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Posted by D Sherman on Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 00:47:07 :
In Reply to: Re: OT Tree removal posted by Keith in Washington on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 18:28:42 :
Sounds like you found a good solution. If there's a direction to fall it in one piece without hitting anything, that's certainly the way to go. Firs are usually straight and balanced and are easy to drop exactly where you want. An old trick is to stick a double-bitted axe in the undercut with the handle pointing out to make sure it's pointing the way you want. Dead trees can be tricky. You want to make sure there's no rot or carpenter ants in it where you're cutting it or it could break in any random direction. With a dead tree, the "hinge" also tends to break quickly rather than bend, Once a tree starts to go over, it's like the bullet exiting a gun -- it's going to go where it's going to go and there's nothing you can do about it. If it's dicey, I tend to cut the backcut no deeper than absolutely necessary, and use the mag wedges to slowly start it tipping. Also, I only cut if the wind is dead calm. Otherwise a gust from the wrong direction is sure to come up just as you finish the back cut. So far, straight conifers have always gone the direction I aimed them. Leaners, rotten trees, madronas, maples and alders are another story. In your situation, I'd be tempted to do it myself, though the idea of having it done on somebody else's insurance is definitely appealing. Anyway, I'm glad you found an honest guy and a better price.
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