Two men, a chainsaw on a stick, and one hard hat.

The sticker on Dale’s hard hat (thanks, Chris, for lending it to Dale).

We had a bad tree in our backyard. It appeared to be just about dead so we had an arborist come out and tell us what we could do. He said that the tree did not have enough room for it’s roots to grow properly, due to the limestone in the ground, and that it had basically choked itself to death. The death may have been accelerated by our neighbors pool water that had made it into our yard due to a clogged pool filter. There was no saving it and he told us he would charge $400 to take it down.

Dale and his good friend Larry were not having it. They decided to do the deed themselves.


“No way are you paying $400, bub”

They carefully plotted out each cut as they did not want any branches falling onto the neighbor’s yard and nice patio furniture.


And they commenced cutting


Dale looses a tree but gains firewood

Larry is handy with the clipper-ma-bobs


Teamwork and a chainsaw on a stick


Dale must climb the tree



Progress


They had a good system


Cutting the base

Dale pushes while Larry pulls


And it’s done


On the down side, that tree provided some nice shade. On the up side, the branches of the trees next to it should grow out enough to cover the spot. Did that make sense? Also, we got to keep that $400 that the arborist wanted to charge. I must admit, I am happy to have a husband and a friend that are savvy enough to do the job themselves. Not one branch fell into the neighbor’s yard, which was quite an accomplishment. What can I say….Larry is a magical white guy and Dale is a ninjaneer. They were bound to succeed.