9/22/10 IT WAS TIME TO GO

A DANGEROUS OLD GIANT
CLIMBING GEAR
TAKING IT DOWN PIECE BY PIECE
FINALLY ONLY THE TRUNK REMAINS
MAKING THE FINAL CUT
IT WAS A WIDOW-MAKER!
ALL THAT'S LEFT IS FIREWOOD

Wednesday, 7:45 AM. 49 degrees, wind WNW, light to moderate with stronger gusts. The sky is clear except for some high, thin white clouds. The barometer predicts fair weather.
Yesterday morning we cut down one of the oldest and largest street trees in Bayfield. The trunk of the old sugar maple was badly split and it had been in decline for years and had finally become a dangerous liability. A number of people watched the process, and most understood its necessity. We now have the opportunity to plant several new and different trees in its place, increasing the diversity and vigor of our urban forest.
Tree climbing is dangerous and very athletic work, and it takes years of schooling and on the job training to become a certified arborist. It is a young man’s game.
Why not use a bucket truck? They are very useful in certain situations but cannot maneuver in tight places, in wooded areas or on uneven ground. It still takes an arborist to make the difficult cuts and negotiate large limbs to the ground, so in many ways climbing is actually the more efficient method. This tree came down safely and completely in about two hours and could hardly have been done more efficiently.
I tried to count the stump’s growth rings to determine the age of the tree but they were so close together and the saw marks so rough that it was impossible.
I would guess it to have been over a century old. But it was time to go.