{"id":543,"date":"2007-08-11T14:40:29","date_gmt":"2007-08-11T05:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-08-11\/543"},"modified":"2007-08-11T14:40:29","modified_gmt":"2007-08-11T05:40:29","slug":"clearing-away-a-tree-blown-down-by-a-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-08-11\/543","title":{"rendered":"Clearing Away a Tree Blown Down by a Storm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n

Two days ago I posted a review of a new<\/span> GPS unit<\/a>,\nand yesterday I posted<\/span> some photos of a soaking wet\nbird<\/a> that I took<\/span> during a storm.<\/span> Little did I know<\/span> at the time, but\nthose posts were destined to become related.<\/p>\n\n

It seems that the large tree shown at the left in this\npicture<\/a> on the GPS-related post was blown down by the storm of the\nwet-bird post:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 19mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f\/7.1, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOops<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The tree was an old, crotchety mulberry<\/a> tree that had\nseen better days. When I was<\/span> a kid,<\/span> it was glorious, both fun to climb and\nproducing a lot<\/span> of mulberries that I'd use to give myself a bellyache<\/span> every\nsummer.<\/p>\n\n

It was sad to see it down, but it needed to be cleared up, so Dad went\nto do it, and I hung<\/span> around and took pictures (yet, magnanimously,\noccasionally interrupting to offer unsolicited advice).<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 45mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f\/3.5, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBroke Off at the Base<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Dad cut off a huge branch, chained it to the trusty old backhoe he's had\nfor 30 years, and dragged it off into the woods.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f\/7.1, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBranch #1 Heads to the Woods<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Half way there, the branch started digging into the ground, so we heaved\nand ho'ed until we rolled it over to its more leafy side, and then he\ncontinued dragging it toward the woods. (The branch and backhoe are in the\nbackground in the center of the picture below.)<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f\/4.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLawn Scars<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Once in the woods, the branch was unhooked from the backhoe and he\nshoved it out of the way.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f\/4.5, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nShoving the Branch Out of the Way<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 30mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>2000 sec, f\/4.5, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOne Way to Turn<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

One way to turn the front wheels of the backhoe sharply without ripping\nup the grass or placing undue stress on the steering mechanism is to simply\npush the front bucket down far enough that it lifts the front tires off the\nground.<\/p>\n\n

Returning to the tree, he used the backhoe to shove the tree the rest of the way off the stump,\nrolling it over so that another big branch would be safer to cut off.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>2000 sec, f\/4.5, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nShoving the Tree Over<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 55mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>180 sec, f\/6.3, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nCutting a Foot<\/span>-Thick Branch<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 30mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f\/8, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nThe Cut<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The cut is only about half way through, but a huge<\/b> amount of wood\nis on the branch above the cut, leaning out with leverage placing a massive<\/span>\namount of pressure on the wood that remains. He then just<\/span> shoved the tree\nwith the backhoe, and the huge branch came crashing down. (The photo below\nis mid-crash.)<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f\/8, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nDown Comes the Huge Branch<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Doing it this way is much safer than cutting all the way through, since\nit allows you to be well away from the tree when the big branch comes down. I guess<\/span> Dad learned a thing<\/span> or two growing up on a farm.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

The branch was dragged to the woods, and he returned to work on the main\ntrunk.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 40mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f\/6.3, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nNotching the Main Trunk<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

After notching it from above and below, and from one side, leaving the\ntrunk connected to the upper branches by only a small<\/span> cross-section of\nwood, he pressed on the joint with the backhoe to complete the break. That\ndidn't work, so he tried lifting one end, hoping to snap it where it was\nnotched...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f\/6.3, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTrying To Snap The Main Trunk<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

That didn't work either, so he put that task aside and cut off another\nhuge branch. During that cut, the chainsaw got stuck in the cut, so we had\nto pound a wedge<\/span> (four of them, actually) into the cut to release the\npinching pressure enough to extract the chain saw.<\/p>\n\n

Half an hour wasted with the stuck chainsaw behind us, he dragged that\nbranch to the woods.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>3000 sec, f\/2.8, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHuge Branch #3 Heads to the Woods<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 34mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f\/6.3, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nThe Stump<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The very base of the tree consisted of a ring<\/span> of healthy wood\nsurrounding a core<\/span> of what might best be described as a mix<\/span> between swiss\ncheese and cork. It had the<\/span> load-bearing properties of wet tissue.<\/p>\n\n

Back from the woods, he used the backhoe to again roll the remains of\nthe tree such that the trunk was safe to cut through completely, and he\nheaded off to the woods with it.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f\/8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nThe (Extremely Heavy<\/small>) Trunk Heads to the Woods<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

It's on days like today that the backhoe is worth its weight in\ngold.<\/p>\n\n

He then chains the entire rest of the tree to the backhoe, lifts, and heads to the woods for a fifth<\/span> time.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f\/4.5, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHauling the Rest of the Tree to the Woods<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Following a sixth trip to the woods with the backhoe's front loader\nfilled with the remaining assorted branches and twigs, we're done for now;\nHe'll do something with the stump another day.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f\/7.1, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nA More<\/span> “Wide Open View” Than Before<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

After unsticking the chain saw that one time, the cut still had a couple<\/span>\nof wedges in it, so Dad couldn't use the chainsaw to finish the cut. He used the<\/span> backhoe to essentially rip the branch from the tree, at which\npoint neither of us thought to pick up the wedges. I remembered<\/span> them later,\nand spent five unsuccessful minutes looking for them before spending\nanother minute to grab our\nmetal detectors<\/a>, with which we found them in about 30 seconds.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>90 sec, f\/7.1, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHunting for the Wedges<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n\nAll in all, it took Nature a lot of years (100?) to grow the tree, a storm<\/span>\na few<\/span> seconds to bring it down, and Dad about two hours and fifteen minutes\nto clear it away (which includes 30 minutes futzing with the stuck\nchainsaw). I shudder<\/span> to think how long it would have taken to clear it\nwithout the backhoe, or even worse, without a chainsaw<\/span> either.\n\n<\/p>

It certainly pays to have the right tools for the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two days ago I posted a review of a new GPS unit, and yesterday I posted some photos of a soaking wet bird that I took during a storm. Little did I know at the time, but those posts were destined to become related.<\/p>

It seems that the large tree shown at the left in this picture on the GPS-related post was blown down by the storm of the wet-bird post:<\/p>

The tree was an old, crotchety mulberry tree that had seen better days. When I was a kid, it was glorious, both fun to climb and producing a lot [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}