Timber!

We have many beautiful maple trees just below our backyard that provide oodles of shade on summer afternoons. The problem is that we have so much shade that the garden and plants don't get enough sunlight to grow well. Plus, each of those trees contributes to a HUGE leaf collection for a month every fall. The solution is to cut down a few of the trees closest to the yard. This weekend while Sam was visiting Ken decided to make the first cut. He chose to start on a "double tree", or two trees that were so close together that they had almost become one. After the first cut, he checks to see how close it is to falling.

After a little more sawing, the first tree of the set cracks and falls. Hmmmm. Not quite like expected. Now we've got part of the the broken tree hanging from the cut end.

Next he cuts the trunk, hoping that when it falls it will complete the break near the base.

Nope, it didn't work, so he needed to come in close and finish the cut where he started. When that piece of the trunk fell we gasped because Ken barely jumped out of the way in time. Or so it seemed to us that were watching....HE said that he had anticipated the fall and knew exactly when to get out of the way.

For the second tree it was decided to wedge a log from another tree to the one that needed to come down. Initial cuts have already been made, and it is hoped that with a little more sawing in will fall in the correct direction with the wedge to guide it.

The tree cracks loudly and begins to fall and Ken moves quickly to get out of the way. It moved a little, but did not fall completely, so Ken moved back in for just a little more cutting. Finally, it fell, but not all the way to the ground. The top snagged in another tree nearby. Somehow we thought the heavy treetops would simply break the branches of the neighboring trees and continue to crash to the forest floor. Looks like these trees are going to be somewhat unpredictable. I find that somewhat scary.

So, here's my current view. Seems to me like the tree falling project is getting even more complicated. Well, this is the way it will stay for a few days because it is raining again and....Sam borrowed the chain saw for a yard project of his own. A few nice, small, bushy trees. :)