We had two dead trees that needed to be cut down - a red oak near the county road (photo below) and a persimmon tree not too far from it. Our friend, Phil Smith (on the left) recruited Joel Anders for the tree-felling project.
.
Joel is from Michigan, and was the squad leader of Charlie Two - Unit 38, when Ken was in Basic Training at ALERT in September 2007. It was good to see Joel again and work alongside him today. He is now SgtMaj Anders, Battalion Sergeant Major of the International ALERT Academy in Big Sandy, TX.
.
.After doing an initial survey and cutting a few limbs to control the direction where the tree was going to fall, Joel climbed the red oak and tied a rope around it..
.I brought our tractor up to the tree after that and lowered Joel to the ground in the bucket..
.The free end of the rope was tied to the tractor and pulled taut to provide tension and guide the tree to its desired landing spot when it was ready to be felled. To the left of the tractor you'll notice the dead persimmon tree.
.The free end of the rope was tied to the tractor and pulled taut to provide tension and guide the tree to its desired landing spot when it was ready to be felled. To the left of the tractor you'll notice the dead persimmon tree..
.Here's Joel making his cut..
.Smile!
.Timber !!!
.I asked Joel to do this Hercules pose on top of his tree stump.
.
.The trunk had to be cut into shorter sections so the wood could be hauled to dryer ground. This field was very wet and boggy. Notice the tractor tire marks on the ground. The four-wheel drive feature came in handy. .
.A close-up shot of the cut up trunk.
.We loaded the Kubota tractor up and tested her payload several times today.
.Phil checking to make sure one of the loads was secure.
.The pasture looked cleaner after today's work. Thank you, Phil and Joel for your enthusiasm and hard work, and the laughter you brought to the farm! And thank you, Lord, for an injury-free day!
"The marvelous thing about this is not that one man with a chain saw can cut a 75-year old tree by himself. It's that God made a tree this big from a small acorn!" -- Phil Smith, 10/28/2009
.A close-up shot of the cut up trunk..
.Joel shortening the stump. Phil taking a break from moving the limbs that fell on the other side of the fence and providing encouragement.
.
.We loaded the Kubota tractor up and tested her payload several times today.
.Phil checking to make sure one of the loads was secure.
.The pasture looked cleaner after today's work. Thank you, Phil and Joel for your enthusiasm and hard work, and the laughter you brought to the farm! And thank you, Lord, for an injury-free day!.
"The marvelous thing about this is not that one man with a chain saw can cut a 75-year old tree by himself. It's that God made a tree this big from a small acorn!" -- Phil Smith, 10/28/2009.
No comments:
Post a Comment