Willow tree and the truck, day 2

Monday afternoon I worked on the willow tree some more.  First I repositioned the truck to be further away from the section of the tree trunk I was cutting.  I don't want the cut piece to fall on the truck.  Because of the low electric lines I had to drive very carefully. I had a small area in which to maneuver.  Forward and back and forward and back and over and over.  Crank the steering wheel one way, crank it another way and over and over. I couldn't see the electric lines while in the truck so I had to get out a number of times to double check I wasn't too close.  Finally I got the truck to where I wanted - which was next to, but not under, where I wanted to cut.

The next challenge was that the next section of the tree I wanted to cut was still well above me.  I could reach the tree standing on the truck and using a pole saw but this was slow cutting.  I used a step ladder and set it right next to the edge and then used bungee cords to hold the ladder in place.  I found that with a chainsaw and standing on the step ladder I could only reach and cut only about 1/5 of the trunk along its side.  Any further reach was dicey as I was on the edge and it was a long way down and I have a slight fear of heights.

I got an extension ladder and placed it against the tree. After again using bungee cords to tie the bottom of the ladder to the truck so it wouldn't slide, I climbed the ladder up to the tree.  But I had several problems.  First is that I am left handed and using the chainsaw requires two hands.  The cut is on the right side.  That ruled out the chain saw.  I thought I would use a hand saw as I can saw right handed.  However I found the whole tree trunk wobbled as I cut and, between the wobbling and having the ground way down under me, unnerved me.  I felt safer standing on the truck.

I considered cutting the tree trunk a few feet lower and chancing the extra amount would fall away from the truck, but by the time I was ready to switch back to setting up the step ladder the wind came up.  The wind direction blew towards the tree and the side of the truck.  I didn't feel comfortable going up the ladder in the wind.

So I spent a few hours using the pole saw.  It was either that or waiting until Tuesday in hopes the wind would not blow or it would not rain.  I didn't cut through the trunk but made a good dent.

It started to rain a few hours after I quit cutting for the day.  If the weather improves Tuesday I will take a fresh look at the situation and come up with a solution.