The Big Tree Removal · · PAGE 19.

August 26, 2014: Tuesday morning and the crew did not get started until completing an "emergency job" for another customer.   This photo was taken at 11:44 AM during the cutting of the logs that fell at the end of the day yesterday.  This is day TWO of the job.

Here is the load on the trailer after 30 minutes of work.  They have to get this stuff unloaded before taking the remaining logs.

Here is the view from the street with more logs to be loaded when the truck returns.  Look at the amount of grass between the tree and the bushes behind the man with the rake.  We will see how that changes by the end of the day.

The work on the stump begins by taking out a wedge on the side where they want it to fall when the cut is complete.

Ed hits the wedge with a sledge hammer to break it loose after two cuts are made.

It will take several more cuts to get through the trunk down close to the ground.

A rope is tied to the trunk and to a tree next door to put tension on the trunk as it is prepared for the final cuts.  This photo was taken from the water meter on the property line and shows the marker at the back corner of the property.  The yellow line I added to the photo tells me how much of their tree is over the property line.

Here is the cable TV box and the marker pipe behind it as seen in the photo above.

The remaining pieces of the tree are waiting for the empty trailer to return from the dump.  Ed is continuing to make the largest cuts of this job.

The cuts to the main trunk are all coming together slowly.  The assistant has a jug of oil to lubricate the chainsaw blades, allowing a faster, clean cut. This is another photo that shows how much grass is between the bushes on the left and the tree trunk -- about 5 to 6 feet of grass.

Two steel wedges have been driven into the cuts to keep them open under the weight of the trunk.  This keeps the saw blade from stopping.

The successive chainsaw cuts are coming full circle to the first wedge cutout.

The pull on the rope around the tree trunk is increased with the hoist.

The steel wedges are driven further into the cuts on the north side of the tree.  The head of the sledge hammer is visible between Ed's legs.

A few more cuts should get the job done.

The time of the photo above is 1:24 PM.  I came back at 2:11 PM and took the photo below.  The truck and trailer have returned to claim more logs from the yard.