The top part of trunk had little growth. So I cut off the top four and a half feet of the tree trunk down close to where branches grow. After I was done I measured the tree trunk and found it was now 17 feet long. The distance from the base of the tree to the house is a little over 19 feet. So my earlier eying the trunk got it correct, it would have went through the house's wall and roof by several feet if it ever fell. Fortunately the trunk is healthy with no signs it will ever fall.
Because...
- I could stand with one foot on the top rung of an extension ladder and the other foot on a sturdy tree branch,
- the trunk is 15 inches thick at this point, and
- my chain saw bar is 16 inches long,
I was able to use a chain saw to cut the trunk. Years ago when I cut the trunk above this spot, due to the precarious position I was in, I had to use hand saws. Then it took days for me to cut through the trunk.Even with the chain saw it took me fifteen to twenty minutes to cut through the trunk as I had to rest a few times.
Due to my position I didn't have much leeway in how I cut the trunk. I wanted to cut the trunk so it fell away from the concrete sidewalk leading to the house. The trunk is heavy and I didn't want to chance that it would crack and break the concrete. I did pretty good but the trunk did fall on the edge of the sidewalk. The falling trunk dug the ground next to the sidewalk and made a mark on the sidewalk as seen in the photos below.
Here are some before (going back a few days to when I started) and after photos...
Its hard to remember that in the 1990s the weeping willow's branches brushed against the roof of the garage.
Someday I'll get the right trunk cut down to size once I figure out how to get safely high.
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