Nope I am not talking about using an axe to fell the trees although we did use one afterwards to chop it up. What I am talking about is getting a bunch of guys on the end of a rope that we have tied to a tree and then by brute force pulling the sucker over onto the ground.
Felling the first tree by hand.
It is not often that you can do this to a tree, but our trees have been infected with bugs and critters that have eaten a good part of the life out of them. Most continue to live, but for some their strength is fading and other have given up trying to live altogether and remain only as ghosts of the past, dry and completely dead.
When a strong wind blew for a couple of days it managed to push over some of the bigger sick trees. One was about to fall onto the house until another tree stopped its fall. It was the first of our concerns. After that one we pulled over another that was leaning further than the Tower of Pisa. It too gave way easily under the strength of 8 guys.
The Dangers
The last tree was already dead and we removed it as a precaution. There were only two of us pulling this one down, but when it started to fall I was almost plastered. Somehow I ended up directly underneath the falling tree. Sensing the imminent danger I moved with great speed to get out of the way. Unfortunately, my helper was still standing there watching the thing fall. As he was out of the way there was no great rush for him.
Fabian getting the rope into position on the tree.
Bouncing back into the shadow of the falling tree, my time was becoming very limited to get out of the way. That thing was gaining speed and I was still there in its path. Once again I launched out to get away from the danger. This time my path was free but my feet slipped on the loose soil and I almost fell.
With my hand near the ground and my feet still slipping but pushing hard, my eyes focused on the ever faster approaching tree, eyes growing wider and wider with both fear and concern. It must have looked a bit like a scene involving the coyote from the old Road Runner cartoons.
The team ready to pull the first tree over.
The urgency and severity of the situation kept me pushing to get out, and suddenly a foot grabbed solidly. Within moments I was away from the danger. One, two, almost three steps when, "WHAM!" The tree slams hard into the ground right where I had been standing only moments before.
Ruben had seen the whole thing and could not stop laughing. It was something about bouncing off Juan and my saucer-sized eyes that caught his attention. For me, I was just glad to be safe. Again.