Over a trail in our woods I discovered a treetop had broke and fallen against a tree on the opposite side creating a scene of impending doom for passersby. The trunk end looked ready to fall off with any wind coming through the trees. The several times I passed under it on the four-wheeler, I began feeling my luck was going to run out one of those times and then I'd be sorry for not doing something about it; then too, what if it happened to one of the family or a visitor?
So, finally I decided to take it down, but how was I to to do it safely? Cutting either tree down would be risky, I figured. So I decided to sleep on it and see if a solution would come to me just before I woke up. It did. "That'll work," I thought to myself. "I did that a few years ago when couldn't find someone to hire to repair a roof vent for me."
First, I had to gather a few tools: a bow, an arrow, a hundred feet of strong string, and a hundred feet of strong light-weight rope
Tying the string onto the arrow, I shot it over the broken trunk. Tying a loop on one end of the rope, I tied the string to the rope, and pulled it over the tree's trunk overhead where I could grab it and thread the loose end of the rope through the loop, theoretically....
As simple as the idea was, I didn't think to free the rope from its wrapped state before I pulled it up, so before I knew it, I had pulled it almost over the tree trunk in this state. Argh!
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| What the hell? |
I had to spend a couple minutes whipping it free of the trunk and lowering it so I could unravel it on the ground. After I got it loosened I strung it out its full length and tried to pull the tree down, by hand, thinking it would be easy, the way it looked an inch from the edge. I tried from the other side too, also rocking it side to side to no avail. It was stronger than I anticipated. I decided to just pull it down using my truck, since it was being so stubborn. I tied it good to the receiver hitch on the truck then set to pull it slowly and see if it would do the trick.
And it did.
I’ll be calling on your services soon.
ReplyDeleteYou need to give that knot a name.
ReplyDeletePaul Bunyan, move over!
ReplyDeleteI have a poem about such a tree job out here in Beltrami Island Forest. Will send to you by email and to those who commented above before I did.
This read is fun - thanks for the YouTube video bonus! A whole new take on t-i-m-b-e-r!
ReplyDelete