Lighter/thinner - brief revival
Been a long time since I've visited this forum. Been meaning to do so throughout the summer, but things have been too busy. Raining here today, though, so it seems like a good time to post that the aspen removal that was discussed (energetically at times) last summer was completed successfully earlier this year. With rope high in the adjacent maple, I was able to get over and top the aspen. (Ax-man, as I intuitively knew would be the case, your prediction that the rope angles would work against me was certainly true. Getting properly (safely/securely) positioned was the most strenuous physical thing I've done in a while.) Once past the topping, positioning myself lower was much easier. Rigged the top and the next piece, then chunked down 2 or 3 more pieces w/o rigging, and the last 12 feet or so was just dropping the stem. No injuries, no damage to house or property, etc.
Also, took down another tree this summer. 75-foot red maple in back yard, 3 feet in diam @ 2 feet above ground, 10 feet from house, 5 feet from deck. Limbed if from down to up (lots of rigging), then topped it to 45-foot twin spars, then dropped the spars. Again, no injuries. Also, no damage to my deck, house or the neighbor's house, the latter an issue as several 10 to 12-inch diam limbs hung partially over it.
In both cases, safety was the first priority. Planning and preparation were commensurate.
By the way, all who told me running a chainsaw in a tree (used in both removals) was challenging were correct. It is an interesting mental hurdle. Definitely not something I'd choose as weekend relaxation.
Anyway, just wanted to bring closure to this. In particular, wanted to leave no questions as to whether this had ended up in the fatalities category.
Thanks to all those who provided positive input to the original thread, and even to some of those who offered sarcasm and abuse. To the latter group, you strengthened my resolve.