A homeowner in Ashland had a cottonwood in their back yard that was half dead. It was a small lot. They were concerned about it coming down on their home or their neighbors property. And they definitely didn’t want it falling on the railroad tracks behind the tree.
Felling the tree from the ground was not an option. The top would have easily hit their home, not to mention the fruit trees that lay between the home and the tree. Neighboring lots on either side of the tree and the railroad tracks behind. On top of this, there was some sensitive landscaping, a gazebo and irrigation that could not be damaged. It had to be climbed and taken down one piece at a time. Very carefully.
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Cottonwoods can be stressful to climb even when they are healthy. You can’t trust the wood. A branch that I would have my climb line secured to has to be about double the circumference that I would use on a black oak or elm. The wood is weak. So, being way up in half dead cottonwood can be nerve racking to say the least.
On top of this I had to lower branches out of the tree which adds even more stress on the wood. An experienced ground guy who can graceful lower limbs is essential on a tree like this. Branches being lowered needed to be very gradually stopped before being brought to the ground. A hard stop of a branch could bring the part of the tree that the lowering line is secured to down with it. And if the climber is also secured to that part of the tree, its game over. Think of playing egg toss. To catch an egg without breaking it requires a very graceful stop. With the exception of the branches that were leaning to the front of the tree, all others had to be lowered as to not damage fencing or other peoples property.
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Some of the branches were so long that I had to take them piece by piece in short lengths. If I were to try to take the entire limb in one fell swoop, it would have crashed into the fence and subsequently the neighbors yard. In these cases I had to limb walk. To do this , I secured my climb line on a limb higher in the tree and step by step walked out on the limb. The tension of the rope allows me to lean into each step without falling forward. Good balance is required to do this. I love limb walking!
I worked my way up the tree removing all branches as I went until I got to the very top. Luckily the north side of the top still had some life in it. I used that side that was still alive to secure myself and the lowering line so that I could lower the dead side to the ground. Once that was down, I lowered the live side off of itself. This was where my ground guy could really show his skill. He did a great job. Once the top was completely out I started cutting chunks of the trunk and throwing them to a designated spot on the ground that could take the impact. This spot had no sensitive plants or buried irrigation lines.
After chunking the tree to the ground I was finally able to get down. The last bit that was still standing I could fell. I was up in the tree most of the day. It was relief to get off of my feet.
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