tall trees and true

Seven trees used to form a line in front of the office where I work. They are some type of European pine; a few are dead, and a few look dead. As if growing weary, one had started to lean.

Last week people decided it was time the tired tree came down; the lean was towards some other buildings; if it fell in a storm it might do some damage.

First they tried to pull it down – with ropes and cars.

(leaning tree; first rope highlighted)

One guy scrambled up the tree and tied a rope around it. When he got back down, people realised that two ropes – and two cars – would be needed. So he had to scramble back up and tie another rope around the tree’s neck.

Next, cars were driven round to the area where people wanted the tree to fall. There was a minor distraction when one car got bogged, but soon enough they were in place. The ropes were tied to the cars.

Two drivers then slowly began to reverse the cars – or they tried to. The tree didn’t sway. Tires spun, a bit of mud flew, em tasol (that’s all).

So it was on to plan 2: the chainsaw.

There was a minor distraction when the chainsaw stopped cutting the trunk and simply started smoking, and people realised the blade was blunt, but soon enough the blade was changed and the cutting continued. Another pause occurred when the chunk cut wouldn’t come out. But one of the people got a shovel and dug it out soon enough.

Then the cars were started and put into reverse again. And this time it worked – the tree came down!

No one cried “timber”; instead there was a rather awkward hush. Unexpectedly, not one but two trees had come down. And they’d both smashed straight through the neighbour’s fence.

tomorrow, in another informative post, I will show you what we did with the wood.