Timber vultures

Just like ambulance chasers. The County cut down a big fir tree Friday that was a leaner. It wouldn't have been long before another good wind would have blown her over. Standing at the end of a cul-de-sac it wasn't in danger of causing any traffic disruptions but potentially was a hazard to cars that may be parked up there (including our own). And the wrong wind might have blown it the our way, surprisingly not much of a root structure that keep them standing.

So the County came out in force with a big high lift bucket truck, a dump truck hauling a chipper and a crew of six. After trimming the branches of an adjacent maple that was in the way of the projected fall, they attached a cable midway up the fir to one of the trucks, and meticulously cut the base so it would fall where they wanted. Then finally with a flick of a thumbs up from the chain saw guy, the truck backed away ever so slowly & down she came with a big thuwmp. "TIMBER!", my 3 kiddo's were yelling watching the whole show. The county guys then trimmed off & chipped up the branches, cleaned up the mess, bucked up the rest in 6' log sections.

And unfortunately for us the direction of the slope of the road where the tree lay it was easiest for the County crew to put the logs on the other side of the road rather than next to our hedge. Later that afternoon as I was returning home from a run, the first timber vulture was assessing the scene. He had the big rig 4X4 but didn't have his chain saw; but he was coming back. A few of the neighbors were also lurking.

Seeing as it was a tree on county property & the county crew cut it down, it was technically free for the taking, so we had to move fast.

We made a deal with one of our neighbors who came down with a tractor with a big claw & his big truck, so that he would buck all the logs into a manageable splittable size - and he could take half. She wasn't really an old fir, only had a 3' across base maybe 75' tall, where the kiddo's will now play on her stump. We'd rather see her stay in the neighborhood, than go to those who'd just come & take. It'll be a year or more to season it so it isn't so green, but when we do finally hear her crackle in the fireplace we'll have full appreciation for our giving tree.