When I sized up this job, I was well aware of the anchor pole shown in the prior photographs. This pole held a guy wire (
insulated, no current) with a cable running down and across the street to another, much larger active power pole, (
that's the one laying in the street). This pole was not even on our street, it was 70 ~ 80 meters away from us.
The tree leans well out over this support cable, (
already gone in the other photos) so as you can see, and I'm sure your collective experience shows as well, that this was going to be a problem, for
me a very large one. I did in fact have a plan for this, just not for the way it went down.
The plan was to ascend to the top of the tree to position the SRL (
Self Retracting Lifeline) where you can see it in the picture. After what I sure you all would consider a foolhardy and dangerous free climb to get there, I snapped in To the SRL and felt much better. It was a scary climb, what with heavy old lineman's pole spikes and limp flipline.
On the way up I dropped the easy limbs and once up there with the SRL attached, I began to cut the top limbs out in sections. They all went down without a problem of hitting the support cable.
I should do a Photoshop of the image to put in diagrams so you will know exactly where I am talking about, but I'll try to describe what happened next to the best of my ability. Here's the photo:
After cutting everything that you see cut, except less than a meter length off the limb to the left of the one the SRL is crotched to (
the branch @ 45 degrees in the photo), I made what seemed a routine cut of a relatively short piece of the formerly over-reaching limb. (
Picking it up after, it couldn't have weighed more than 10 kilos, pretty much dried out dead wood).
Now the projected trajectory was well clear of the support wire and pole, having dropped the much longer branch it supported, cleanly clear of the cable just before it was cut. Not factored in was the glancing blow that the log took from the limb under it.
The thing ricocheted off the branch below and cartwheeled through the air and struck the support pole like a pile driver leaving the top splintered and the cable vibrating. The utility pole at the end of the street must have quivered once and snapped of at the base. It fell away from us and across the next street.
I didn't see any of this, as I was on the tree with my back to the support pole and as it short piece I cut off dropped I was more concerned with hanging on than looking around. It happened fast, though. I hear the power pole go down, even over the rattle of the chainsaw.
By the time I looked, it was smoking and sparking, laying as you see it in the street. Thank God no one was driving through the intersection just then. I know you all can flay me at will over the whole process, and rightly so, but I will be introducing evidence that while not exculpatory, may be at least be mitigating over the occurrence of that pole's collapse into the street.
This is a very long post, so I will introduce said evidence after the public flogging which is sure to ensue...
Aerial