What a difference a day makes

Today Geoff and I met Terry and Ellie at Underhill and tackled the 'tree on the kitchen roof' issue.

After a cuppa and sizing up the issue Terry got up onto the roof and removed all the branches that were still attached to the trunk of the tree. Then the fun on the ground began.

Thanks to Terry's expertise and Geoff's assistance the job was done relatively easily. But then we agreed that the remainder of that tree and the one behind the toilet needed to go as they were both threatening to fall and damage buildings.

Both the trees were felled expertly and dropped in places where minimal damage was done, except to fences. The dog yards are no longer kangaroo proof but as they had holes in the fences anyway that is not a problem at the moment. They are certainly well cropped of grasses.

The tree behind the toilet was very difficult and teetered back and forth until Terry put a wedge in and Geoff threw a very long length of Parramatta rope (thank you Kim and Craig) over the tree. Terry and he were then able to walk away pulling the rope and the tree with it. Terry was so impressed with this technique he now owns the very long piece of rope.

The loss of the two trees has opened up the area and it now looks quite clear and clean. Our next job with Terry and Ellie will be the two dead trees shown above.

All these trees were ringbarked when we built the dog yards just after we bought the block in 1978. Later Surrey realised our mistake but thought that the branches would fall as the trees rotted. Many did but we were left with a job that was too big for us. Having the branch fall was the impetus needed to take it on and Terry is well trained and practiced in the art. A very big thank you to Terry and Ellie.

It was a great learning experience for Geoff and Terry was a very patient teacher. There will be more lessons to follow so we'll have to take our chainsaws (I own three) to be reconditioned ready for the cleanup.

Over the next few months we will need to cut all the logs to stockpile for firewood (they are beautifully dried and cured after all these years). Then there will be the fences to mend but this can't happen until we fell the two remaining trees. If you'd like to help us tidy up the mess we left today then please let me know and we can make a date.