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The figs marching across my property seem to be an unstoppable force. Recently 7 5 year peach trees fell victim to the onslaught but there was one mighty tree that prevented the figs dominating yet another section of my yard. I will say I hate that tree, it is a big tall hickory tree and all it does is draw the bushy tailed tree rats. Granted the nuts are good for smoker fuel but other than that I hate the tree. The problem is this particular tree leans and it is pretty darn big and tall, tall enough if felled in the wrong direction would take out a few valuable figs as well as my fence and the power lines across the road. Don't mind cutting trees one bit but I do not like when they lean in a direction I don't want them to fall. I mentioned the tree to a friend that shall remain nameless in GA, Ray City Ga to be exact. Builds greenhouses, skinny fellow, loves citrus..........so I mention the tree to him and he says he will come take it down if he can have the logs for his sawmill. DEAL. He asks when does it need to be down by? Tell him March 1, this was back in November. So February comes and goes and March 1 comes yet the tree is still standing. He is just too busy keeping up with the Kardashians I guess. Neighbor looks at it and says we can take it down. Ok. So the tree leans to the south, it has to fall to the north, or NW or NE I don't really care just not south.
The big day arrives, Thursday but the wind is howling out of the North so we postpone it till Saturday with a forecast South wind. Saturday comes and I should have listened to the omens, the chainsaw I had just used to cut down the peach trees two days before was fine. Saturday morning second pump on the priming ball my finger went right through it. Neighbor says no problem he will get his saw but the chain is stretched out beyond tightening. Should have stopped there but instead I run to the dealer and grab him a new chain and a new priming bulb for my saw. Both saws are now fixed and ready. Notch the tree to the north and the plan is to then make a shallow back cut and wedge it and cut then pound the wedges until we convince it to fall north. It was a good plan except the tree refused to wedge, 4 wedges and it still refused so kept cutting and pounding and cutting. Finally the tree has had enough and starts to fall......to the west, not ideal as it will land in the neighbors woods but he is ok with that. As the tree starts to fall though it starts turning a bit to the WSW. Just to the WSW of the hickory is a VERY large oak tree, about 5 feet across at the base. Now for some that have never visited the south I have to explain as some of the oaks here like to grow up about 20 feet and then for a reason known only to them the trunk then starts growing horizontal to the ground. I will include a picture of one that is right in front of my home just as an example of how they grow.
So as the hickory starts to fall it just misses the trunk of the oak and lands against the horizontal part of the tree. The hickory is about 30" acoss at the base, the horizontal trunk it lands on is in fact bigger than the hickory. The hickory tree though has leverage and in slow motion that big old oak horizontal trunk starts to turn as the hickory pushes on it. The trunk turned a full 40 degrees I would guess and would have continued to turn but there was a large pine tree in the way and the oak horizontal trunk is now shoved up against the pine so can go no further. Turn the saw off and think what the heck do we do now? Directly below the limbs of the now severely twisted oak is my electric service pole and transformer, from there it runs down the pole and the service line to the house is buried. The tree is not touching the service wires or transformer at all, not even close. As we contemplate we hear a series of small pops that turn in to larger pops and ominous cracking noises coming from the oak. The oak that has to be under who knows how much twisting force starts to crack, bark is popping off the tree like popcorn from the ground up to where it turns horizontal. Then the inevitable happens, that 5 foot thick oak sheers itself right in half and down comes the horizontal trunk and the limbs smash in to the transformer. There is a nice boom and a pretty blue flash
The entire neighborhood is now without power.
Took the electric company about 4 hours to get a new transformer put up on the pole and the electric restored and the cable company then could do its part and restore my and the neighbors cable service. On the plus side I did NOT hit the main electric lines though the results were the same. Going to guess I am not the most popular guy in the neighborhood currently.
So now I have TWO trees to clean up and not in January when it is nice and cool, no, now it is 90 degrees. So I tell my GA friend what happened and he says "I still get the logs right"?
Here is a picture of the sheared in half oak that is about 5 feet thick at the base.
And the pine tree that stopped the turn and the pole with a nice new I'm sure expensive transformer. You can see the scar on the pine where the oak horizontal trunk slammed in to it. If it had not been for the pine I am sure the oak would have twisted past the pole before failing.
Somewhere under that mess is also a few fig trees
The big day arrives, Thursday but the wind is howling out of the North so we postpone it till Saturday with a forecast South wind. Saturday comes and I should have listened to the omens, the chainsaw I had just used to cut down the peach trees two days before was fine. Saturday morning second pump on the priming ball my finger went right through it. Neighbor says no problem he will get his saw but the chain is stretched out beyond tightening. Should have stopped there but instead I run to the dealer and grab him a new chain and a new priming bulb for my saw. Both saws are now fixed and ready. Notch the tree to the north and the plan is to then make a shallow back cut and wedge it and cut then pound the wedges until we convince it to fall north. It was a good plan except the tree refused to wedge, 4 wedges and it still refused so kept cutting and pounding and cutting. Finally the tree has had enough and starts to fall......to the west, not ideal as it will land in the neighbors woods but he is ok with that. As the tree starts to fall though it starts turning a bit to the WSW. Just to the WSW of the hickory is a VERY large oak tree, about 5 feet across at the base. Now for some that have never visited the south I have to explain as some of the oaks here like to grow up about 20 feet and then for a reason known only to them the trunk then starts growing horizontal to the ground. I will include a picture of one that is right in front of my home just as an example of how they grow.
So as the hickory starts to fall it just misses the trunk of the oak and lands against the horizontal part of the tree. The hickory is about 30" acoss at the base, the horizontal trunk it lands on is in fact bigger than the hickory. The hickory tree though has leverage and in slow motion that big old oak horizontal trunk starts to turn as the hickory pushes on it. The trunk turned a full 40 degrees I would guess and would have continued to turn but there was a large pine tree in the way and the oak horizontal trunk is now shoved up against the pine so can go no further. Turn the saw off and think what the heck do we do now? Directly below the limbs of the now severely twisted oak is my electric service pole and transformer, from there it runs down the pole and the service line to the house is buried. The tree is not touching the service wires or transformer at all, not even close. As we contemplate we hear a series of small pops that turn in to larger pops and ominous cracking noises coming from the oak. The oak that has to be under who knows how much twisting force starts to crack, bark is popping off the tree like popcorn from the ground up to where it turns horizontal. Then the inevitable happens, that 5 foot thick oak sheers itself right in half and down comes the horizontal trunk and the limbs smash in to the transformer. There is a nice boom and a pretty blue flash
The entire neighborhood is now without power.Took the electric company about 4 hours to get a new transformer put up on the pole and the electric restored and the cable company then could do its part and restore my and the neighbors cable service. On the plus side I did NOT hit the main electric lines though the results were the same. Going to guess I am not the most popular guy in the neighborhood currently.
So now I have TWO trees to clean up and not in January when it is nice and cool, no, now it is 90 degrees. So I tell my GA friend what happened and he says "I still get the logs right"?
Here is a picture of the sheared in half oak that is about 5 feet thick at the base.
And the pine tree that stopped the turn and the pole with a nice new I'm sure expensive transformer. You can see the scar on the pine where the oak horizontal trunk slammed in to it. If it had not been for the pine I am sure the oak would have twisted past the pole before failing.
Somewhere under that mess is also a few fig trees
I solved the problem of an extra tree in the garden myself.
Glad no one was hurt!
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