Monday I finally cut the main tree trunk. This has been a long time coming. I was delayed because I had problems with my chain saw. I couldn't start it. A major problem. Eventually I put in a new spark plug. Still couldn't start it. One evening after hunting Kelly played around with the choke on the chainsaw, and with the choke half out, was able to start the chainsaw.
The next problem was the bar and chain weren't being oiled automatically as the chainsaw moved the chain.
I cleaned the chainsaw and got oil to come out again. Whether enough oil, that is now the question. I was able to cut the box elder 'ent' tree, but while in the middle of cutting up the fallen tree trunk the chain started to jump the bar. This is a new chain. In its rotation around the bar the chain doesn't smoothly come off the drive. I'm going to take the chainsaw in to a repair shop to see if they can figure out the problem.
Still, the good news is that I finally cut through the tree trunk and cut off the dead and dying part of the tree. Before getting the chainsaw to work I had prepared the tree for cutting by using saws to start the cut. Part of the reason for starting the cut with a hand saw was that, even with the extension ladder fully extended, I had to climb up into the tree to a height higher than my house to reach where I wanted to cut. Not an ideal place to climb and stand when using a running chainsaw.
It was slow work to cut the tree with hand saws and I was happy to have the chainsaw working even if I had to climb way up into the tree to use it. In the photos below you can see how large the trunk was at the cut. It would have taken forever if I had to cut it by hand.
The part of the tree trunk I cut was over a fence. After what had happened earlier when I cut a branch hanging out over the hayfield where part of it hit the fence, I took down three sections of the fence to be safe when I cut the tree trunk.
I carefully cut from one side and another and then in front of me. All in an effort to have the trunk fall over towards the hayfield and away from me and away from the fence. I was also careful to make the cut in such a way to not let the trunk settle back and on my chainsaw. That didn't happen, but until the trunk fell over I wasn't a 100% certain where the trunk would go. The problem with box elder trees is that there is no bending or leaning of a branch or the tree itself while the cut is being made. All of a sudden the "tipping point" is reached and the tree then falls. And quickly! There is really no time to react.
The tree fell the way I planned. Mostly. Actually it fell in the direction I planned. As it fell the trunk turned over and the stub branch out over the hayfield now turned around and faced north. If I hadn't taken down the fence the stub branch would have obliterated one section of the fence. I hadn't taken out the fence posts and fortunately the stub branch missed the nearest post.
Also, a reminder... look in the second photo at the diameter of the cut.
The tree trunk hit the ground hard and loud. Another old stub branch hit the ground and created a hole before breaking off the trunk.
As you can see, what I cut down was not trivial. I believe the fence sections are eight feet long and the tree is over four sections long.
Box elder wood seemed to have a lot of water as the wood is much heavier than it looks. I am reminded of that each time I picked up a short section I have cut from the fallen tree trunk. I am stacking these logs for drying and hope to split them next year.
Length wise I cut up half the fallen branch. Unfortunately it is the outer and smaller part of the branch. I used my crosscut saw and cut two logs but that is hard and time consuming. The wood seems soft, but the cut also seems to swell and grab my saw's blade. Nothing is easy.
The following photo shows what remains to be cut.
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