We are having some most discouraging weather. Rain, more rain. Rain yesterday and rain tomorrow. In between the downpours, the sun comes out, or the moon shines down and the leaves glow or are outlined in silver light. Then darkness or gloom and sploosh. We are also, today, having gusty and occasionally really big puffs of wind. There are a few leaves being torn off the trees and those on the ground are being rearranged with amazing frequency.
But really this post is about a fine autumn day, a perfect day really, when our two big maples that flanked the laneway at the road were felled and cut up. These were old trees, planted as we were told when the land was first opened up and farmed, and so probably over 150 years old. They were handsome trees until the big ice storm in 1998 did a lot of damage to them. They were also, by reason of their location, ‘open grown’, that is, branchy and bushy. And there was a lot of rot in the multiple stems. A breakage on either side could easily block our egress to the road and, worst case, trap us in bad weather. It was decided that they had to go.
And so, in warm autumn sun, I slung my camera around my neck and, carefully distancing myself from falling branches, documented the cutting out party.
This is the left hand tree, as you face the road, showing trunk and multiple stems.
There was no way JG was doing this himself, and so we hired a tree removal company who arrived with an oversized truck and boom with bucket rig, and hauling a chipper. They also had an assortment of very, very large chainsaws that the young man in the bucket slung around as if they weighed nothing.
The first order of operation was to take off the long limbs.
The left side tree gets its first trim.
This done, larger stems were lopped off one by one.
As the branches and stems came down, they were picked up by the ground crew and fed into the chipper. The chips went into the truck. I assume that they will be made into something useful.
Here the right hand tree is all down.
Here is the left side tree, roped and ready for the last cut that will bring down the big stems. The ground crew is sorting out and chipping the small stuff and leaving the bigger pieces to become firewood.
Both trees are down. It seems very open. But now the small trees that have been overshadowed by the big guys will have room and sun to grow.
Our tractor is now in use as the usable wood is sorted and placed by the roadside for easy access. Since these branches and portions of trunk have almost all been cut to length and moved by our neighbours, who will split them for firewood. Not much will be wasted, as even the small branches will be chipped and become mulch on the forest floor.
