Had some fun last night....

[lukem]

My in-laws have a bunch of white oak trees with branches overhanging the yard that they've wanted trimmed forever. They called a tree service in the spring...but they never showed up.

My BIL had his 60' JLG lift in the neighborhood, and since the ground is like concrete due to no rain, it seemed like the perfect chance to cross this off their list.

I'm no tree trimming expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I got pretty good at running the lift and dropping things where I wanted them. I've watched it done before and remembered that an undercut followed by a top cut makes the branch fall straight down, and a top cut only hinges the branch down and drops it pretty close to the location of the cut.

Most of the branches were large (8"-12" at the base) so they hit the ground with authority from 20' up.

I had to use the 361 (only saw I have) to do the work, and my shoulders and arms were feeling it after about 3 hours of work. Now I see the appeal of a top handle. Limbing in the air is a different animal than limbing on the ground.

It was dark when I finished, so no pics...but I have some more do tonight so I"ll try to remember to take some.

 

[TimJ]

Way to tackle them jobs Lukem

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Right on Luke. One learns rather fast when cutting 20' up.

 

[lukem]

No action shots, but you get the idea...

 

[bogydave]

20' up, bet it took a few cuts to get comfortable.
Limbs that big, you got some good fire wood too. Look to be the size of some of the tress i cut.
& white oak.
Good score , good job & you are a hero

It does look dry there.

 

[amateur cutter]

Nice job luke, I'll bet a 361 in that basket is a pretty good workout. That's a nice big lift to work off too. Way to go! A C

 

[lukem]

20' up, bet it took a few cuts to get comfortable.
Limbs that big, you got some good fire wood too. Look to be the size of some of the tress i cut.
& white oak.
Good score , good job & you are a hero

It does look dry there.

The height doesn't really bother me. The worst part was the yard wasn't very level so I couldn't get the platform level. I was well within the limits of the machine, but still didn't like getting way "out" there with that red level light on.

As for dry, their yard looks pretty dang good compared to mine. 93 days without more than a couple sprinkles. Unreal.

 

[lukem]

Nice job luke, I'll bet a 361 in that basket is a pretty good workout.

Arms and chest are feeling it today....a lot.

 

[ScotO]

It can get interesting up in the air! I like it when you go up a 80' oak tree, get settled in to start cutting, and the wind picks up! Makes your 'short hairs' stand up! When you get used to doing it, it's not so bad. Glad to hear you made out OK.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Scott, that reminds me of the time I went deer hunting and it was really windy. I was sitting perched up on a pine and took the video camera with me. Turned it on and just held still. Got some really great pictures while waving in the breeze. My wife about crapped and called me a fool.

 

[ScotO]

Got some really great pictures while waving in the breeze. My wife about crapped and called me a fool.

Dennis, they just don't understand us men.......that's all!

 

[DexterDay]

Dennis, they just don't understand us men.......that's all!

Yep......