Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2008/04/23

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Subject: [Leica] Felling the Mighty Oak - 21st Century Style
From: r.s.taylor at comcast.net (Richard Taylor)
Date: Wed Apr 23 11:25:19 2008

Yesterday morning I had a large diseased oak taken down in my back  
yard.  The last time I had this done, about thirty years ago, two 75- 
foot plus red oaks that were threatening to push my garage over were  
taken down lumberjack-style, with deep-V cuts and cries of  
"Timberrrrr."  In this modern mechanized age, the tree was simply  
disassembled and carted away.

I was in the back part of the house when the bell rang at 8.  After I  
said hello to the crew boss I stepped outside and found this in my  
front yard.

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rtaylor/PICKS/TREES/300_0516.jpg.html
http://tinyurl.com/4ofh3h

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rtaylor/PICKS/TREES/300_0559.jpg.html
http://tinyurl.com/4ggu68

The yellow machine on the right is a big wood chipper.

There are two teams.  The "climber" and crane operator work together  
to take the tree apart in large chunks and deliver the pieces over the  
house to the ground crew that cuts them up and feeds them to the  
chipper.

The climber gets a lift to work by the crane operator:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rtaylor/PICKS/TREES/300_0518.jpg.html
http://tinyurl.com/46smpr

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rtaylor/PICKS/TREES/300_0528.jpg.html
http://tinyurl.com/3w8xv6

The first large branch is cut and lifted away by the crane:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rtaylor/PICKS/TREES/300_0546.jpg.html
http://tinyurl.com/4vvkga

The operator places it on the ground, the ground crew cuts it up, and  
feeds the pieces to the chipper:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rtaylor/PICKS/TREES/300_0555.jpg.html
http://tinyurl.com/4a9ov2

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rtaylor/PICKS/TREES/300_0579.jpg.html
http://tinyurl.com/4lq2cf

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rtaylor/PICKS/TREES/300_0612.jpg.html
http://tinyurl.com/3se6hc

Some of the not quite so large branches go straight to the chipper  
with the help of the crane operator:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rtaylor/PICKS/TREES/300_0615.jpg.html
http://tinyurl.com/4dwvxx

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rtaylor/PICKS/TREES/300_0611.jpg.html
http://tinyurl.com/4kdfsw

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rtaylor/PICKS/TREES/300_0624.jpg.html
http://tinyurl.com/3kmtas

After the crane is free and while the last of that branch is chipped,  
the climber sets the sling for the next cut:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rtaylor/PICKS/TREES/300_0591.jpg.html
http://tinyurl.com/44usfv

Finally, the climber gets down on the trunk and takes the top-half  
first...

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rtaylor/PICKS/TREES/300_0643.jpg.html
http://tinyurl.com/429ars

... then cuts the bottom half low to the ground and it's lifted over  
the house:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rtaylor/PICKS/TREES/300_0652.jpg.html
http://tinyurl.com/4e3jbt

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rtaylor/PICKS/TREES/300_0659.jpg.html
http://tinyurl.com/3wh4rt

The pieces that can't be chipped are loaded onto a truck to be carted  
away:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rtaylor/PICKS/TREES/300_0672.jpg.html
http://tinyurl.com/3qatmm

The climber and crane operator take a break at the end of the action:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rtaylor/PICKS/TREES/300_0680.jpg.html
http://tinyurl.com/3sp4kx

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rtaylor/PICKS/TREES/300_0681.jpg.html
http://tinyurl.com/53eb2d

Finally, as the last step, the driveway is cleaned:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rtaylor/PICKS/TREES/300_0683.jpg.html
http://tinyurl.com/54agve

They left just about an hour after they arrived.

(Just though I'd take a shot at a photo essay.)

All taken with a D300 at ISO 200 and with the Nikon 20 mm f2.8 and  
Nikon 50-200 mm f4 zoom.

C&C welcome as always.


Regards,

Dick




Replies: Reply from red735i at earthlink.net (Frank Filippone) ([Leica] Felling the Mighty Oak - 21st Century Style)
Reply from Jim at hemenway.com (Jim Hemenway) ([Leica] Felling the Mighty Oak - 21st Century Style)
Reply from philippe.amard at tele2.fr (Philippe AMARD) ([Leica] Felling the Mighty Oak - 21st Century Style)
Reply from ricc at mindspring.com (Ric Carter) ([Leica] Felling the Mighty Oak - 21st Century Style)