Our seventy-feet-plus Himalayan cedar, arguably the tallest tree in our hamlet, came down yesterday. It was an impressive sight and sound. First, the lumberjack (a specialist) climbed into the tree, clinging to the main trunk with an array of mountain climbing gear, and methodically sawed off all the branches on the lower two thirds of the tree's height, wielding his chainsaw with a one-handed precision that made me shudder. The landscaping crew cut up the thicker branches and hauled the smaller branches to the mulcher as they fell.
Next, our lumberjack tied the top third of the tree to a rope that the guys on the ground held. He climbed back down to the two-thirds point and cut the trunk while the ground crew pulled it in the direction they wanted it to fall. Whoosh! Thud! Amazing. They repeated that feat with the lower two-thirds of the trunk which, being heavier than the tree top, fell so hard in the lawn that it made a deep mark, not to mention an earth-shaking thud.
The guys (without the lumberjack; his work was done), started the process of cleaning up, cutting up the wood, and hauling it away. They'll be back this morning for the last of that and to clean up all the litter and sawdust. I'll post more photos of the process in the coming days.
That sort of high-wire act always amazes me. Imagine doing that every day for a living! I would be too nervous to even be in the yard to watch. I'm sure having the tree taken down was expensive, but you will be safer now, and won't have to worry about it falling on the house in a big storm.
ReplyDeleteSo impressive when workers have that much skill. Such a shame, though. That was one majestic tree.
ReplyDeleteGlad you found good lumber jacks who will clean everything up.
ReplyDeleteDid you take a video of the tree falling? Looking forward to tomorrow’s pictures as well.
ReplyDeleteBettyAnn
kiwi, we don't know how much it will cost, yet. Uh-oh...
ReplyDeletemitch, doing it with a chainsaw in one hand, too! Yikes!
evelyn, they're very good at clean up.
bettyann, no, I didn't. I'm not sure how to use the video features. :(