07-05-2011, 01:26 PM
Hi,
Thanks Jamie; your dad has got his priorities right. Our garage is beneath the bungalow and measures 22'x11'. Usually bungalows are quite small and aimed at the older buyers but ours is large with a 40' frontage and on a large plot.
My friend David (Yorkie) mentioned my tree felling exploits in post #6 so here are a few details. Last summer (?) I was trying to paint the exterior of the bungalow and the weather was dire as usual here on the valley side. It ranged from high winds to pouring rain so I was not at all amused; one day I had to knock off because the paint was being blown from the brush. In the mornings it was 6 degrees and I felt frozen and in the afternoon when the sun did come out it was 25 degrees burning the back of my neck and legs.
It was the time of the Icelandic volcano eruption and as I worked at the rear of the bungalow very fine powder was settling on the wet gloss really annoying me. Our neighbour Terry popped over and as we were talking he said "did you see that?" he was pointing towards the large Scots Pine to the side of the bungalow; as I watched the breeze was creating dense clouds of pollen from the tree and it was this settling on the paint.
I had previously removed the top 15' from the tree but now it was all out war. I put everything away and the next day climbed the tree taking along my log saw; of course it was absolutely pouring with rain making climbing the tree hazardous but I didn't care. I started at the top and roped each branch before cutting to control its fall and by the end of the day all the branches were removed leaving a "totem pole". I was soaked to the skin and my gloves were wringing wet so I was happy to call it a day.
The following day my friend Steve loaned me a powerful electric chainsaw; once again I climbed the tree taking with me the chainsaw; extension cable and rope. I tied the rope to the very top of the tree then came half way down as I was going to drop the trunk in two sections as I didn't want to add a new focal point in our neighbours bedroom. The day was sunny and warm and I was at peace with the world but it didn't last.
Our neighbours returned from holiday and clearly saw what I was doing. Their son decided to wash his car aided by his girlfriend on the drive below the tree and to make matters worse two of their friends turned up and started to wash their cars? It was becoming a street party; this was bad enough but just to pile another problem on the neighbour’s son who lives across the road was allowing his little daughter to run up and down the path screaming her head off below the tree.
I was working from a ladder trying to fell the top section but it was proving quite difficult; the chainsaw only had 2’ of cable fitted so this meant I was also trying to lift the extension cable reel; the angle of the ladder brought me too close to the trunk to safely operate the saw so another plan was needed but by now I was totally fed up with the street party and the little girl whizzing around ruining my concentration. All this was highly dangerous so I knocked off and went to sit at the back of our bungalow on the patio to calm down a bit.
Eventually all the car washing was done and our neighbours car was parked in their drive. I heard voices and it was Bron with our neighbour who had knocked on our front door and Bron had brought her through the bungalow to the patio where I was; asking if I was going to drop he trunk and would it be helpful if the car was removed from the drive? I explained just how dangerous the situation had become and how reckless it was of her son to allow a little girl to run around so near a tree that was being felled; I was very polite about this and thanked her for coming round. The car was moved onto the road and everyone departed. I then decided to try using my large step ladders placing these away from the trunk to allow me to use the chainsaw safely; I cut a wedge out from the section of the trunk in the direction of I was to drop it. I then cut partially through from the other side leaving enough material for support then put everything safely out of the way and went into the garden to give the rope a good tug; the trunk creaked but refused to drop so I repeated this a number of times cutting a bit deeper each time until I was rewarded with a solid thump as the top section of the trunk landed perfectly in the garden.
At last I could relax and took my time removing the bottom section of the trunk in pieces I could lift throwing each into the garden; once the trunk was completely down it was then an easy job to cut the top section into pieces. As it was mid summer the trunk was full of sap and each log was very heavy.
As I was tidying up the little girls father came across and thanked me for my concern regarding her safety saying he hadn’t realized just how dangerous it was; we get on well with our neighbours but many haven’t a clue about practical matters.
Steve arrived to collect his chainsaw and also to take the logs away which I had promised him leaving me with many trips to the local tip to dispose of the debris.
We liked this Scots pine and were very sorry to drop it but it did fill our gutters with cones and needles and it won’t mess my painting up ever again. I’ve felled a number of large trees in our back garden but still have a lot left including two Oaks and a very large blue spruce.
This is just one of the many jobs I do around home and by doing so we save a great deal of money; I hope I’m still climbing trees when I reach 100 years old. It took over six weeks to complete the painting job and the bungalow is finished in Bakelite brown and black.
Kind regards, Col.
[attachment=1219][attachment=1220][attachment=1221][attachment=1222][attachment=1223]
Thanks Jamie; your dad has got his priorities right. Our garage is beneath the bungalow and measures 22'x11'. Usually bungalows are quite small and aimed at the older buyers but ours is large with a 40' frontage and on a large plot.
My friend David (Yorkie) mentioned my tree felling exploits in post #6 so here are a few details. Last summer (?) I was trying to paint the exterior of the bungalow and the weather was dire as usual here on the valley side. It ranged from high winds to pouring rain so I was not at all amused; one day I had to knock off because the paint was being blown from the brush. In the mornings it was 6 degrees and I felt frozen and in the afternoon when the sun did come out it was 25 degrees burning the back of my neck and legs.
It was the time of the Icelandic volcano eruption and as I worked at the rear of the bungalow very fine powder was settling on the wet gloss really annoying me. Our neighbour Terry popped over and as we were talking he said "did you see that?" he was pointing towards the large Scots Pine to the side of the bungalow; as I watched the breeze was creating dense clouds of pollen from the tree and it was this settling on the paint.
I had previously removed the top 15' from the tree but now it was all out war. I put everything away and the next day climbed the tree taking along my log saw; of course it was absolutely pouring with rain making climbing the tree hazardous but I didn't care. I started at the top and roped each branch before cutting to control its fall and by the end of the day all the branches were removed leaving a "totem pole". I was soaked to the skin and my gloves were wringing wet so I was happy to call it a day.
The following day my friend Steve loaned me a powerful electric chainsaw; once again I climbed the tree taking with me the chainsaw; extension cable and rope. I tied the rope to the very top of the tree then came half way down as I was going to drop the trunk in two sections as I didn't want to add a new focal point in our neighbours bedroom. The day was sunny and warm and I was at peace with the world but it didn't last.
Our neighbours returned from holiday and clearly saw what I was doing. Their son decided to wash his car aided by his girlfriend on the drive below the tree and to make matters worse two of their friends turned up and started to wash their cars? It was becoming a street party; this was bad enough but just to pile another problem on the neighbour’s son who lives across the road was allowing his little daughter to run up and down the path screaming her head off below the tree.
I was working from a ladder trying to fell the top section but it was proving quite difficult; the chainsaw only had 2’ of cable fitted so this meant I was also trying to lift the extension cable reel; the angle of the ladder brought me too close to the trunk to safely operate the saw so another plan was needed but by now I was totally fed up with the street party and the little girl whizzing around ruining my concentration. All this was highly dangerous so I knocked off and went to sit at the back of our bungalow on the patio to calm down a bit.
Eventually all the car washing was done and our neighbours car was parked in their drive. I heard voices and it was Bron with our neighbour who had knocked on our front door and Bron had brought her through the bungalow to the patio where I was; asking if I was going to drop he trunk and would it be helpful if the car was removed from the drive? I explained just how dangerous the situation had become and how reckless it was of her son to allow a little girl to run around so near a tree that was being felled; I was very polite about this and thanked her for coming round. The car was moved onto the road and everyone departed. I then decided to try using my large step ladders placing these away from the trunk to allow me to use the chainsaw safely; I cut a wedge out from the section of the trunk in the direction of I was to drop it. I then cut partially through from the other side leaving enough material for support then put everything safely out of the way and went into the garden to give the rope a good tug; the trunk creaked but refused to drop so I repeated this a number of times cutting a bit deeper each time until I was rewarded with a solid thump as the top section of the trunk landed perfectly in the garden.
At last I could relax and took my time removing the bottom section of the trunk in pieces I could lift throwing each into the garden; once the trunk was completely down it was then an easy job to cut the top section into pieces. As it was mid summer the trunk was full of sap and each log was very heavy.
As I was tidying up the little girls father came across and thanked me for my concern regarding her safety saying he hadn’t realized just how dangerous it was; we get on well with our neighbours but many haven’t a clue about practical matters.
Steve arrived to collect his chainsaw and also to take the logs away which I had promised him leaving me with many trips to the local tip to dispose of the debris.
We liked this Scots pine and were very sorry to drop it but it did fill our gutters with cones and needles and it won’t mess my painting up ever again. I’ve felled a number of large trees in our back garden but still have a lot left including two Oaks and a very large blue spruce.
This is just one of the many jobs I do around home and by doing so we save a great deal of money; I hope I’m still climbing trees when I reach 100 years old. It took over six weeks to complete the painting job and the bungalow is finished in Bakelite brown and black.
Kind regards, Col.
[attachment=1219][attachment=1220][attachment=1221][attachment=1222][attachment=1223]
