Vern's Tree

My ex co-worker and good friend Vern had a tree issue. He lives by the Elkhorn river in a wonderful development. During the spring it's not uncommon for the river to rise up above normal. This year the river was higher than usual. With the sandy soil and the water level several feet above ground level it caused the large cottonwood trees to basically just lay down.

It's always a challange to know exactly what a tree under tension will do when cut. It could roll one way or another and I've seen where the stump will pop upright when the trunk is cut away. Extreme caution is required when working on a tree of this size as one small mistake can be hugely disasterous.

I really thought that this was going to be one of those times when the stump would pop upright as the crack opened up wider and wider as the mighty Stihl saw that I have affectionately named "Big Bertha" continued to chew it's way through the water logged trunk. I must say that it was exhilarating to be a part of this project.


During the course of cutting up the tree trunk, there's a fine line between knowing when to saw up and when to saw down. For me it's always a given that the saw will get pinched and need to be removed with wedges. I haven't completely learned how to cut through a log without getting wedged a time or two but I'm working on it. With a little help from my friends I made it through the day.

Victory finally comes to those that are persistant. By the day's end we loggers were sasified that we had accomplished what we set out to do. Cut the tree and saw it up in chunks. It was a great day of hard work and success.
Once again the mighty Bertha showed she reigned in tree sawing. She's been a great asset to my tool set. Many times I have been able to help with trees because of her ability to make short work of big jobs.

Have a great day and be safe.