Between fuel issues with the tractor and high winds, I still haven’t been able to cut the leaning tree down YET. I got everything moved that was in harm’s way (obciously except the sugarhouse) but the wind keeps blowing fairly hard and the wrong way. I have a fairly narrow window where I can safely drop the tree, but the wind keeps blowing 15-20 mph or more such that it would be pushing the tree more towards the sugarhouse. I can’t chance having a day with 15-20 mph winds suddenly have a 30+ mph gust as the tree starts to fall. I need to drop this tree, which i’ve now measured. It actually measures 29″ wide in the direction of lean and only 25″ front to back in the lean direction. It stands about 75′ tall. The trunk is straight and the lowest limb is up maybe 30′, from there up it has a decent crown but only about 40′ wide. Just 17′ away is the sugarhouse and I need to get it to fall about 5-7 degrees to the right of the lean, if the sugarhouse wasn’t there it would be simple, but it is and there are several thousand dollars worth of equipment in there, likely $30,000 or even $40,000 at today’s prices.
Thus, I’m on hold, I don’t dare work in the sugarhouse until I can cut that tree, if it fell and I was in it, that would likely be my demise, I continue to wait for a day with winds of 10 mph or less with no gusts. Once I get it on the ground, I’ll need to cut a 17′ log off the butt end and winch it out of the way, cut the smaller hemlock into logs for the sawmill after limbing it, then I’ll finally be able to bottle more in the sugarhouse. At any rate, my season is over, I did pack my syrup in SS barrels, the last of which was filled the last day before this tree was noticed leaning. At that point the trees had not yet budded, but the sap flow was very slight, the trees have now budded, which ends the season. As seasons go I still had a fairly good season, had the tree not started to lean I might of gotten one more barrel of dark. I won’t know my exact total until I finish what still needs to get packed, but I’m guessing i’m at about 90-95% of my better years. Now I’m just waiting for that calm day.