The Tree Situation, Part 2

Continued from The Tree Situation.

The weather on the first three days of this week was too miserable (cold and wet) for outdoor work. But on Thursday the sun came out, and Nuria and I got busy. We trimmed the remaining tree in my neighbor's yard (after cutting down the tree growing beside it earlier). I talked with the homeowner and he was okay with us cutting it. In fact, he said he wanted to help us, and suggested we meet on Saturday for a tree-cutting. But I wanted to get a head start so there would be less work on Saturday, so Nuria and I started tree-cutting Thursday. It was chilly but it was sunny, and we both worked up a sweat. We only spent two hours on the tree, cutting limbs off the tree and cutting those limbs into 4-foot pieces to fit in the trash receptacle.

Here's the tree before we started. It's probably about 15 to 20 feet tall. I've already trimmed it back once, about two years ago. I used a ladder to reach limbs hanging over my yard.

Below, the tree after day one. Remember, we cut for just two hours.

On Friday, Nuria and I spent 90 minutes on the tree.  Below, the tree after day two.

On Saturday, we worked about an hour. It was hard work for me, partly because I'm a geezer, and partly because I'm a couch potato. My biggest problem is that I injured my back when I was in my twenties and it never healed properly, so bending over to cut or pick up limbs has my back hurting like hell in no time. Nuria was a huge help. She used lopping shears and she used the chainsaw when I had to rest my back. 

The tree doesn't look as big as it really is when you're cutting it down. I'm not sure my chainsaw is big enough to cut the trunk close to the ground. So I left a stump about 4 feet tall. If someone is parking their car in the backyard, I don't want them to run over a short stump and damage their car, so I left it tall enough that they should be able to see it and avoid it. At the ground, the stump is about 12 to15 inches diameter. The second day (Friday) was cloudy and a bit colder, but we worked for 90 minutes.

Below: Tada! The stump is about four feet tall. The pile of branches we cut off is now five feet tall. We'll have to bundle them into 4-foot long bundles, tied up with string, and set them behind the garage. Or we'll stuff them into the trash receptacle. But the trash receptacle is emptied only once a week, and we have enough limbs and leaves to probably fill up at least a dozen receptacles. The job isn't over until all the leaves and limbs are gone. It's going to take time. But you know what they say about time. The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.

Below, the what remains after day three.