We had that massive mess-making derecho storm around June. We were out of town for all of the fun but had to drive through the heart of the storm which was terrifying. We had a good weekend away and all that, but when we came home, we found that a number of trees had not fared well. We cleaned up the immediate messes but the remaining parts of one tree that still hung over our house bothered me.
A few weekends ago, my folks were down for a visit. We are always good for a project while they are here as my Dad is good at helping me think through things. He also gets a good laugh when I press onward and do something stupid in spite of our planning. Anyhow, we decided to cut the one tree that hangs over my dining room, power lines, AC, dog house, chain link and vinyl fences as well as Isaac’s bedroom and my patio with glass table and a nice picket fence. Sounds like fun, eh?
A few years ago I bought an electric chainsaw for trimming tree limbs. Cutting this tree down is like trimming, right? Who cares? I used it to cut a lot of this tree down and only got the saw stuck in the tree one time where it was above my head such that I couldn’t reach it to get it down. That part…not fun.
We used some ropes, a ladder, my electric saw, and some foul language to bring down this ugly stupid house-hating tree…mostly anyhow. I have one more section to cut but I just need to wait for a really windy day…or not. I’ll wait for a day when Emily and the kids are away so I can sing that last limb a nice lullaby…a profanity-laced, meet-your-final-demise-stinking-tree lullaby.
I came away (so far) mostly intact so I consider myself a near-professional tree trimmer now! So where are my flip-flops again? I have another branch to cut!
Well I didn’t see any blood and the only damage seems to be the gutter and down spout. I guess you could be considered a near professional tree trimmer. So grab your gear and crew and come tackle my 100+ foot box elder tree hanging over my house.
There’s a reason why women live longer than men. 🙂
A much braver man than me. We have a giant oak tree and two black cherry trees all very dead and right next to the house. I’m paying someone with insurance and more skills than me to remove those.
Not sure where you live exactly but I’ve been hearing that a third of West by God Virginia may receive up to 50 inches of snow courtesy of Hurricane Sandy. It is probably a good thing that your tree is most of the way down if that is true.
“We used some ropes, a ladder, my electric saw, and some foul language to bring down this ugly stupid house-hating tree…”
LOL!!!
Butch pulled down the willow tree at our old house using the same formula!
I am just so cheap that I cannot stand the thought of someone else doing this work. It’s hard I guess but I know how to do it and it allowed me some time on the roof to clean gutters while I was at it. We should be good tree-wise now for awhile