Cutting Down (More) Trees To Make Room for the House

Last year as we talked about where we wanted to put the new house, we thought behind a row of fully mature poplars would be a good idea.  They were about halfway back on the yard and they would provide shade for the house - all good things.  As we have mulled it over more and more and talked with others, we have decided to take down those trees.  Poplars are notorious for falling over in a windstorm and if that were to happen, they would land on the house.  Not something we want.  So, today, Jay spent some time cutting and some time pushing and soon that row was all down.  It looks so bare now without them but I fully intend to plant different trees to take the place of the poplars. 

Since today was not the most ideal day for cutting trees, we made sure to have a tractor on hand to offer a little assistance in prodding the trees to fall in the correct direction.  There was a bit of a breeze today in the wrong direction which would cause some of the trees to fall on one of our storage sheds or on a whole bunch of others things we didn't want crushed.  The chainsaw paired with the tractor caused each tree to fall just as it should. 

First, you position the tractor in the correct spot so that it can push on the tree in the highest position possible.  Then you cut (while wearing ear and eye protection - he did put on the eye protection shortly after).

Once you have cut the tree more than halfway through but before it starts to fall over on its own, you push it some more with the tractor.  And you push.  And it falls just the way you want it to amidst the shouts of "TIMMMMMMBERRRRRRRRRR" from the kids who were watching from a safe distance.

And then if you are a boy, you run over to the fallen tree as fast as you can and climb all over it before dad starts on the next tree and you have to move.

And if you are this boy, you spend the whole morning in -11C weather (with the windchill) watching every move your dad makes while your siblings complain about the cold and hide in the van!

You repeat the whole process for all 13 trees and suddenly, about 2 hours later, you are done!  Jay has just pushed those large trees to the back of the yard where we can deal with them in our own time.  Seeing as we anticipate starting to dig in 6 weeks, just after the May long weekend, we have a bunch of things to get in place before then.  Now we can check this off the list!

{Side note:  Sometimes I wish strongholds in my life were so easily felled and replaced with better things as those trees were.  You know, those bad habits I have that I wish I could break or those sins that don't ever seem to go away.  Wouldn't it be so nice if I could just cut them off at the bottom with a saw and push them over and they would be gone and done with?  Most often, though, it seems as though I chip away at it with a bread knife and it never seems to make much of a difference at all.  The stronghold remains.  The sin still flourishes.  That is, until the Ultimate Woodsman comes over and gives me a hand, felling that stronghold with one push of His mighty right arm!  Oh, how I love that Woodsman!}