaster”?  Next question: Do you know what a “sound shot” is in deer hunting?  Same concept: when Chree heard me rev up the chainsaw to start the final cut, away she went on her steed of orange.  The end result?  The tree came down within an inch of where we wanted it, with minimal damage to the surrounding flora and no damage to the fauna (we being counted among the latter).  Would have had that tree pulled out and bucked this afternoon but we had to make a full-speed run over the Lynne & Perry’s after lunch for our laundry, arriving (this time) five minutes before the thunderstorm… which then persisted on hanging around for the rest of day.