I Chopped down 50 ft tree!

[GoyaDrumr!]

i decided to chop down a 50 fot tree today. I grabbed a zawl zaw 2 batteries and a hatchet and climbed about half way up LOl. After an hour and killing both batteries and tiring my arm out with hatchet i realized what most of u did after reading the 2 battery part (lol some more i bet). So i Grabbed a chain saw and a harness and went back up. My buddy told me to hold on for the ride i didnt know what he meant ive never done this before. My woman wanted the tree gone becouse its blocking the sun from the pool. So i tied myself up and made an incision on the side then from the top. That darn tree jerked so hard flung me right off the tree if it wasnt for that harness id be broken or dead. I nearly crapped myself i held on to that tree when i got hold of it like it was my mom and i was 3 years old again.When i finally stabilized myself back on the tree i couldnt move for like 10 minutes from the scare. When i went to loosen up the harness to get down my legs were shaking a mile a minute. It was scary that tree flung back something awful i had no idea they did that. lucky me i tied the chain saw up and shut it off before the tree turned into a catapult. I drank the biggest glass of gin & tonic when i got down it asnt even funny.Sorry for that rant/story just wanted to share my horrible story.

[drummer]

It is a horrible story. I happen to get real angry when people just nonchalantly chop down a 50 foot tree with little regard to its age, prestige or stature. It is a living, breathing organism that deserves more dignity than that. It took 50 years to grow into its grand state and you chopped it down within minutes. I find that disgusting.

[zzzdanz]

Built my friend his dream house...big tree, "pro tree dude"...yup...middle of the house...ughhh, I'll fix it

[GoyaDrumr!]

The tree was growing at a nasty slant almost 45 degree angle.If it fell it would crush a few real expensive cars and neighboors Fence,deck & porch.It had to come down the sunlight to pool was a plus. I would prefer to plant one than to cut one down but this one was in bad shape.

[zzzdanz]

true story lent a dude a ladder (40ft) he cut the branch the ladder was on..hits the ground, med flight out...he sued me!...nope...he stole my ladder and apparently is an idiot!...judge agreed, thank god

[drummer]

The tree was growing at a nasty slant almost 45 degree angle.If it fell it would crush a few real expensive cars and neighboors Fence,deck & porch.It had to come down the sunlight to pool was a plus. I would prefer to plant one than to cut one down but this one was in bad shape.

Then it makes sense. When they're slanted like that, they're unpredictable. I've had one fall on my house before.

Didn't mean to give you such a hard time. It's a sensitive topic with me. I've seen people cut "huge" trees down without the slightest thought. It burns me up every time.

[Russ]

It's a shame it had to go.. But it sounds like it was a danger to nearby areas. I mean, if that tree could crush one of your or the neighbor's cars - that's a problem. I mean, what if someone's child was in one of those cars? Sister, brother, wife, husband, etc?

[pastor_bob]

GoyaDrumr, I'm just glad your wife isn't a widow now. I read that and immediately thought of at least 2 ways this story could have had a tragic ending. I much prefer the gin and tonic ending. It means you survived to have it.

[rickthedrummer]

One of the reasons I bought my house was all the trees on the property.

Thankfully, they are all standing straight. I haven't gone up to measure, but I have a 1/2 dozen of them that are probably 60' or better.

When I walk my dog, I easily pass 2,000 trees. The street I live on was cut right through a forest. I love it, but, I could do without the leaves.

[Russ]

Another thing is like in the world of musical instruments, how can you avoid this kind of thing? Almost all the drums except for a few types of shells are made of wood, that comes from trees. DW cuts down some of the oldest, rarest, most elusive species and people love them for it. Tons of other companies too, it's a dirty business but are drummers gonna stop being drummers to boycott those trees getting cut? Somebody will always pay them to do the evil deed, because they want the drum and don't really think about who or what is stepped on to make them. Tree cutters might be doing something bad, but the customer who buys an instrument made from that tree isn't innocent either. It's inevitable that it's gonna happen, but at least we can put it to good use.

[FluffyDrummer]

When I was a kid my dad chopped down a large tree because the roots had pushed our fence out of the ground. This tree was angled toward our neighbours property so he tied a rope to it and my Grandad pulled on that, the idea being that when it fell they could control where it landed....

Anyway they couldn't and it fell into the neighbours pool and smashed out their kitchen window...... I filmed the whole thing... I wish I still had it.

Aah Good Times!

[Dragonlord]

Another thing is like in the world of musical instruments, how can you avoid this kind of thing? Almost all the drums except for a few types of shells are made of wood, that comes from trees. DW cuts down some of the oldest, rarest, most elusive species and people love them for it. Tons of other companies too, it's a dirty business but are drummers gonna stop being drummers to boycott those trees getting cut? Somebody will always pay them to do the evil deed, because they want the drum and don't really think about who or what is stepped on to make them. Tree cutters might be doing something bad, but the customer who buys an instrument made from that tree isn't innocent either. It's inevitable that it's gonna happen, but at least we can put it to good use.

Go electric, or plastic, that way the only wood needed is for your sticks.

[markthechuck]

glad to hear nothing really bad happened to you.

[kay-gee]

Another thing is like in the world of musical instruments, how can you avoid this kind of thing? Almost all the drums except for a few types of shells are made of wood, that comes from trees. DW cuts down some of the oldest, rarest, most elusive species and people love them for it. Tons of other companies too, it's a dirty business but are drummers gonna stop being drummers to boycott those trees getting cut? Somebody will always pay them to do the evil deed, because they want the drum and don't really think about who or what is stepped on to make them. Tree cutters might be doing something bad, but the customer who buys an instrument made from that tree isn't innocent either. It's inevitable that it's gonna happen, but at least we can put it to good use.

On the bright side Russ. Now that the clever marketers have convinced us that birch is the better drum, problem solved. Birch is cheap because it grows fast like a weed, as does poplar.

On the conservation side of things, Gibson (guitars) had some serious legal issues a couple of years back for harvesting rosewood from Madadasgar.

all the best...

[Pearl MCX Man]

Hey GoyaDrmer you should of videoed the event and sent it to AFV millions of people would of laugh at the crazy attempt. You wonder why men get hurt. Did you get the tree down after all that or hired a real tree remover.

[Markadiddle]

I'm glad it all worked out for you GoyaDrumr. Cutting down large trees can be a very dangerous thing.

I see where drummer was going with his first post and I have to say, I agree with him. Trees don't just grow overnight. But I do realize that sometimes they are a danger to people and property and ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

I'm just happy to hear you weren't injured.

[yamfan]

Good to hear you're OK, what I don't understand is what happened.

Did you cut off a large branch of significant weight, and after that fell the remaining tree flexed into a different position as the weight was no longer pulling in one direction?

[inthpktplayer]

There are some things in life that you just need to stroke a check for them to get done by a professional. This, I'm thinking, is one of them.

[everready]

When I was 14 and 15 years old I worked on a farm. I made a dollar an hour. No kidding!
We had hogs, planted corn and were clearing a small valley of all of the crab apple trees.
The farmer ran the chainsaw and myself and two other workers would drag the trees into piles. I remember one time the farmer was cutting a tree and his foot slipped on the mud. He cut a clean hole right through his jeans and barely scratched this skin. That was a close call that I'll never forget. Those chain saws are extremely dangerous.
Like the poster above me said, sometimes it just better to write a check!

[Russ]

On the bright side Russ. Now that the clever marketers have convinced us that birch is the better drum, problem solved. Birch is cheap because it grows fast like a weed, as does poplar.

On the conservation side of things, Gibson (guitars) had some serious legal issues a couple of years back for harvesting rosewood from Madadasgar.

all the best...

Well yes, birch is definitely awesome for it's green qualities. I just don't want to see the slower growing trees like rosewood, bubinga, walnut, etc disappear. That's good to hear about Gibson, at least they aren't taking everything like a pack of wild barbarians. I'm gonna feel bad if I ever own an exotic wood drumkit!

[Northern Redneck]

Please if you dont know how to safely fell a tree, hire a PRO!!! It takes practice to learn how to read a tree and to know how to make fall were you want.

[Drumbledore]

^Exactly. I guy I used to know, Ross, years back was in that trade.....my folks and next door neighbours hired him to get rid of a pretty large tree that was in the neighbours front yard that was damaged after a bad gust of wind at one time....if we left it too late, it would have fallen and not only damage our kitchen area, but would have taken out a number of overhead power lines. Glad that he and another guy did a thorough job of it. And straight away we recommended them for family friends of ours that had a similar problem.

Goya, glad you're still in one piece though, sounds like you had a helluva fright when it happened!

[Dodeska]

Please if you dont know how to safely fell a tree, hire a PRO!!! It takes practice to learn how to read a tree and to know how to make fall were you want.

This. They're called "professionals" for a reason! Why risk serious injury or worse for the sake of a bit of money?

[slinky]

man that'a a pretty good height. Should've taken your camera for some view pics. Anyway I remember a long time ago on the way home from high school there was the biggest trunk tree on the front lawn of this house. It was just an awesome looking tree summer and winter. One day I was going home and it was being cut down! Couldn't belive what I was seeing.

I have pine trees around the house. A lot of them. Messy messy trees and somewhat dangerous. They are old. A heavy wind or not so heavy wind will easily snap branches. In the fall the needles and cones fall. In the spring there's about four different stages they go through and each stage has something that falls to the ground. High maintenance trees.

[bhughesiii]

This. They're called "professionals" for a reason! Why risk serious injury or worse for the sake of a bit of money?

How else is one supposed to learn a new skill??