I just found these 4 trees yesterday. In our seasonal creek bed. 1 tree died a few years ago, the other 3 are recent. 17-19 inches in diameter.




Also in our creek bed, and I knew about this one. 20" diameter. Probably blew over in April 2019.




Four in the creek bed, one had been dead for awhile. 12-16" in diameter.




24" in diameter, been dead for a couple of years -- most likely a beetle kill. We lost 2 trees in close proximity a few years earlier to beetles -- some of their branches are in the erosion gully at the base of the picture.



So, yeah, we have some cutting to do.

One big S.O.B. Paraphrased from Monty Python, "But I'm not dead yet." The top branches are long gone, evidenced by the lack of needles. The tree was zapped by lightning at least a couple of times. Living on borrowed time, but that might be 2 years or 10 years. A whopping 44" in diameter at the base. I didn't measure each split trunk, as the split occurs at above my head height.

But wait, there's more....
The top of this tree just started to turn brown, maybe just this week. Maybe 1 or 2 years to live. The trunk is 38" in diameter at the base.



Zapped by lightning a few times, the right side of the trunk is rotten. Might last another year, 21" diameter.



The top just started to turn. 16" diameter. This tree looked fine 2 weeks earlier.



Big old dead snag, 29" diameter. Beetle kill from a few years prior.



Just noticed the left fork is dying. Base diameter of 26".



Top is thinning, living on borrowed time. 19" diameter.



Gone, and quite quickly. I frequently walk this area and didn't notice it in previous weekends. 16" diameter.

I now have 7 half-days and 1 full-day with the new Ego saw. This past weekend resulted in two more half days, with a total of 12 truckloads of branches cut up and hauled off. Much of the saw work is big branches already on the ground, although a few of the broken branches somehow remain attacked to the trunk.

Here's a common situation -- tree snapped off at 1/3 to 1/2 height, most branches still attached to broken upper trunk, a few nearby saplings squashed in the process. Two truckloads of branches thrown away, the best of the wood salvaged for firewood, the base still barely alive & marked for future cutting.

All depends how your burning it these days. My stove accepts soft & hard woods equally as it 2nd burns gasses. This helps eliminate creosote buildup. Unsure what you have.

Damn, you have your work cut out for you!!!

The tree challenges seem to never end. Maybe like Sisyphus. I finish one section of the forest, then move to the next.

Here's a tree on our north fenceline that died prior to the 2019 storms. Looking weak, leaning over the fence, it needed to come down. Figured I needed the come along to control the fall. Started up the Stihl gas saw, made the felling notch, and I was out of gas. Dagnabbit, just check the gas level before starting a new tree. Winds were strong that day, and for once were in my favor. No time to gas up, grab the Ego and get it done.





Yep, the tree's wood was in bad shape. Rotten in some parts, and a bunch of rather unhappy ants near the base. The following pic has about 1/3 the number of ants on the trunk as when I sectioned the log. They poured out the hole at 7 o'clock as I finished the cut, and I ran to grab my camera. I threw away all the wood on this small-ish tree.

Depending on the location, storm-damaged trees can be any size. On the edge of our main seasonal creek bed, the damaged trees here tend to be larger. Such trees will be felled & cut up with the Stihl. Standing trunks with a yellow paint mark had their tops blown out, and will be felled.

Not far away from the creekbed, more P-I-T-A little crap. I removed much of this garbage last weekend with the Ego saw.