That dead elm took me 8 hours to drop cleanly

I spent half a day trying to rig that thing down in pieces because it was leaning over a shed, and the top was completely rotten. Has anyone else dealt with a tree that just refuses to cooperate no matter how you plan?

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the_luna2mo ago

Oh man, that "completely rotten top" part hit home. Had a black walnut last fall that was basically a hazard on a timer. Crown was so punky the ropes kept pulling right through the bark. Took me three tries just to get a line set without it snapping. Ended up having to tie into a completely different branch lower down that still had some solid wood. Then every piece I cut felt like playing a game of "which way will this thing actually fall." Spent a whole Saturday on a tree that should've been a two hour job. Those rotten ones are the worst, they lie to you the whole time.

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sage_lewis102mo ago

Read an article last year from some forestry guy in the Pacific Northwest who said rotten trees are basically "honest liars" because they look solid from the outside but the whole structure is a gamble. @the_luna your story about the black walnut made me think of that. Worst part is those hollow spots that sound solid when you tap them with a hammer, then your wedge just disappears into mush. Had a maple last spring where I set my climbing line on what I thought was a good limb, put my weight on it, and the whole thing just folded like a wet napkin. Three hours of my life I'll never get back.

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