The tree in the fork conundrum

As I mentioned in my post of Dec. 23 of last year, we had a large tree fall in our backyard that wedged itself completely in the fork of a sumac tree. The middle of the fallen tree was almost 8 feet off the ground. I cut away the limbs and tried to budge the trunk with my tractor scoop to no avail. I decided it prudent to call in some help.

My neighbor happens to have an engineering degree from Cornell in addition to a very large chainsaw. After analyzing the situation, Larry decided to take the bull by the horns and just cut the trunk in the middle. He sawed a deep V on the top of the trunk and then cut from underneath. When the two pieces fell the ground shook. We wrapped a logging chain around the end still in the tree and pulled it out.

I'm still trying to find out what type of tree it is. The wood is extremely dense and heavy without much grain. The worst thing is that the ugly sumacs are still standing, reading to catch the next tree in its trap.

If a tree falls . . .

To the question of "what do you do in your spare time?", I offer the accompanying photo.

This 75-foot tree (sorry, I can't identify the species) fell not too far from our house in the backyard, wedging itself between a trifecta of sumac trees.

It will take my tractor and 30 or so man hours of work to chainsaw and split the wood. Adding to the problem is that the tree rests about 6 feet off the ground. I will have to be careful handling the tree as I whittle it down to size.

A tree this large and delicately balanced above the ground can bend a chainsaw bar, flip a tractor or easily flip me.

The tree fell two weeks ago during the big wind, and I'm still contemplating my plan of attack. Even though it's 50 degrees today and perfect timber-cutting weather, I'm going back to the stove for some more contemplation, maybe even a nap.