May 2-9. Tree. Saving the house at the biological station. Friends' help

{ "translated_text": "Since the time I was given the vacant house at the biological station for the needs of the amphibian population ecology group (this house was once called the “rector’s house”, although, as far as I know, the rector never used it), it became clear that the house was in danger. A huge ash tree loomed over the house. Branches of this ash (and other trees) fell onto the old slate roof and regularly broke it. However, holes in the roof are trivial; the fall of the ash itself would have caused the house walls to collapse. I had long thought that this ash needed to be removed somehow, but did not know how to start.\nHere, from this photograph (taken during the problem‑solving process) one can assess the size of the ash\n[IMG_1]\nIn the spring of this year it became apparent that the ash was moving. A crack ran along its trunk. After its leaves would have unfolded, increasing both its weight and its sail‑like surface, the fall would have become a matter of days. We decided that the half of the house onto which the tree was to fall could no longer be used, and prepared for the imminent loss of our base at the station. The problem was dealt with at the level of the vice‑rector… and remained unsolved. It was impossible to bring a mobile tower to the house; the tree could not be removed without climbing it; climbing was mortally dangerous. All that the director of the station could do (shortly before his untimely death) was to organize an attempt to hold the tree from cracking using two rings.\n[IMG_2]\n[IMG_3]\nI had no doubt that these rings would not hold the tree. We only argued about how it would happen – whether the edge of the steel ring, which had holes drilled for a pin, would tear, or the thread on the pin itself would snap. By the way, practice proved the second hypothesis correct: when the trunk fell, the upper ring flew off. The pin could not be found – it flew off in an unknown direction.\nFortunately, a bright idea struck me to consult Sasha about the proper course of action: he is not only an associate professor of physiology but also a professional rescuer and, moreover, a speleologist.\n[IMG_4]\nSasha involved his speleology‑expedition friend Borya in solving the problem\n[IMG_5]\nMy determination to remove the tree was spurred by Zhenya…\n[IMG_6]\n…and Andrei\n[IMG_7]\nAndrei also joined the large‑scale work…\n[IMG_8]\n…Vika…\n[IMG_9]\n…Anya (here she is with Vika, who is busy photographing a butterfly)…\n[IMG_10]\n…Zhenya (in the photo – it’s me and two Zhenyas)…\n[IMG_11]\n…Roksana…\n[IMG_12]\n…Roma…\n[IMG_13]\n…Kolya (in this frame – together with A.A.A. and the melancholy in his eyes)…\n[IMG_14]\n…Vitya…\n[IMG_15]\n…Vlad…\n[IMG_16]\n…and Lera with Karina as part of the student gang:\n[IMG_17]\nWell, the main beneficiary turned out to be me\n[IMG_18]\nAn interesting situation: if I had tried to solve the task before me for money, it would have been simply unmanageable for me. What could not be obtained through market mechanisms I received for free, thanks to friendly help. What Sasha and Borya did goes beyond my conception of what is possible. Thank you!!!\nBy the way, the photographs on this page were taken not only by me but also by Vika, Roksana and Borya. Roksana took my camera when I was pulling ropes or sawing, and Vika photographed with her own camera and allowed me to use her shots. That was the collective work…\nThe house was saved in two outings. The first took place the day after the death of Ivan Nikolaevich Bondar, the director of the station. We decided to do only the most urgent thing: suspend the falling tree on a cable. This also required work at height\n[IMG_19]\nSeeing a person working at such a height is frankly terrifying. That’s what a university lecturer is capable of!\n[IMG_20]\nDuring his first ascent Sasha secured himself at one height, threw the rope even higher and climbed up. Finally, at a fork of a neighboring trunk of the same ash, a station (a system of ropes, pulleys and anchors) was installed, which served as the basis for all further work\n[IMG_21]\nWork at height completed. This is just a descent. To the ground – several dozen centimeters\n[IMG_22]\nDuring the next outing the work at height was mainly done by Borya: he is lighter and also a professional. He had to descend from the support trunk to the one we intended to remove. The first day (May 7) he spent almost entirely on the tree, weathering two storms (one with heavy hail). He met another storm on May 8 on the roof…\n[IMG_23]\nDifferent ropes perform different functions: holding the tree, holding Borya, intended for suspending a felled branch and for climbing the tree with tools\n[IMG_24]\nThe ground team must pull the falling branch so that it passes the roof\n[IMG_25]\nWhen Borya starts sawing the branch, a storm hits. Someone hides in the house, someone puts on raincoats, Borya sits in the tree\n[IMG_26]\nThe storm passed. We continue…\n[IMG_27]\nBorya saws, we pull the branch…\n[IMG_28]\nWe miscalculated! The branch caught the edge of the house and knocked off a piece of roof\n[IMG_29]\n…Sasha gradually releases the rope on which it hangs…\n[IMG_30]\n…and the first piece of ash falls to the ground\n[IMG_31]\nThe next tasks are more difficult…\n[IMG_32]\nBorya weaves a new web…\n[IMG_33]\n…and begins to saw the next branch. It will be pulled by two ropes that run through pulleys that prevent the rope from returning to the tree\n[IMG_34]\nFor this, various clever speleological gadgets are needed, like this one\n[IMG_35]\nBorya ties the next branch. This branch is very heavy; it is important that when the trunk is freed from its weight, it does not launch Borya like a catapult\n[IMG_36]\nFrom the height he found himself at, Borya saw a bird’s nest on a neighboring tree. I handed him my camera…\n[IMG_37]\nAnother storm passed, and Borya cuts the next branch\n[IMG_38]\nThere it goes down…\n[IMG_39]\n[IMG_40]\nThe ground team pulls the falling piece of ash aside\n[IMG_41]\nEverything is perfect! The cut piece hung over the roof without touching it. The destruction visible in the photo is the consequence of the fall of the previous, smaller part of the tree\n[IMG_42]\nIt remains to gently lower the hanging piece (which by itself is like a good‑sized tree) to the ground\n[IMG_43]\nTo lower the cut piece, the rope must be gradually released\n[IMG_44]\nAll done! The largest branch landed on the ground without ever touching the house! Only minor work remains. As the photo shows, from the fork where Borya sits protrudes (in the photo – left and upward) a small dry branch. It needs to be tied and cut, which is not difficult…\nUnfortunately, below Borya another dry branch is visible, protruding to the left. When Borya cut the upper branch, it caught the lower one. The lower one detached from the trunk and…\n[IMG_45]\n…punched a hole in the roof! Yes…\n[IMG_46]\nBorya now faces a difficult task. He must dismantle the station on the support trunk. The goal is that when he descends to the ground, only two stays attached to the doomed trunk remain. Considering the number of ropes, anchors, stays and safety lines, this is not easy.\n[IMG_47]\nParallel processes are underway. Zhenya makes two boards that should allow climbing on the roof. Since defects appeared in the roof after the tree’s removal, they are to be repaired.\n[IMG_48]\nOn the roof work Roksana (in a crocodile costume with a tail) and Vlad. We obtained several sheets of suitable slate; they need to be slipped under the edge of the existing sheets.\n[IMG_49]\nA large trunk, falling, could strike a maple (at least we will pull it in that direction). To avoid possible problems, I remove the maple.\nThe maple seemed tilted. I cut a wedge from the side where I wanted to place it, trimmed the trunk from the other side… Still the maple went a bit off‑course, caught a street lamp and shattered its glass. What can you do…\n[IMG_50]\nAnd finally, the main event. Sasha begins to saw the trunk\n[IMG_51]\nTwo stays are attached to its top. A stronger team must pull the trunk toward themselves. If we did not pull through pulleys that allow the rope to move only toward us, we would not have been able to extract it: the tree seems heavier than we can hold. But we will pull in jerks, and the pulleys will prevent the tree from pulling the rope toward itself. The ropes are rated for three and a half tonnes. In short, a serious matter.\n[IMG_52]\nAnd this is the second team. Its task is simpler: to prevent the tree from going where it should not.\n[IMG_53]\nSasha starts sawing. The waiting is agonizing: Sasha is ready to jump away from the moving tree, we are ready to pull with all our strength.\nThe tree has to be sawed while turning the chainsaw bar at an angle, and the chain jumps off.\n[IMG_54]\nWe put the chain back in place\n[IMG_55]\nThe situation is such that if the tree moves quickly, it could hit Sasha standing on a ladder.\n[IMG_56]\nSasha makes small cuts, listening to the tree’s behavior. Periodically he steps aside, and we, pulling the ropes, try to fell the trunk. It resists stubbornly…\n[IMG_57]\nCome on, come on!\n[IMG_58]\nThe chain slipped again. Sasha is simply tired: sawing a tree in an awkward position is not easy. Everyone else waits, not letting go of the ropes. It seems the tree could move at any moment.\n[IMG_59]\nProbably there are no fibers left in the trunk, cut by the lower or upper incision… It’s enough!\n[IMG_60]\nSasha moves to an even more dangerous position. He trims a little – we try…\n[IMG_61]\nThere it is! The tree wobbles and cracks. We pull with all our strength…\n[IMG_62]\nI was deeply impressed by how time compresses during that work. First – hours of preparation. Then – dozens of minutes of waiting, when everything is in place and ready for rapid action. Then – a dozen seconds of the beginning of movement, and a second or two during which the most important thing happens.\nWe still could not predict how the falling trunk would spin and dance in the air.\n[IMG_63]\nAlthough the ground team pulled it away from the house, the trunk recoiled backward and landed in a fork.\n[IMG_64]\nFortunately, it landed quite safely.\n[IMG_65]\nIt remains to release the ropes and place it where it chose.\n[IMG_66]\nThus…\nUnfortunately, no one photographed the wonderful moment. Borya walked down the inclined trunk to detach the ropes; the trunk, like a swing, tilted to the other side. Borya kept his balance and gently jumped to the ground from the leaning top. Pro!\n[IMG_67]\nI trimmed part of the trunk, and it finally settled completely downwards.\nWe will leave it in front of the house as an installation. To the overhanging part one could attach a gallows, children’s swings or a hanging chair; I lean toward the latter.\n[IMG_68]\nAnother tree – a linden – overhung the roof. I thought it could be felled outright; Sasha insisted on two stays (and was right: the linden also showed that it would fall where it wanted).\nHere, from the proper side, a wedge is cut, and I am preparing to place it on the ground\n[IMG_69]\nAs in the previous case, two teams pull two stays tied to the trunk\n[IMG_70]\nNaturally, at the most dramatic moment the chain flies off\n[IMG_71]\nI cut a bit more; the tree comes into motion. I was sure the tree would go in the direction we pulled (can a tree disobey Roma?). I ran to where I had planned: to the side…\n[IMG_72]\n…and discovered that the tree is falling straight onto me!\n[IMG_73]\nThe sight blew me away; the whole company was having fun because no one expected me to run so fast…\nBy the way, in the foreground is a lantern, whose glass was shattered a few hours earlier by a falling maple.\n[IMG_74]\nThe linden goes down…\n[IMG_75]\n…and stops, leaning on an oak. We trimmed its trunk from below, but the oak did not let it go. Let it hang for now: it holds firmly.\n[IMG_76]\nIt seems everything is done! By the way, note the roof: it is clean and patched. This report does not include scenes of its cleaning, repair and waiting for storm‑repair crews on the roof: that was a separate amusement.\n[IMG_77]\nAll right. The task is solved. Some pleasant things remain,…\n[IMG_78]\n…including a night‑fishing outing to the pool\n[IMG_79]\nDear friends, thank you for your help!\n[IMG_80]" }