That’s very impressive! Your Dad sounds like a great guy. Anyone who can handle trees has my deep admiration and respect.
The tree guy said we could do it all with ropes, but he thought the crane would be the safest, since it’s nearly hollow towards the base. It’s always interesting to watch someone with skill climb up a tree, or take them apart. It’s been dropping limbs a lot lately. Ha, I guess all the older trees drop limbs. We have an acre of mature trees. Most of it is away from the house.
I have mixed feelings about this hickory. The landscape will look a bit different without it, but it’s in such bad shape, it must be taken down. I’m sure there will be something to take its grand place eventually. The one Buckeye tree we planted years ago finally seems to be getting somewhere, and it’s been in the understory of this hickory. Perhaps it will get more sunshine. Anyway, I’m just trying to look at this as an opportunity to plant something else there that I’d like to see. A flowering or fruit tree might be nice over there.
The tree guy is right - a very large tree with a partially rotted trunk can be “tricky” with no crane / bucket truck. IIRC there were a very few jobs Dad referred to one of his past students who ran a larger, dedicated tree removal service. They had a big ol’ bucket truck...
Even branches can be unpredictable. (See my next post!)