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Originally Posted by playfordtree  From your photos it looks like it could have been decked down the street not across it?... Have you got any better photos, taken from a distance.?... the blades on the axes look like they have done no work at all... Yet the handles look like they have been knocked around a bit?... What saws are you using? |
A wider angle would have shown the street and the neighbors hedges, not in view in the shot I took. The police had already come by and told us not to drop the tree across the street. It seemed like halving it down was the only way to go under the circumstances. Look at the shots on page two, they may give a better perspective. The tree is just behind the one in the foreground (the shot with the pole in it).
The axes are well used, the blades may have been replaced (they bolt into the forged head) but I suspect not. They are high quality steel and extremely tough. I don't think they could be damaged, or even wear much, in their intended use. (ice).
They have heavy serrations on them and look to be good even as a hook without penetration. Once set into the tree it is trivial for each one of them to hold my full weight. Also they are set into the tree at just above eye level, so a visual inspection of the placement and penetration is much easier than with the gaffs.
The butt of the handles even have spikes that are designed to dig in when the butt is in contact with the ice wall. I will set them in this manner and load test them out of my own curiosity. Of course I will share these results as they come in.
As for saws, I had two 14" Poulan's new but semi-crappy and one 12" top handle saw, old and really crappy. I ended up using one of the Poulans mostly.
And I have had a lot of cutting experience with saws over my 60 years. I know how dangerous they are, multiplied of course, when up a tree with you.
Aerial