There are some jobs in the garden that I hesitate to tackle on my own. In this case there were 2 trees and a stump in the gully that had died and needed removing. One of them (a really tall one) was leaning over against another tree and was threatening to push it over. The other one was just plain ugly and had died as a result of a severe pruning I gave it a year or two ago.
I've used chainsaws before to trim trees around my property. These I've hired or borrowed because I don't own one myself. But this particular task was not one I wanted to tackle on my own because the tall one was so high and I didn't want to just fell it and risk damaging all the ferns and other plants below. This job needed to be done with a bit more finesse.
So I called Stu who runs a small Handyman business. He's a real clever guy and he's got ' tools for Africa'. He rigged up some climbing gear using a couple of neighbouring trees to hang from.
Then, once all the safety issues were sorted he pull himself up... while I worked as his ground support.
Once he was at the top, I attached his chainsaw to a rope he had hanging off his harness. Then he pulled it up and started cutting.
With my help he was able to move left and right, and back and forth, to get himself into the right position for each cut as he worked his way down the tree.
By the time he got the first tree down one of Stu's mates (Mike) turned up to help finish off.
In the mean time I got Stu to trim a couple of other trees. Then he brought his chipper in and turned all the green stuff into mulch.
Stu did a fantastic job. I've got enough firewood to last me all winter. If you need a handyman on the north shore, Stu’s your man. He does practically everything — inside and outside.
If you live on the north shore, you might see him driving around in his little truck.
Give him a call — and tell him I sent you.
The bank is looking a bit bare now, so I'm thinking of putting in more palms.
