No… not the drink, or even the Obamakare package.  The real thing.  It looks like this.

snapshot-1270333970.450766

 

This tree was rotten in the center and was in danger of falling. Since we have a pig roast coming up I thought that I’d cut it to use as firewood for that.  I learned two things quickly:

1)  It was a lot more unstable than I thought. And,
2) it wasn’t in as much danger of falling as I thought.

When I cut the tree it split in half because of the overly rotten center.  The part that remained attached slowed the falling momentum enough that it caught in another tree.   When this happens it’s known as a widowmaker.  For a reason. 

The problem is that there’s just no safe way to get it to the ground when this happens.  In order to cut the remaining piece of the tree you have to get under the tree that you’re cutting.  Pretty much everyone can see that as a “bad” thing but there are a few folks each year foolish enough to end up dead doing it.  Jinksto aint one of those folks.  As you can see in the picture my first idea was to get a chain and come-a-long and see if I could pull it off of the stump.  That didn’t work but working in the same vein and I came up with the following idea.

The observant reader will note that at some point in this process someone thought it was stupid enough to say, “hang on, let me go get a camera”.  As a general rule that’s a great time to reevaluate your decision models.  In this case, it seemed ok to continue so Jinksto films limited presents the blockbuster hit… Widowmaker:

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After this the tree hung on for another minute and then fell on its own.  Good times.

 

 

Widowmaker

7 thoughts on “Widowmaker

  • April 4, 2010 at 2:16 pm
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    @Will that’s because the tow hitch is attached directly to the frame. I’d have lost that bumper a long time ago otherwise.

    Reply
  • April 4, 2010 at 9:32 pm
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    That was one stubborn tree.

    And as I tell the students that work for my department – if at any point in the process of planning something a small part of your brain says “wait a minute…” that’s the part you should be listening to.

    cjh

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  • April 4, 2010 at 9:38 pm
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    Absolutely CJ. I”m a big redneck but I’m smart enough to be scared silly of a hung tree. Doing that way was the safest way that I could come up with.

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  • April 7, 2010 at 7:03 am
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    You handled it about as well as it could be handled, Jinks. My comment was more in agreement with your observation about the camera… that’s another good sign you should reconsider your plans.

    cjh

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  • April 7, 2010 at 12:09 pm
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    Yup, I understood CJ. There are more than a few nieces, nephews and assorted “under 21’s” that pass by here so I have to be careful how I document my heroics.

    Thanks for taking the time to comment. As you know, they’re always appreciated.

    Reply

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