Back in August I started interviewing arborists, as we want to have a certified company come to Purgatory yearly to see to many of the trees. After meeting with a handful I chose one but since they recommended we not do any work on the trees until their leaves were dropped we put off the work until December. They recommended that one tree in particular be removed and Agent Smith’s father was visiting….
You guessed it: Agent Smith and his dad got to work and took down the tree.
The tree was a gum tree that stood within the house yard but it was out near the fence between some scraggly palms and the oleander bushes. Because gum trees like to suck up all the water and drop their bark to poison the ground and keep other trees from growing, this meant a little persimmon tree nearby was barely holding on to life. Plus the palm trees were pretty haggard even by palm tree standards.
(We hope that this winter, with the heavy rains and the absence of the big brute, the little tree may make a comeback and start to flourish.)
Instead of using a chain saw and just cutting the tree down, Agent Smith’s dad used Bambi to excavate the base. Once the soil was loosened sufficient, Agent Smith used Tony to pull the tree down.
And we were left with a giant hole.
While pulling down the tree they bent the pin holding the chain to Tony.
After cutting off all the branches and carting off the large logs to the wood pile out behind the stables, they used Dumpy to take the stump out into the west pasture where it was dumped into the Pit of Sarlacc.
