Sawing up a Willow Tree
In which Ian takes on a fallen willow tree with a chainsaw and good will.
Wind Brings down tree
From time to time, the wind being the windy thing that it is, brings down the occasional tree.
And rather than waste it, it’s worth chopping it up and burning it on the wood burner.
Now this is a form of willow apparently, although I’m not entirely convinced that that’s true.
Apparently, Willow is a terrible tree to burn in a wood burner, it produces all sorts of nasty toxins and that sort of thing.
Lots and lots of the slimy stuff that gets coated on the insides of the chimney.
But…
However, if you let it sit for a number of years, all that kind of crystallises and solidifies inside the wood and it’s not too much of a problem.
So I’m gonna cut this tree up, stick it into a shed, and then forget about it.
Until a couple years down the line when we can burn it on the wood burner and it will be all nice and toasty and lovely.
And that’s what I’m gonna do now so…
Stupid hat, ridiculous trousers, and a chainsaw.
Chainsaw noises…
Warm innum?
I’m just making myself a bit of bleurrr room to work in.
Because it’s all a bit trippy, and not in the, you know, nineties dance movement kind of way, more trippy in a kind of ‘ahhh I’ve fallen over’.
What I’m wearing here are special trousers that if I were to catch the blade of the chainsaw, which obviously is moving around around on these, these things are designed so that they snag the blade up so that they never actually reached my leg.
And it stops the chainsaw and, theoretically, stalls it.
Which is good, because you know I’m rather attached to my legs.
The downside is they don’t ‘alf make it hot.
Yeesh, warm.
Chainsaw noises…
When you consider all this used to be done by hand you know people with *hand saw noises* type saws. As opposed to *raaaawr* type saws.
And you have big horses that would pull it all around and that sort of thing.
So you’d fell a tree you’d knock although all the bits off it you didn’t want, and you drag it to a saw pit, and then big burly men would do you know big burly men type things.
And now it can all be achieved with a bloke of my size and stature, which is not huge, and a chainsaw.
Really this is the point you sort of figure that very primly dressed young maidens should come out and offer me glasses of lemonade, but that’s not going to happen.
Jo: Too right!
(laughs all round)
Chainsaw noises…
It ran out of juice.
You’ve gotta check the chain oil.
If it doesn’t get chain oil it the whole thing will seize up and it’ll stop working… and then we’ll be back to horses and carts, and the world will come to a halt.
All for the want of a little bit of chain oil.
A lot of these machines you’ll see they have a little plastic valve thing you press on and it Primes it, draws the fuel through, to the engine.
This for some reason doesn’t have one of those and I’ve no idea why.
When I just started out of a little while ago, first time around, it took pulls on the thing. hopefully it’s not going to tell you that long.
The sound of an unwilling chainsaw…
Chainsaw goes *brrrrrrrrrrr*. (he meant 15 )
I’m going to take a bit of a break now not because of the fact that I particularly need one but because of the fact that it’s starting to rain.
And this camera and rain don’t mix.
So I’m gonna use it as an excuse to go and drink tea.
And drop that.
And then we’ll come back and finish the rest of this later!
Later Ron!
See you in a bit.
Take that camera and run.