Tree removal -

I finally took down the dead plum tree in our yard today. Our extension cords weren't long enough to get to it with our electric chainsaw so rather then borrowing one from the neighbors I just decided go at the rotten rotten wood with an ax.


It only took about 15 minutes to get to this point where I was able to push it down with my hands. That's the trick with cutting down trees. You cut it from both sides until you get a little hinge-like section in th middle. Choose the alignment of the hinge to get the tree to fall where you want it to. You cannot defy gravity (a leaning tree will not fall the other direction) but, combined with clearing as many of the top branches as possible beforehand, this is a very effective method for landing the tree where you want without too much damage. Just keep cutting until you get it to the point where it cracks a little when you push on it. Once you push it past the point of no return, get out of the way and yell "Timber!"