Life among the Tall Pines: Trimming box elder trees by the patio

Saturday, October 21, 2023

Trimming box elder trees by the patio

I finally trimmed the box elder trees next to the patio.

Last year I trimmed some of the lower branches. The higher branches I could not get to.

https://tallpinesranch.blogspot.com/2022/09/some-trimming-on-box-elder-patio-trees.html

https://tallpinesranch.blogspot.com/2022/09/tree-trimming-done.html

https://tallpinesranch.blogspot.com/2022/09/lawn-mowed-weed-whacking-tree-trimming.html

This Summer I learned Myron, my irrigation guy, had a telescopic forklift. He agreed to help me. Even though he had retired last December, the grain elevator wanted to hire him to help during harvest time in August into September. Then that got extended. Then someone else needed the lift for a few days. Then a week. Then Myron went on vacation. Then the elevator needed him for more work. Time passed.

I wanted to do the trimming when the leaves were still on the tree so it was easy to see where the branches were dying and where they were alive. But now 90% of the leaves have fallen. Oh well. We planned to trim the trees today. But yesterday a work truck broke down and the elevator didn't need him there. He called, and yes, I was available to do the trimming yesterday.

Myron came over a little after noon and we worked for three and a half to four hours. Myron operated the forklift and I did the chain sawing.

I put a wooden pallet on the forklift for me to be on. Notice I didn't say 'stand on'. Except for a few times I mainly kneeled and cut the branches. Standing on a small platform really high off the ground was unnerving to me. One time after I cut through a branch my chainsaw swung down and into the pallet before I got my finger off the trigger. That is why the top of the pallet is kind-of cut. Another time some small side branches to the large branch swept by and took my hat off my head. So, no, standing was not preferable to me.

I borrowed from my neighbor Curtis a body harness. I wore it and hooked it to the back of the forks. I didn't want to fall as that would have been the end for me. Fortunately the harness wasn't needed.

Most branches I could reach leaned sideways. The top of the tree trunk barely leaned sideways. While I could make a cut that should cause the trunk to fall a certain way, I trusted nothing. Especially as I didn't have room to get out of the way if the trunk fell the wrong way. I wanted the top of the tree cut. So I used a really long rope I had. Kneeling on the pallet way, way up high, I tossed the end of the rope - with a heavy-ish metal weight - up another over a side branch to the trunk. I eventually made it. But it took me a couple dozen attempts to get the rope over the branch. No way was I going to stand and throw the rope.

The rope was long enough that both ends reached the ground. As I cut, Myron pulled on the rope and made sure the cut trunk fell away and in the direction we wanted. Success. Later when putting the rope away I saw the rope was cut.

The other tree's branches are not dying as much. And this tree has more vertical branches. I only cut the "lower" branches that were dying that we could reach. The rest of the branches I left. After almost four hours of work, and being so high, I called it quits. It was good enough. Now looking at the trees today there may be two more branches I could have cut. Oh well.

We had to re-position the forklift a number of times. A number of times the lift was fully extended and that was as high as it would go. Usually if it was a big re-position I was lowered down and got off to stretch my legs as the lift moved about. A few times I was high on the pallet. I held on to the back of the forks tight. The lift arm would go up and would go out. It also could go sideways a bit. The sideways movement freaked me out each time as it didn't feel natural and made me feel like the lift was going to lean over.

I have two patio structures under the trees. Most of the falling branches missed the patios. Not all did. I have a few holes in the patio roofs. The smaller patio took a larger hit due to the larger branches. I tried to cut the lengths to be shorter but couldn't always. The smaller patio's roof is partially collapsed. Another repair job for me.

I almost took out my "wind cat" ornament.

Some of the cut branches. Today I cut them up. What could be used for firewood next year after they dry I stacked in my "trunks to be split" pile. The rest of the smaller branches I hauled off. One pickup load today and then it was dark. The other pickup load tomorrow. Cutting and cleaning up the branches on the ground today took much longer than I expected.

These came through the larger patio roof, and a piece of the broken patio roof.

Laying on the smaller patio.

A branch on the smaller patio. And then after I pushed it through the hole to get it off the roof.

Smaller patio roof.

A cut branch.

This cut branch was starting to get rot in the middle.

This branch had the internal rot for a longer time.

So here are photos of the differences. Look at how high up I was to cut at the top cut.

Another view.

A view from the hayfield. Still pretty tall.

The tree in the center of the photo is a box elder tree I had cut in 2009 when it was dying from the top. On that tree I was able to climb up a ladder to reach a spot to cut the tree. And with no patio below I only partially broke the previous fence when the cut trunk fell to the ground. Below are links to how this tree looked back in 2009.