The tree is down!

Finished taking down the cottonwood today and still alive to write about it! Yay!

It came down within 2 feet of where I wanted it. In spite of all the cutting I did to avoid it, the leaning angle still made it veer just a bit north when it fell. The top branches nicked the power lines on the way down but not hard enough to do any damage, just enough to scare me for a moment. When it started to fall, I ran clear, just in case. So, the power lines, the fence and myself are all intact.


A lot of people would have said the chain saw I used for this was too small and underpowered. Obviously not, since the tree is down. This was a $50, 14" electric saw, not a $400, 60" jet fuel powered machine with GPS and artificial intelligence capabilities. It's the operator, not the machine. With enough work, you can cut a tree down with a hand saw or a pocket knife. Okay, I'm not quite that motivated.

Now comes the work of cutting this thing apart. Though I may just trim and clear the smaller branches for now and let it sit to see my daughter's reaction. She'd probably love climbing on it. Just have to make sure it's sitting in a stable position.