4.18.2019 - Tree work!

Jim has been calling the tree contractor to see when he could get out here to cut our dead tree down.  It was supposed to be done before Thanksgiving but then the snow came.  The guy finally called him back while we were eating dinner last night and said he could come today around 9:30.  The only issue was they had to bring their biggest crane truck and if our gravel was too soft, there was a worry that it wouldn't make it up the driveway.  Plus, there was rain in the forecast.  We really want to get this done for a multitude of reasons - namely, because it's dead and scary hanging over the house, but also because Jim wants to get gravel so that he can do pole barn work.  The pile of gravel to go inside the pole barn would be right where their truck needs to be.  So - we were excited that they were finally coming.

Of course, 9:30 came and went.  Jim called about 10:30 and they pulled up about 5 minutes later.  They had no issues getting up the driveway, thank goodness!  There were two guys and they had this down to a science.  They got the truck all set with pads underneath the outriggers...

 They put their gear all on...

 Then one guy operated the crane while the other guy strapped into the harness and headed up into our trees!

Besides cutting down the dead tree, they were going to top 2 other trees, so he started on one of those first.

Here comes the top of the tree...

Then the crane operator gently laid the tree on our triangle and then Jim unhooks it...

 Then the other guy went to the other tree...

Tied the top of the tree to the crane and then started cutting...

And the next tree top sails over the house..

You can see how big just the top of these trees are!

Jim helps guide it down and unhooks it...

Next was the big dead tree - obviously scary for the guy to work on too so he cut some branches as he went so they wouldn't fall on him.

 Starting to cut branches down...

 Tossing smaller branches off into the woods...

The top is cut...

And coming down...

Continuing to cut down the trunk...

Lifting it up...

Sure glad it's secure on the crane!

That's a huge trunk portion!

 Last section cut...

And put into the triangle...

Whew - so happy that they down with no issues!  Here's the "before" picture...

And afterwards...so glad they're down!

Now Jim and I have lots of work to do!

Check out this giant hole in the trunk of the dead tree!

 Jim starting to cut the branches off...

Making good progress...

I piled up all the branches - definitely have some chipping in our future!

 We had to stop early to get ready for Holy Thursday Mass, but Jim made great progress on cleaning up the trees!

High 54/Low 51