Chainsaw adventures

Today at the morning meeting where everyone is assigned to a work team, my name was not called. When I asked to be assigned, I was attached to Jack Attack, a chainsaw team under the leadership of Jack Watson. Besides Captain Jack, we had two sawyers (Brian and Brent), and two laborers (Dino and me). Neither Dino nor I could not touch a chain saw because we had not taken the required safety course before being assigned to the team.

Our first task was to go to Pearlington, MS. The area had taken a hit from a 30-foot storm surge. Marsh grass was still draped over the telephone cables along the road.

Our job was to get a fallen tree off a septic tank so FEMA would install a mobile home and hook it up. While Dino and I raked fallen pine needles and branches off the area where Walt, the owner, thought it might be, Brian and Brent made short work of the fallen tree and Jack picked up the pieces with a John Deere Skidster--think of a Bobcat on steroids--8,500 compact pounds of front loader/fork lift.

Back at camp, we wolfed a quick lunch and took off again to rescue another house.

The house sits back in the woods about a quarter mile from the highway. It looks like a set from a horror movie--thick trees covered with vines. You can see only about twenty yards in any direction. A large oak tree had fallen across the car port, crushing it almost onto a Jeep. The tree had fallen among other trees, akin to a giant game of pick up sticks, but ready to crush the unwary.

The first thing we did was to pray for protection, and for God's vision of what each tree would do after we made each cut. Captain Jack and his Magic Skidster dragged the reluctant Jeep to safety before we started working.

We started with an oak about ten yards away from the main tree. As Brent started to cut its trunk, he telegraphed his intention to just whack it off. This would result in a tree kicking back--jumping off its stump toward the sawyer. I suggested that he cut a wedge out of the opposite side of the trunk, leaving a hinge for the tree to pivot on as it fell. What a quick learner! He left a perfect half-inch hinge and the tree fell just where he intended, with no kick back.

Then we needed to cut off the top limbs off the mighty oak. The first leaned toward the roof. I described to Brian how cutting a wedge out of the side of the limb would pivot it away from the roof. He cut the angle perfectly, and the limb dropped six inches away from the edge of the roof.
The second top limb leaned really far over the roof. Merely cutting a wedge out of it would not be enough to make it miss the roof. Captain Jack had several lengths of chain and cable, which we hooked to the top of the branch. Jack took up a strain on the limb with the Skidster. That force, coupled with another sidways wedge cut out of the limb, caused it to fall away from the house.

Just then, Captain Jack's phone rang. He needed to go back to camp to handle delivery of vehicles on a flatbed semi. He declared that I was the new supervisor, and left. Oh great. I can't show them how to do the task, but only explain how in words.

Next was a bay laurel (source of those fragrant bay leaves in your spaghetti sauce) that was leaning toward the car port. A wedge cut into the trunk, and another perfect hinge, caused it to fall harmlessly on the driveway.

Now we were down to the main trunk of the big oak and a very large side limb that rested on a corner of the house. There was no way to keep the end of the trunk from landing on the roof. If we sawed off long lengths (say, six feet at a time), the mass would go right through the roof. After scratching our collective heads, Brian noticed a couple of sheets of plywood around back. We put one on the roof to spread the shock of the slice as it landed. The other sheet was leaned up in front of the windows next to the front of the house, because oak rounds bounce farther than you might think possible.

After each cut, we would discuss where the next cut should be made. It took awhile to trim back the trunk, because there were about 10-15 rounds to slice off, and because there were many suggestions about the best spot to cut, with predictions about where it would land.

At the end of the day, the partially-broken carport had been pounded into the ground, but no windows had been broken. When we quit, the main trunk of the oak still leaned against the house, and the lowest side limb still rested against the corner of the roof. No one could figure out how much of the weight was still being carried by the roots partially in the dirt.

Everybody came home without injury. Tomorrow, I'll try to get a real expert to take a look at the situation to tell us the best way to attack it.

Jack