Logger For a Day

I had the opportunity to fell five large Douglas Firs yesterday. They ranged in size from about 120ft to 150ft tall. We had to fell them all due west because of power lines to the south. I used my trusty Big Shot to set ropes in the trees. Then we applied a 3to1 pully system and pulled them down one by one. All the trees came down perfectly without any problems, except for the poison oak on my arms. Here is video of three of the biggest one coming down.

Enjoy.

Trees at wrong Angles

Most trees you see are perpendicular to the ground. In the past couple of weeks I have encountered two trees that I would say were at the 'wrong angle.' Sometimes trees grow at odd angles due to competition for light with other trees. Sometimes they just fall over. Either way it looks very unnatural to see a tree not doing what trees should be doing.

The first tree was an Oregon Ash that fell over on to the neighbors, which happened to be a daycare. The tree fell on a Saturday so no children were present. This is what it looked like.

The roots where rotten, even though the crown was healthy, the tree just went over on a day with no wind or rain. The back yard was back filled with soil after the house was built. Buried roots will suffocate, die, and then the tree will either die standing or fall overs.

The Second tree was a Spruce that was in competition with very large cherry tree, and as you can see the Spruce grew out at a dramatic angle to get any light it could.This next shot is after I Limbed and Topped the tree. Seeing the trunk bare it is evident how much of a lean the tree had. The top of the tree was almost 30from the trunk. If the tree would have fallen it would have crushed the neighbors porch and Maple tree.

Grand Old Oak of Cottage Grove

I saw this tree In Cottage Grove while out on an estimate. My client told me to stop by the Mormon Church on my what out of town, and look for the big Oak. I drove around the parking lot and then saw it standing on the south east corner. Although not the tallest Oak I have seen, it defiantly is the thickest. It is an amazing specimen! I am 6'3 with a +3 ape index, and the diameter is much more then that, as you can see in the pictures. My advice to all my readers is to keep your eyes open and take note of the trees around you. You might find something amazing in your back yard.

Big Trees Falling Down.

Trees have to be cut down. In the urban environment we cannot just let them fall down on there own. Although sometimes they still do.

I have had the opportunity to fell some large trees this fall. I enjoy doing the process of felling a large tree properly. In all of the videos below I have a rope set at the top of the tree connected to 5:1 pulley system. This insures the tree goes right where I want it to go. As you can see this works very well.

Big Jobs, Little Jobs, and New Jobs

The summer of 2009 has been a very productive one for the Community Arborist. Jobs of all sizes have abounded. There has been big Douglas Fir take downs, fine pruning of oaks, maples, and elms. I have expanded my services to include installing trees and other plants in landscapes, stump grinding, and also Cabling to aid in preservation of existing trees.

The Largest Job had to be the Douglas Fir I removed that soared over 150 ft tall!!! I spent a total of about two days climbing the tree. Day one I limbed and topped out the tree. Every branch had to rigged out, because of a new fence, and a Madrone tree. The next day I ascended to the top and it took me 20minutes. Then I took the tree apart piece by piece.

This tree was an Urban Giant, not a forest tree. Removal became a neccesity after construction of a new driveway cut the roots on the south side of the tree. It was a shame to lose this unieque tree. Check out this slide show and video to get an understanding of how massive this tree was.

Poor Quality Tree Work in my Neighborhood

In my neighborhood, there has been some very low quality tree work happening. I have taken a few pictures and one video to demonstrate how NOT to do tree work. First, we have a small Mimosa tree that has been topped. This is the most abhorrent of all forms of tree mutilations. For this tree, it is not the first time it happened, note the sunburn on the top side of the branches. I myself will not go into details about topping but I will let the International Society of Arboriculture tell you why Topping Is Bad.


Second, we have two London Plane Trees that had many lower branches stubbed off. Not only is the cutting of the trees bad, but my wife, Quincy, witnessed the cutting happening. She said there were two dudes on 30ft extension ladders with out any Personal Protection Equipment ie; helmets, eye protection, or any sort of fall protection. The ladder was not tied to the tree in any way and the dudes were just up there hacking away with cheap bow style saws. These guys are lucky not to have hurt them selves. Here are the results.



Finally, we have a picture and short video taken from my back yard of a Thundercloud Plum being taken down. To set this up, it was a Sunday morning and my family was getting ready for church. We had heard a chainsaw running nearby for a little while. Both Quincy and myself noticed about the same time that the chainsaw had been running full throttle for a very long time. We both turned to each other and said something to the effect of 'Wow, they are really going for it out there.' At that point curiosity got the best of me and I looked out my back door to see this.



Now, let us count the number of violations of OSHA safety guidelines here: 1- No helmet, sorry the baseball cap does not count. 2- No eye protection, again the baseball cap does not count. 3,- No hearing protection 4- OSHA dictates that a tree worker must be have two separate tie in points while operating a chainsaw in a tree. Dude is not secured to the tree in any fashion. Now on to the video.




I said earlier that the chainsaw had been running full throttle for some time and that is because it was so dull. This cut was started, and I had time to run and get the camera, take a still picture, and then take a 20 second video before he make it through a 6 in. diameter cut. In the still picture you can really see the smoke coming off the bar. So many things could have gone wrong and he was only 6ft. off the ground. There was no directional cut to guide the falling branch. With out that cut his saw could have been caught in the kerf of the cut and pulled him out of the tree. This was scary for me to watch.

So, in conclusion always hire an Arborist! A person with the tools, knowledge and experience to perform the work safely, and in the best interest of the tree. Do not sacrifice the integrity of your trees, and the safety of an under qualified tree worker to save a little money. It is not worth it! For more reasons to hire an arborist visit this site http://www.treesaregood.com.

A fine young Feller.

Here is a quick video of myself felling a dead Noble Fir South of Eugene in Cottage Grove. The tree went a little to the left and smashed one smaller Incense Cedar.
I was the first big tree I have been able to fell in on piece in a long time. I had fun setting up a 3 to 1 Pulley System to pull it over. We did break a branch up high in the tree about halfway through the video so watch for that. Enjoy the destruction.