Black Locust Comes Down at Tom's

The black locust at the southwest edge of Tom's house has always been a concern to us. It was partly dead and it was far too close to the house. In fact it covered a kitchen window. All you saw looking west was the trunk of this tree.

 But it leafed again this spring even though Tom had already contracted to have it removed. It was a hazard to both his house and the nearby church. We got permission from the church for the tree service to drive their bucket truck into that area between Tom's house and the church.

 Dave, with Joe's Tree Service, sent me a message on Monday. He planned to do the work on Wednesday (05/27/20). And so, just after 9:30 am, he arrived with a fellow worker and began the herculean task of removing the old, ailing tree.

 Before the work began I walked out and look up through the tree one last time.

 With the prevailing wind from the west (to the right in this picture) any limbs that broke off and fell would have landed squarely on Tom's roof.

 At Center Street, where the bucket truck had to enter the property, I took this picture of the broken concrete so Dave wouldn't be blamed for any damage. It was already broken before he arrived (that's my orange flag, placed there to warn off anyone who sought to park there).

 Dave laid long long strips of plywood to cushion the load from his bucket truck. It served to spread out the force.

 And so the work is ready to begin ...

 Dave worked generally from the bottom to the top, cutting small branches first and then removing the larger ones in small sections. He's one strong dude. He could hold and use the chain saw with one hand while holding a huge limb (or log) with the other and throw it to the ground with pinpoint accuracy.

 You can see many dead branches in the shot.

 Dave worked around the power and phone lines, always looking carefully before he moved the bucket or threw a branch to the ground.

 Looking towards Center Street from the rear of the church property. Tom's house is on the right.

 The tree is slowly being  reduced ...

 The final high (dead) branch remains to be cut ...

 Tom found a shady spot across the street at Superior Sulky to watch the show.

 The lower trunk of the tree was quite thick ...

 I framed the telephoto shot through the chipper/shredder of Tom watching from Superior Sulky.

 And that's about it. Dave backed the bucket truck out onto Center Street, back into a spot in front of Tom's house and began the clean-up.

 Dave's fellow worker was tasked with chipping all the smaller branches. It was a hot (83°) and humid day but the early morning rain (about 7 am) had moved on and the ground had dried by the time the crew began work. It never rained more.

 They're gone and Tom's house now stands minus the overhanging locust ...

 But a massive pile of logs remains. I would have liked the larger logs cut into smaller sections. They're too heavy to even be rolled by Tom and I.

 The smaller logs, however, were manageable and we stacked them beside Tom's house, off church property.

 Here's the stack closer to Center Street and ready to be taken. Mike Kilroy said he wanted them and, in fact, began picking them up that evening. Black locust burns slow and hot so they'll be perfect for a winter fire.

 What remains of the tree> Just this stump.