Widow Maker

Spent 10 hours today dealing with a widowmaker that's been on my list for a long time. Finally managed to free up my company backhoe for a weekend. No way i wanted to tackle this sucker without it. Tree in question was an oak with pronounced lean over my driveway and a "V" base that was collecting water and starting to rot at the base. Measured the round that was from about 7 feet up the trunk and it had a diameter of 23 to 25 inches at that height and a circumference of 6.5 feet. Estimate the tree height was 75 to 80 feet laying on the ground.

Round from 7 feet above ground:





Rounds lower than this were not measurable as they came apart when i cut them due to the rot. The view of the tree laying on the driveway:



Stump - cut off at about 4 feet above the ground:



Hydraulic assist to cut rounds:



Had to fully extend the hoe end to keep the rear end on the ground:



Loading rounds:



All in it took 10 hours to drop the tree, remove the limbs, cut all the good wood into 16 inch long lengths and load and move everything to my splitting shed (about 3/4 mile away). Went through 7 tanks of fuel on the saw in the process.

that be a lot of work, definitely need equipment to help move that heavy of pieces

That’s a lot of work for one.Bet that first whiskey was good

Big job to tackle there! Glad you got it down safely. Those rotten in the middle leaners are sketchy as heck. A job well done and enjoy the nice firewood when it's dry.

What about the one behind it ?

The one behind it has issues as well but is leaning into the bush so just gonna let nature take its course.