Got a very similar story over a year ago removing badly decayed mango tree from front fence of a kindy playground, fence next to front footpath and road just down from a T junction with traffic lights. The tree Tim took down from an EWP, till the stump was low enough for me to fell safely, quite a big stump with small stubs left from the lowest laterals. Do the scarf, and split back cut, wedges in and begin banging her over, just as she's falling the lights change and traffic begins turning left down the street next to the fence and mango. With perfect timing a small delivery van comes past driver day dreaming or thinking of the afternoons beer to be drunk (half his luck) when out of the corner of his eye he catches sight of the falling stick...I'd sighted it as neatly fitting onto the footpath with about 150mm projecting over into a parking lane which we'd barricaded earlier in the day.
The sight or rather corner of his eye sght of the falling stick scared the bejesus out of him causing the van to veer wildly over to the other side of the road....lucky nothing coming the other way, but I had a long cack about it,
the look of horror then fear
(wrong side of road) then embaressment,
pretty damn funny.
Here's the stick though you can't see the road.
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Sean