Mr. B Loc: eastern Connecticut

My area of the state was devastated by three years of Gypsy Moth infestation starting 2019. As a result we lost a great many oak trees. I personally lost over 100 fully mature oaks. Folks logged and harvested what was safe to cut and left the rest for wildlife snags. But a number of dead trees are yet standing along roads and power lines and are a hazard to vehicles and the electrical wires. Our last three power outages were due to fallen dead oaks.

Consequently, the state and most towns embarked on removal of standing dead trees along their respective roads. But sometimes the trees are too close to live wires for conventional felling practices and equipment. That's when they call in guys like this.

This unit is radio controlled by the operator has a reach of 83 feet. Much like a logging feller-buncher it utilizes grasping jaws and a swing saw to get the job done. Not shown in the pictures is a Yanmar unit on rubber tracks picking up the dropped logs and piling them roadside. You can own one of these babies, too, for a paltry $750,000 to $800,000 depending on accessories.

Photos best in download

Jockeying for position using the remote control.

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Topping a tree

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Second cut

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Starting to east the log down

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Swinging another log down

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Cutting the bottom log to stump

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Changing the saw chain. Yanmar loader in background is pulling and stacking the cut logs

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PAR4DCR Loc: A Sunny Place

Good images of some very unusual machinery Mr. B. What a shame to lose all of those oak trees.

Don

Mr. B Loc: eastern Connecticut

Don,
Thank you. The oaks are not the end of it. Now we've lost all the Ash trees to Emerald Ash Borer and as of last year our American Beech Trees are succumbing to Beech Leaf Nematodes. My forest land looks like a battlefield. But, since nature abhors a vacuum, something will fill in the voids left behind.
Alton

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

I didnt know a moth could be so devastating. I did some googling and found this

https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/divisions/pi/pdf/GMhomeowner.pdf

A property owner has a lot of work to do to protect their trees.

Stan

rwww80a Loc: Hampton, NH

Gypsy moth....not politically correct..... now called "spongy moth"
How could UHH publish this derogatory name???
Go ahead search it on google.

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Thanks for some great photographs. Well done. I could use one of those in my backyard.

Dennis

Mr. B Loc: eastern Connecticut

Indeed. And it's near impossible with acres of woodland. Not far from where I live a logger was engaged to cut 100 acres of dead trees.

Mr. B Loc: eastern Connecticut

Yeah, well, ask anyone who knows me and they'll tell you I'm not politically correct.

Mr. B Loc: eastern Connecticut

Thanks. I could use one of those rigs for a couple of days. Thing is it would be really hard to get one into my woodland and once you did it would be hard to find flat enough ground to stabilize the rig!

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Seems there are still many groups of gypsies roaming the earth especially in parts of Europe. How can their name not be politically correct? I am not a politically correct person and often refer to Native Americans as Indians just as they have been called for hundreds of years. I have never met even one who was offended by that name.

Dennis

Mr. B Loc: eastern Connecticut

I've had the same experience with the Indian moniker. I work in cooperation with the Mohegan Tribe in searching for and documenting native ceremonial landscape sites. They haven't scalped me yet!

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Most likely they won't scalp you either. Where is that tribe located?

Dennis

Mr. B Loc: eastern Connecticut

Located in Uncasville section of Montville, Connecticut. They split off from the Pequots circa 1600.

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Thanks. Back in the late 40's my grandmother told my brothers and I we were part Seneca, a member of the Iroquois Confederation. The sad part is she also told us to not tell anyone, then. At that time Indians were classed pretty much as blacks were in the late 40's early 50's. Being even part Indian in upstate NYS was not necessarily a good thing to be. We have never checked up on it to find out but interesting she pointed that out.

Dennis