Bus sketch'es 1.2.3.4.5.

[eighty+]

Ok feeling a bit Dodgy today must be all that fresh air from yesturday ok CiAO SLAINTE

[eighty+]

yes i woke ln the middle of the night :mad::D:D:D CIAO SLAINTE

[eighty+]

Hi tried tarting up a old painting ok CIAO SLAINTE

M P must be the the old artist ok

[D Akey]

Hoot.

By me solo self, took down a dead 30 foot +/- (super tall) tree in my front yard that was leaning over my power lines that come to the house from the street. I got a new ladder that does 17 feet. Can be buckled into an A-frame type or just a long lean-against-the-wall affair. And I had a couple very stout cables and a tension puller ratchet thing that tightens lines or pulls your car out of the snow etc.

Anyway, I set it all up. Climbed the ladder and with a rope with a piece of brick tied to it tossed it up into the branches about 2/3 of the way up. I then attached one of the cables to it and threaded it around the trunk high enough to hopefully keep it from falling with gravity onto the power lines. So I tied two cables to a bicycle tie-up that was anchored in the concrete. And then I pulled them tight as I could by hand. Then used the tension puller to ratchet it as tight as I had strength to do. It looked like it was leaning the right way.

Once I had that all done, I went back up on the ladder with my electric chain saw and at a place just below the power line, I cut an angle about half way through, not wanting it to let go with me standing right below it on a ladder with a buzzing chainsaw.

I then tried tightening it up again. And not much was happening. The problem was if I was working the tension puller and it gave, it would have fallen on me because it was close to tree. . . and besides it had climbed up to just barely in reach over my head.

So I left that line good and taut. Then I took my ladder out of the way and went into my driveway. I was away from where the tree would fall and started pushing on one of the cables -- using my weight. I didn't think it would do much, but when I heard cracking, I went around and stole a peek and sure enough my chainsaw cut was opening. So I went back and just pushed the lines and snap, crackle, pop -- done.

So I'm a cracker jack lumber jack, Jack! (I mean, Jimmay! I mean MacPloos!)

I think that was the last one of that died from the drought. Had hoped it made it, but no luck. So I have some more carving wood. Oh well.

PoseDrawSki sez: Your paintings are moving along. Nice to see you have some clients. Good on ye laddie! You keep painting trees and I guess it's my lot to cut em down. Fire department is not so sentimental about old dead trees no matter how long they've been standing.

¡Vaya con paint for the sheer joy of it!

[eighty+]

Ho. Ho. Tree fellar. I followed you all the way. . Yeah. Dodgy chain saws. I keep well away from ok
The only thing I'm not sure is have just chopped the tree below the power lines and left the trunk still standing to be cut down at a later date ?? Or have left it for POZDRAWSKI to Finnish as it would. Keep him fit. Coss he's. A lazy bugger. So keep his nose down on the tread mill ok. CIAO. SLAINTE

[eighty+]

Well I've Kicked smashed and swore at him But I still think he looks the same all he Does

is to keep Smiling just to anoy me

[eighty+]

And another one hits the dust Yeah Man Go Go Go CIAO SLAINTE

[D Akey]

Well, here it is. You can see the lines I ran leading up to the upper part to get leverage to pull it away from the power line. The pics don't show it but the tree was leaning the wrong way quite a bit. And I managed to pull it toward the camera in two of the shots. The stump you see is showing what's left. Yeah, I'll have to press PoseDrawSki into service to lay it low, but the danger of falling the wrong way is passed. Phew!

I'm going to delete this post once you've seen it. Don't mean to clutter your thread none.

PoseDrawSki says: That's right. You go and have all the drama and leave me with the dull work. Better get a few pints out of this as it's been in the 90s here and I'll need to replenish me fluids. Oh aye. And that trunk is seriously hard wood and all. Best make it a pitcher or two.

Oh, and there was but the one trunk branch. The other one died and I took it down some time back which was far easier. But not too shabby for a one man operation. PoseDrawSki was nowhere to be found till the deed was done.

Oh, and a couple hummingbirds flitted about checking out what I was doing as I was tying it all off. They're cute, and great in the encouragement department, but bloody useless for the grunt work. I think they were hanging out with PoseDrawSki in the bushes.


¡Vaya con drought sport!

(update -- took out the photos.)

[eighty+]

Hi Cap'tn Mac good with camera Tree Fellow like the pic's but Icould follow your description

quiet well but its good to see the scene and how many throws with the half brick did

it take to get over the branch truthfully its no good me coming to do a

spot of burglary seeing your security flood lights is it CIAO SLAINTE

[D Akey]

Hi Cap'tn Mac good with camera Tree Fellow like the pic's but Icould follow your description

quiet well but its good to see the scene and how many throws with the half brick did

it take to get over the branch truthfully its no good me coming to do a

spot of burglary seeing your security flood lights is it CIAO SLAINTE

Ach and hoot! T'was no more a challenge than tossin' the caber -- with a crane.

Yeah, funny that you mention it about the brick on the end of the rope. Remember, I had the ladder extended and leaning against the tree so my chest was just above that fork with one prong cut off. (about half way to the spot I was aiming for).

I missed the first try cause I hadn't warmed up and had to pull it down without conking me on the head. The second toss did the trick -- sort of. I got the brick wedged into the crook of the right branch. So I had to get a long length of PVC piping to prod it over.

Once the brick was over, the rope kept getting snagged. So I had to flip it around until it would inch its way down. Thank goodness I had one of those fruit pickers on a pole with the basket and little wire claws to grab it and bring it through.

So once I got that in hand, I tied my cable to the rope end, and then pulled it through like threading a needle. I wrapped it around the trunk and then set to anchoring the two wire lines to and connecting the two cables to the winch puller.

You speak like a man who has worked with his hands. You're spotting the tough spots alright. You're hired for the next job, MacPloos!

(Update -- pic of me horrid cable tying deleted. Would kick me out of the Scouts if they saw.)