Chainsaw Massacre

As a general rule, I'm not the sort of person who is allowed to use anything that runs off a motor, has more than two working parts, involves propane, or has a pointy end.

That being said, I just treated myself to my very first chainsaw.

It's not a massive "let's clear cut some old growth forest" saw, just a small battery operated rig.  You know, 40volts, 12" blade...this one's for the laaaadieees type of thing.  I'm happy to report after nearly two hours of attending the Rowe School of Toolmanship (thank you, Neil) I cut about ten small trees and was able to retain all my appendages.  Huzzah!

Saturday clearing, now with tree removal.

I'm getting there!  I'm leaving long stumps behind because my very kind neighbor has offered to come over and pull them with his machine.  This way I won't have to worry about them growing back.

The bittersweet vines are a different story.  That line of disturbed soil in the above photo was one long root that I managed to pull by hand.  The vines are laid out along the ground like extension cords leading to an over-lit Christmas tree, and are so entangled in the tree tops that I have to pretty much cut them all out before taking the saw to the trees for safety's sake.

most of these vines are actually rooted into the ground

you can see how thick the vines grow

bittersweet vines will actually kill trees

these are all vines that have grown throughout the tree tops

And my parting shot is one of the brush pile, which is getting a little out of hand.  I guess it's now a natural fence of sorts.  I'm thinking once the pile of topsoil has been used up and the driveway is sorted out, this area would be a nice little paddock extension for the mules.

Yessssss.  You will extend my paddock, human.  EXTENNNNND.