Philip Wheelock
Finis Origine Pendet
My buddy asked me to help out getting a good size oak felled, limbed, and bucked on his property. Said he didn't like working along when doing this type of work; now I know why. 
He decided to set a rope 2/3 up the tree and tie off to his backhoe. Then set a ladder on his bucket tractor, make a back cut (no face) as far as he would reach, then go back and yank the tree down with the backhoe. I said why not make a proper cut on the ground, put the tree where it needs to go, and eliminate the risk. He said because of the proximity of power lines (visible in one picture) and his intent to do as little damage to trees near the felling line, he'd prefer to do it his way; said he'd done it this way lots of times. Thought he was going to cut his leg off trying to start the saw on the ladder. Anyway, I yelled at him to stop cutting when I saw the tree was starting to give. The backhoe wasn't far enough away and I figured the tree top would catch the cab, but the tree, with no hinge to control the fall, went its own way, smashing a couple of maples and cleaning off the lower branches of the pine he wanted to leave alone. Then he proceeded with the cleanup with a top handle saw, holding the small stuff with one hand and one-handing the saw with the other. You can't make this stuff up. Pictures tell the story:
He decided to set a rope 2/3 up the tree and tie off to his backhoe. Then set a ladder on his bucket tractor, make a back cut (no face) as far as he would reach, then go back and yank the tree down with the backhoe. I said why not make a proper cut on the ground, put the tree where it needs to go, and eliminate the risk. He said because of the proximity of power lines (visible in one picture) and his intent to do as little damage to trees near the felling line, he'd prefer to do it his way; said he'd done it this way lots of times. Thought he was going to cut his leg off trying to start the saw on the ladder. Anyway, I yelled at him to stop cutting when I saw the tree was starting to give. The backhoe wasn't far enough away and I figured the tree top would catch the cab, but the tree, with no hinge to control the fall, went its own way, smashing a couple of maples and cleaning off the lower branches of the pine he wanted to leave alone. Then he proceeded with the cleanup with a top handle saw, holding the small stuff with one hand and one-handing the saw with the other. You can't make this stuff up. Pictures tell the story: 
