Red oak tree leaning towards my house was taken down yesterday. I was amazed at the guy in the tree floating through the tree with a chain saw in his hand. The crew did a excellent job. Lots of fire wood for someone. And no more worries when storms and high winds are in the air.
Taking down a tree is traumatic, but sometimes, as in your case, very necessary. When we had a hackberry removed, I was amazed at Gabriel, who climbed a very long ladder, then got out on limbs with a chain saw and started to "whittle" down the tree. There are jobs for which there is no sufficient compensation!
I have a friend that cuts trees the old fashioned way as well. No ladders though, but spurs for climbing, lots of ropes and a chainsaw. The first time I watched him cut a tree I was left speechless and in awe. My daughter, who was just 4 at the time, cried! Certainly a lost art as most people have boom trucks now. Sad to see such a big, majestic tree come down, but better that way than with a storm causing damage. Gosh, what I would do for that firewood!
One less tree to worry about. Rough guess, 110 years old +/- 20. It started life about 1905 when our eastern agrarian society still had more farmland than forest. Trees lived on the edge of fields. Today it is the opposet, more woodland and forest than developed/farm land. Donna, will you have more sun for the garden/ Jerry
The tree guy said about 130 years old. As for more sun yes especially in the greenhouse. And no more branches falling and scaring me to death when they hit the roof.
Before now my only contact with oak trees are either in fairy tales, children stories and not forgetting the song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree". I did not know that they are more than a hundred years old, magnificent and huge! Thanks Donna, now I have a little more knowledge about oak trees and is hoping to learn more about it when I am Europe.
We had a guy cut down 5 very old un-healthy golden willows (3 to 5 feet across at the base) plus 3 diseased spruce trees. He was by himself and no equipment other than the chain saw. DH and I -in private- called him the monkey man. He did it all with spike climbers, a safety belt and the chainsaw. We stacked all the wood out by the curb with a free you haul it sign and it didn't take long before it was all gone.
Netty, it's not a lost art at all. Where I work most properties don't have room for cherry pickers to access the back yard. I use spikes and ropes for take-downs all the time. Actually, it's increasing as a trade skill. More information is being traded, more climbing equipment is being developed and arborists are being trained to a higher level than ever before. It would have been wise to keep that private. I find it insulting, considering the training, hard work and risk we undertake to be able to solve clients' problems, to have them compare us to animals.
"Netty, it's not a lost art at all. Where I work most properties don't have room for cherry pickers to access the back yard. I use spikes and ropes for take-downs all the time." I'm glad to hear this Brisbane Trees ... it is so amazing to watch tree's cut this way! With the exception of my friend, the only other way I've seen trees cut around here is with a boom truck. My friend does have a young fellow working with him now, teaching him the ropes so to speak. The skills they have up there ... I could watch them all day!
You must be so relieved Donna as now you don't have to worry about damage to your house when the weather turns bad. We have tree surgeons here that can shin up trees with their ropes and spikes and make it look so easy. They're so agile that they take my breath away. I've also seen them climb up to nests to take the chicks for ringing and measuring before returning them to their parents. Totally spellbinding.
