The Tree

[catsittingstill]

The House has a tree.  Well, more than one, actually.  But one of them is dead--so dead that shards of its bark are lying around it on the ground.  It is quite a big tree and could easily fall on The House, or the neighbor's house, which would definitely not start our relationship off on the right foot.  So this morning I called a couple of tree services.  I was hoping that it was only a few dead branches and that part of The Tree could be saved, but the guy who could actually come out and look at it today said that the buds on the Tree's branch tips are its last ditch effort to make a few more seeds before it falls over.  He pointed to the lines of woodpecker holes that go all the way down to where the roots begin, and said that this was a dead tree, a goner tree, a tree that was pining for the fjords.  (He didn't put it quite that way but that was what he meant.)

He can cut down the tree (leaving the last 8 feet or so for the woodpeckers, at my request) and leave it in a "manageable pile" for firewood, or cut it down, chip the green parts (for garden mulch) and haul the dead parts away, whichever I like, though the second option is 475$ and the first is only 300$.

Kip is of the opinion that some of his friends at work burn firewood for part of their heating and would be glad to haul the carcass (or parts of the carcass) away for free.  Plus I just checked, and wood chips are about 13$ per "bobcat scoop" which I suspect is 3 or 4 cubic feet.  So it would take a lot of wood chips to make 175$ worth.   I wonder what he would charge to chip the small messy stuff and leave the firewood sized stuff?

Locksmith and second opinion on The Tree coming tomorrow.  Plus a friend of mine wants my picture (on my bike) for the local paper (article about bike trails-to-come).  It will be a busy day.

Comments

my picture (on my bike)

[bigbumble.livejournal.com]

Come to think of it, I would like to see the picture of you on your bike.

I shudder to think about the mimmoths "helping" to cut down the tree!

Re: my picture (on my bike)

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

:-) Mimmoths will be kept in the house. Hog-tied if necessary.

When the article comes out I will ask Gayle if she would send me a copy of the picture, which I will then put up for general admiration.

[maiac.livejournal.com]

Before you go for the firewood option, find out whether your state discourages people from moving firewood because of the risk of spreading pests. Since the tree is dead, it may harbor tree-killing insects or fungus or whatever.

A few years ago, I had a dead tree cut down and reduced to mulch. I opted to keep the mulch, having no clue exactly how much mulch a thirty-foot tree would be turned into. I ended up with a five-foot high mound where the tree had been. I actually had a use for that much, but it took me quite a while to spread it out.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Good point. Tennessee is pretty laissez faire about most things (and the wood would only be moving 3 miles or so), but I should check.

I think the mulchable parts of this tree will probably amount to a cubic yard or two; the guy I'll probably go with said he didn't mulch seasoned dead wood because it was much harder on the chipper than green wood. But if I start a garden (tentatively planned) I'll be using the lasagna method (so called because instead of digging, you just put layers of different mulches on top of the soil and let it "cook" into compost in place). If I do that, wood chips will be welcome!

[jerusha.livejournal.com]

Another option: find out how much it would cost to rent a chipper for a day, or a weekend, and whether tree-guy would charge extra for leaving you two piles: proto-firewood and proto-mulch.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

This has the option of being cheaper, but it also turns one job into two jobs... I don't know if I'm up for this in the middle of moving.

[infobits.livejournal.com]

I helped a fiend eliminate a large chunk of tree next to her house. I researched the cuts you make - 2 wedges (1 on each side) with the axis along the direction you want it to fall. And hefty rope to help guide it down in the direction planned. And a calm day with no wind is helpful.

She hand sawed branches off the sides to reduce the bulk (note: leave stubs to use to help you in climbing, or hitching the rope to the tree), some of which we roped to guide their fall.

We took turns sawing the 2 wedges on the trunk - I think we did the lower 1 first so it didn't squash down while being sawn, and the upper wedge on the other side second.

And when I felt the rope slacken, I knew it was coming down and outran it (can you say adrenaline ???) while pulling the rope. Thankfully, it fell where intended.

And running shoes are essential ... especially if you're the one holding the rope to guide the fall.

BJ ;-}

[infobits.livejournal.com]

uh, make that "FRIEND", not fiend!

This keyboad is a bit flakey!

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Dratted keyboad!

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

This tree is 50 feet tall. 20 feet to one side is the powerline to the neighbor's house, with the house itself perhaps 10 feet beyond that. 20 feet to the other side is my house.

I just got that house.

I think I will splurge and call a professional.