Timmmmbbbbbberrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

So here is the culprit (sorry for the sideways picture, I can't get it going the right way!!!) This is the very large, very dangerous tree that we needed to cut down to be able to survive another winter of potential windstorms without losing any sleep :)


now, I have no idea if this picture does it any justice. We found out that this tree was over 140 feet tall and at the base it was over 8 feet in diameter! Which means that it was over 25 feet around! (since I happen to know Pi!)

However, in order to cut down this tree they had to get rid of all the smaller trees below it. We thought the trees around it were puny, as it turns out...they weren't as tiny as we thought.
this picture is one of the stumps of the smaller trees... the chain saw laying on it is quite large, as you can see in the following picture, comparing it to Matt's foot! This tree was 113' and as they cut it down/knocked it over with the mammoth tractor...it came within 3 feet of the fence! and made a HUGE boom!!



To give you an idea of the size of the tree, here is the first 'tree guy' starting his climb. they had never seen a cottonwood this large and they didn't have a rope large enough to go around so they had to connect two! (they assured us that was just as safe!)


They had to cut off some of the branches on one side of the tree to ensure there was not too much weight on one side (the way they didn't want it to fall) So this photo is of Hudson sitting next to one of the 'limbs' from the tree!! Each limb was the size of a small tree! CRAZY!


look at these amazing pictures of the tree coming down! It was unbelievable to see in person! and right where the tree was cut, if you look closely you can see the two brave souls who were actually sawing the tree! after the tree fell Matt promptly yelled up to them "do you need me to grab you a roll of toilet paper?"



Here they are cutting the next 40 ft section off the tree.


Once we cut the tree down, you can see how rotten it was! The piece that Camden is sitting on was from 20 feet high! 20 feet above the ground it was rotten about 4' in diameter!




This photo is a piece of rotten tree from 60 feet above the ground! 60 feet of the tree totally rotten and you could never tell from the outside! that is why cottonwoods have the nickname "widow maker" Because they rot from the inside out and are also extremely heavy and unpredictable. Again, SO thankful to have it out of harms way! Phew!


Hudson got to help too! He didn't want to "really" drive the tractor, "not for real" but the tractor operator let him scoop a big scoop of dirt and Hudson was quite impressed with himself!


So here is the video clip. As we were sitting there waiting for it to happen Hudson said "mom, will you tell me when it falls?" I said, "oh you'll know!" and he said "but what if I don't? will you tell me?" I don't think he understood what exactly was going to happen!



so that is the end of our tree story. It ended without injury or damaging any houses, fences, etc. what a wild day!