BACKGROUND HISTORY OF OUR STAR OF DAVID

I placed a Star of David that I fabricated from welded 3/4 inch EMT sometime before the year 2000 in this pine tree, of which I have pixs archived on this website with the short story titled Christmas 2000. This Star of David is at least 40 feet off the ground with each leg being 10 feet long.  Every few years, it has to be refurbished with replacement white 25 watt light bulbs and sometimes, replace the connecting wires that squirrels seem to love to cut in two.

Pix of the Star of David taken in 2000:

There is a Christian Cross in the background that is also about 40 feet off the ground, but it is downhill from this view.

STAR OF DAVID PINE TREE

Pix of the Pine Tree with the pine needles a brown color indicating approaching death to come:

As evidenced by the above pix, the tree is definitely past the point of no return and will be a serious safety hazard if left standing.  This tree survived Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and our Blizzard 2000 snow and I hate to see such a mature tree have to be cut down.  I will count the growth rings tomorrow and get an estimate of how old the tree is.

PREPARATION TO CUT THE TREE DOWN

As stated earlier, I have watched this tree for the past few months hoping it would recover, but it certainly doesn't appear to happen, but steadily declining.  The tree is leaning to the left and slightly away from our home, but anyone that has cut many trees will tell you, you have to employ all the safety measures you can to prevent a tree from falling in the wrong direction.  I have cut my share of some large trees off our property and had a premonition before our Blizzard 2000 and cut about 22 trees (if my memory is correct) down that many of them could have done some serious damage to our home if they were left standing.  I employed one of my bride's Brother-in-laws, Vernon Harris a retired Green Beret, who cut down trees in his spare time.  He was into his mid 60s at the time and fit as a fiddle, physically and mentally.  I did not feel comfortable cutting that large White Oak Tree down and he limbed it going up the tree and cut it into small sections on the way down.  He kept three of us on the ground busy removing the laps as he removed them and we never got caught up with him.

Below is a pix of Vernon Harris cutting the top out of the White Oak Tree:

I did some serious praying today before climbing the tall Pine Tree with one of my own patented foot climber tree stands and give thanks to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior for answering my prayers and keeping myself safe from harm and our home also.

EQUIPMENT NEEDED AND USED

The simplest and easiest way would be to contract this job out, but I surveyed the scene and it was something that was within my ability to accomplish and my safety and comfort zone.  Also, it would cost between 500 to 800 bucks to get the tree down if using a professional service and that was probably my biggest incentive to do it myself.

Above, the ole trusty Husqvarna chainsaw, chains and chain drive "Coffin Hoist" and pull-up rope.

I used my US Patent 4,953,662 foot climber tree stand that fits around a 24 inch diameter tree to ascend and descend the tree.  I had a rope tied to the tree stand to pull up the chain and pole saw.

Tree stand and foot climber attached to the tree and ready for the 38 feet climb to first remove the Star of David, lower it to the ground and then pull up the heavy duty chain and pole saw.  There was a large tree limb on an adjacent Red Oak Tree that needed cutting which was in the fall line of the Pine Tree.

Pix of the Star of David on the ground and ready to move out of the way; remove my tree stand and foot climber and attach the chain to a tree in the direction where I want the Pine Tree to fall.  I used another heavy duty chain attached to a Sweet Gum Tree and placed the 1 ton chain drive Coffin Hoist to the end of the Pine Tree chain.  I used a small rope pulley come-along to take the slack out of the large chain and reposition the Coffin Hoist and everything was ready to cut the Pine Tree down.

Above pix of the Coffin Hoist, chain hook-up and rope pulley type come along.

PINE TREE ON THE GROUND

The Husqvarna chainsaw fired up without any problem and cut about a seventy (70) degree notch facing in the direction that I wanted the tree to fall.  I also had a hard plastic wedge for an extra measure of security to aid in getting the tree in the desired direction.  With such a large force of pull provided by the one (1) ton Coffin Hoist and the fact the chain is at least 38 feet up onto the Pine Tree, getting sufficient leverage to pull the tree in the desired direction would not be a problem, however Murphy's Law never sleeps.

The Pine Tree fell exactly where it needed to be, without hanging up or wedging in a tree top which can be very dangerous.  THANK YOU JESUS!

Above is pix showing where the notch was removed from the right side of the tree.  You can see the hinge portion of the tree which more or less controls where the tree will fall if the tree isn't leaning away from where you want it to fall and also, more larger limbs on one side of the tree which can offset the tree's center of gravity.  I used external force pulling the tree as I wanted an extra measure of safety.  The back side of the hinge (upper left portion of wood standing above the tree trunk), whereas the back cut was cut within a couple inches of the left or rear side of the hinge portion about level.  My chainsaw is cutting a bias, instead of a straight parallel cut to the ground which is an indicator that the chain is not sharpened properly....my bad.  I had to reposition the back cut and do another back cut a couple inches above the original back cut to raise it up since it was cut too low to start with.  I also used a hard plastic wedge once I got about half way into the tree nearing the hinge portion of the tree stump, which I don't think was necessary since I had a tremendous amount of pressure being exerted on the tree by the chain and Coffin Hoist.  Like I said earlier, I wanted to employ all the safety measures I had at my disposal. 

Pix showing where the tree fell which was between two trees adjacent to where the end of the chain was anchored.  Can you say "beautimous" out loud"

You can see where I made a second back cut since the first back cut was too low to the notch.

Pix of the chain bolted together using a high strength Class 8 bolt, 1/2 inch in diameter with nut and washers.  I didn't want to rely solely on the chain's hook to secure the chain, because that type of connection can fail.

POTENTIAL CAUSES OF THE TREE TO DIE

I checked the downed Pine Tree looking for insect infestation and did find sap running from a few places indicating something had recently bored into the tree.  Also, there is a large area of the tree that had the bark stripped away from it when I had a very large rotten Red Oak Tree removed a few years back.  The steel cable used to direct the fall of the Red Oak Tree caused the damage.  We also lost a couple other trees on the other end of our property last year due to the drought and/or insect infestation, of which it could have taken its toll on this particular Pine Tree as well.

The sap running from the tree didn't show up well in the above pix.

STATISTICS ON THE FALLEN PINE TREE

I got my surveyors tape out and did a measurement on the length of the Pine Tree.  It was 94 feet 8 inches in length which includes the stump portion being 1 foot 2 inches.  The tree diameter was nineteen (19) inches not measuring the outside bark.  On 05-24-17, I counted sixty-four (64) growth rings; those were the hard growth rings of which there are a hard and a soft growth ring each year; therefore this tree was 64 years old.

The Pine Tree was Sixty-three (63) feet from our carport/home and a definite safety hazard if not corrected by allowing the tree to completely die and possibly get blown in the direction of our home during a severe storm.

Tomorrow, if the rain lets up, I plan to cut the tree up into manageable lengths and roll sections into the adjacent woods on our property and let Mother Nature do its thing.

I will need to select another tree to give the Star of David a new home.  I might use a Pine Tree at the end of our Street.  The larger Pine Trees on our upper property are too close to the power lines to utilize them, however there is one far enough from the power line, but there would be limited view of The Star of David from the White Store Road.

I certainly didn't feel 100 percent comfortable climbing up 38 feet high in this large tree using a hunter's climbing tree stand.  I believe maturity is slowly sneaking up on myself and have to keep reminding myself, "I am no Spring chicken anymore".  One of my cousins stated, he now knew I was totally crazy, but that is a matter of opinion, depending on what type of exposure one has had in the outdoors doing physical things, but he might be right too!............grin if you must!  I like what ole Clint Eastwood said in the movie Magnum Force, "A man's got to know his limitations."

Web published by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 05-23-17.

UPDATE:  My upper legs were so sore this morning, that I took a day off aka "lay day" and give my legs a chance to stop hurting before using the ole Husqvarna chainsaw again.  05-24-17.

BACK TO MANUAL LABOR AGAIN ON 05-26-17

I definitely had to take a couple days off since the upper portion of my thighs were tight as "Dick's Hatband" or two coats of paint and so sore, I could barely get up and down.  I took a few over the counter Aleve and that helped a little, but was much better this morning. 

My first job was to cut the tree into manageable lengths and let gravity take over since the edge of the clearing was slightly downhill and much easier to roll where I wanted them.

That chainsaw will quickly bring out some personal moisture to go along with the piles of sawdust chips created. 

I had to stop and file the chainsaw chain which started producing fine sawdust instead of chips and got a chance to take a much needed water break.  While filing the teeth on the chain, the file slipped off the cutting hook of the chain and I put a very nasty looking V shaped cut into my right index finger near the center of the second joint on top of the finger.  It probably could used several small stitches or clamps, but have been cut worse that than without a trip to the emergency room.  A couple tight Band-Aids and back in business finishing the sharpening of the chain.  Next chain sharpening time, I will secure the chainsaw bar/chain into my large vise, which will allow two hands on the chainsaw file.

Chips like the above, means you are doing some serious cutting.

The chainsaw has an 18 inch bar and definitely had to work my way around the stump.

The cut up tree sections rolled out of the small clearing and will let Mother Nature take her course of action.

Above is pix of the hanger bracket and will remove it from the tree for later usage.  The tree has grown into it and will no doubt have to break the lag bolts off, or the head of them anyway and cut around the areas of growth with a chisel to free the bracket.

Webpage updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 05-26-17.

UPDATE:  I removed the hanger bracket and pulley from the tree.  The lag bolts screwed right out with the usage of a socket and ratchet.  I removed tree growth with a chisel and hammer freeing the hanger bracket without a problem.  Will use it again.  Updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 05-27-17. 

UPDATE:  After looking at several trees on our property to re-mount the Star of David, I decided not to put it back up due to the trees being either too large or too small in diameter and/or not in the right location for visibility.  Also, my large portable tree stand used to install the Star of David is too small to go around the larger trees and do not plan to use my tree climbing hooks for personal safety reasons.  Renting a bucket truck lift is not feasible either due to the cost and the continued maintenance required to keep the Star of David operational.

Webpage updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 10-01-17.

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