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Take down

This is a beautiful living cedar.

Unfortunately, the trunk, twenty feet high, had split in half in high winds. So now it was a very dangerous very tall living cedar that is going to come down and is right next to a house.

An expert was consulted. He said the tree could not be taken down intact. Each of the four tall trunks would have to come down individually. This is terribly dangerous, because felling trees is dangerous enough, but when you are up IN the tree, it is worse.

Gear for the take down.

There are four men and me. I am there with a camera. I do not help at all, I just try to stay well out of the way.

I am filming with a zoom lens from a nearby hill. They are trying to control the direction of the fall. Not on me or the house or any of them.
One down, three to go. When the top starts falling, it accelerates very quickly and crashes. He is trying to stay out of the way.
Going up to attach the cable high up to guide the fall direction.
Way up.
The falls take out smaller trees, but are controlled. It is raining.
Two trunks left.
Studying trunk three.
One left.
The last one is down. The trunk is still alive, with the split.
A closer view of the split trunk.

When the last trunk fell, it swung towards me and they shouted “Run!” It had slipped of the trunk and can’t be controlled as well even though there was a cable and a machine pulling in the desired direction. I ran and I am still here, thankfully.

Clean up on another day and the cedar goes to the sawmill.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: WAR. I wish we were all just working and there was no war.

No names or faces, because you know, those loggers are shy and wild, right?

13 thoughts on “Take down”

  1. Irene says:
    March 1, 2022 at 6:38 am

    Amazing job and pics, and always sad to see an elder tree go.

  2. Mason Bushell says:
    March 1, 2022 at 6:30 am

    Thats so sad, the poor tree.

  3. Lou Carreras says:
    March 1, 2022 at 5:21 am

    I love cedar, as a carving wood, and as tree. Seeing that tree come down made me wish I lived closer to youโ€ฆoff go the logs to the millโ€ฆcedar cures rapidlyโ€ฆ lovely signs and carvingsโ€ฆsigh.

    • drkottaway says:
      March 1, 2022 at 5:36 am

      Maybe I can get you a piece….you’d have to come get it. Road trip!!!

    • drkottaway says:
      March 1, 2022 at 5:40 am

      I have videos of the trunks coming down, but I can’t figure out how to turn them vertical. Darn.

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