OK, Ian. You asked for it...

Let's hear your stories. The more outlandish, the better, ala Paul Bunyon style exageration.

No replies to another's posts- you can only post your own "one-upper" to this message. (I may delete responses!- Censorship on the NET!)

Let's see how far this goes, and have some fun.

Reply to post by Russ Carlson, on December 09, 1998 at 17:52:31:

Well Russ, some of those tales are really true. I always mistrusted the guy at the arborist meetings who talked about being THE guy who took down the biggest elm tree in the state. You know, the one with 60' of top above the crane and the bucket. (We're talking N.E. US. In CA they're probably euc man stories.) I mistrusted him because there was a different guy telling the same story at each meeting, they couldn't all have taken the same tree down. Then it finally came to me. This tree was SO big it took all 120 of these guys to take it down.

I never did figure out, though, how all 120 of them could have been the one to take out that first, big top cut (remember 60' above the bucket) by himself with a two-man saw becasue it was the only thing that would cut through it it was so big.

Reply to post by Scott, on December 09, 1998 at 17:52:31:

It's good to see you boys are up for this!

From the outset I must point out that I am playing with a huge disadvantage here - I am British, therefore genetically incapable of boasting and will always maintain my "reserve".

Now the truth about those big take downs. Yes you guessed it - it was I. Here in the UK (where arboriculture originated) we used to travel out to the colonies and show the natives how to cut the mustard with those tiddly redwoods and stuff.

The main diference is we Brits only use a teaspoon and some fuse wire to take down the big 'uns, and certainly don't make a fuss over it! Hardly worth talking about really.

Mac

Reply to post by Ian McDermott, on December 09, 1998 at 20:51:05:

You might imagine the surprise of the first loggers to reach North Dakota, after Paul Bunyan went through. They found first off that he had told the truth about his abilities with the timber scythe and had indeed logged the state.
These bachelor loggers had plenty of time to replant the forest. They were originally attracted by newspaper ads proclaiming "a young lady behind every tree". The articles did not lie, only left out a few details.
They immeadiatly set about replanting the forests of the Great Plains. To facilitate harvest, they set most of the trees in straight rows, later anthropologists would assume that these were shelterbelts to curb the winds. A few of them they made truly harvest ready by linking with cable at the time of planting. Although these were later used to transmit electricity and phone service, they remained popular enough to receive 2nd place in the voting for the state tree.
48,000 miles of these "in-line forests" were planted. Now what other state can claim possession by virtue of planting and nurturing over 90 % of the trees in the state?
From the land of big skies, wide open spaces and tall stories!!!
Bob Underwood, Timber Beast and Educator of our Future Treepersons

Reply to post by Russ Carlson, on December 09, 1998 at 17:52:31:

Hi Guys:That post I made a while back
concerning preventing ruts with a bucket truck
was for a friend of mine in another state.
Here in South Jersey,we don't use bucket trucks.
Mother nature provides us with mosquitoes.We
have a special saddle that our climbers sit on
and with the aid of a heavy kite string our
ground controller guides the "climber" around
the work area.Most of time time we 2 mosquitoes
working.One for the man cutting and one larger
mosquito to lower from.This cuts down a lot of
overhead.
See Ya Bill C

Reply to post by Ian McDermott, on December 09, 1998 at 20:51:05:

And his uper lip didn't move once!