Willow tree, trunk cut by pole saw

Today I finally cut through the willow tree trunk.  Wednesday I spent most of the day cutting on the trunk and went from 1/3 to over 2/3 cut.  This afternoon I finished the cut.  Thank goodness as my arms were getting tired.  Even with an overnight's rest Wednesday night, my arms were tired from the get-go this morning.  But as I got closer to cutting through the trunk my adrenalin kicked in and I forgot about my tired arms.

Not much wind today for once which made cutting nicer.

As I neared the end I debated whether to toss a rope over the tree trunk to pull it down and "guide" it to where I wanted it to land.  But I didn't feel like climbing off the truck to get enough rope to go over the tree and reach the ground.  I was reasonably confident the trunk would fall correctly.  Still, between the shape of the trunk, the length of the trunk, the direction the trunk grew, and the shape and direction of my cut, and the last part of the trunk to be cut... all this factored in how and where the trunk would fall.  As it got nearer to falling I made sure I was away from the edge of the truck and the trunk.

The willow wood is solid and with only a little bit left of the tree to cut the trunk balanced on falling.  So I took the end of my pole saw and gave the trunk a little push.  Also this would guide the trunk away from the truck.

With a flash the trunk fell.  It was so fast I didn't really see it fall.  The trunk had hit the ground by the time I looked over the edge. The trunk fell on the ground and missed everything else.  Then it bounced and twisted and headed for the garage door.  One end of the trunk bumped against the garage door marking it with dirt but not damaging it.

Success!!

See the spot of dirt on the garage door?

The cut was 13 1/2 inches in diameter. No wonder it took me several days of cutting to saw through it.  I regret I forgot to measure the trunk's length.  It was at least six feet long.  The trunk was heavy enough that I couldn't lift it.  I could only lift one end at a time and had to cut it up here with a chain saw before moving it.

Near my glove you can see the little bit of wood left before the trunk would fall.