Final touches

According to the weather forecast there is going to be lots of rain and snow after the weekend, so I really wanted to make the plot ready for the next step before that. The next step being to bring in backhoe and start digging along the north and prepare the ground.
First off, I moved the remaining logs of useful size to the north and completed the wall there. There are some gaps but I won't bother putting additional logs to fill those.

The wall.

After that, I decided to define a gate into the plot where the backhoe could enter. To make that gate I found two narrow sugi tops of maybe 4 meters or so length. While moving those toward the south side I had to watch out for thick sugi branches sticking out from the ground. Those are branches that had been dug deep into the ground by the force when the sugi trees fell down. Here it is extra visible where I cut away a part of the main trunk.

Pins

Whenever I saw one of those I just pull it out by hand, which took some effort cause the branches are about 1 meter under ground and kept pretty tight.

Anyway, I removed a section of bamboo border on the south, and replaced it with the two narrow logs I had found. This way whenever I want to drive in with the backhoe, I just move those two aside.

Gate is right after the sugi tree

Pretty nice. But the plot is still pretty messy and full of sugi logs and branches everywhere, so backhoe probably would have a hard time reaching the backside in the north after entering.

Needs cleaning

I had to clear out a path inside the plot, so after the gate the backhoe can make a slight right turn and drive along the east side all the way to the north. So I did just that. Now there is a big pile of branches right in the middle of the plot where I moved everything I cleared away. There it won't disturb any activity in near future. I shall cut those down from time to time, but it's not gonna be urgent.

All clear

Now I just have to wait out the snow and rain, and after that start organizing the digging. Finally a bit rest. From time to time I have to check the plot so that no new bamboos or other big weeds grow in it. I shall also keep an eye on the north neighbor and move any fallen bamboo behind the wall. Plus any new bamboo growing out there I shall cut asap.    

 

Roppongi

First thing I did was do make sure I had my hammer and wedges with me. Also I went over various videos about how to fell trees against their lean. Almost all of them used ropes and wires to pull, rather than wedges. But I found one video which kind of showed how wedges are supposed to work, which did not give me any confidence at all. According to it I would need a much bigger wedge than the ones I had.

Anyway, while thinking about what to do, I started with the small tree by chopping away another piece off its bottom, and then another. That had the effect of making the tree start leaning to the north as its top was stuck in the branches above. So after I chopped a bit more from its bottom, its weight finally released it from those branches and it fell to north. But not all the way... again.

stuck again

I cut away a couple meters from its bottom, and then used my own weight to shake it loose. It was barely enough, but worked. The tree was finally down, and I cleaned it away.

Now, ready or not, it was time to deal with the problem. A big tree, leaning in the wrong direction. I checked and if I let it fall anywhere to south, it would definitely get stuck in some sugis in that plot. Also trying to make it to fall to eat or west would not work cause I was leaving 1 big sugi in my plot and it would definitely get caught it that one with its branches, and I would have to cut both down, with unknown and maybe dangerous consequences if they fell like a domino.

So my only option was to fell it toward north. The exact opposite of its natural lean. Almost reluctant I made the face cut low to the north, and also not very deep into the wood. Then took a break to watch the wedge video one more time just in case I had missed anything.

Then I cut in the back very carefully only in the middle and just wide enough to fit in the wedge. And then I put in the wedge as deep as it went. And then I inserted the other wedge next to it by cutting a smaller hole in the back. I was going to use both wedges in tandem. My problem was that both wedges were too small, and one of them was really too small....so I would definitely need both plus a lot of skill and luck.

Wedges in

After that, I made the back cuts starting in the middle and going back. I wanted to leave a strip over which I would force the tree to fall. I was super nervous and almost shaking but finally determined. I took many many breaks to check the tree, to check the cuts and how they were aligned, to switch side on where I was cutting and to hammer in the wedges more and more.

The tree did not seem to move at all. Every now and then I would hear a tiny crack when hammering a wedge but that was pretty much it. I used all my force when hammering the wedges, and finally the smaller of the wedges was all the way in, and still no sign of the tree changing direction.

So I kept going, cutting a bit more and wedging more. Then I noticed that although I had taken big care to just cut deep enough into the wood to meet the wedges, there was a strip of wood untouched between the wedges, perpendicular to the "falling strip" which I intended to leave. Meaning that the tree was held up by a "T" instead of a "--" if seen from south side. I had to get rid of the "T"'s vertical line, i.e. its "I".

I couldn't afford to hesitate so I went on to cut in between the wedges. It was pretty narrow and I had to touch the smaller wedge with the chainsaw from time to time to get through so that wedge got pretty fucked up, but still in there doing its job. After some of the vertical line was gone, I hammered in almost all of the bigger wedge too, and could hear more cracks every time I did. I made the "--" strip thinner a little at a time and hammered more wedge in and finally the big wedge was all the way in too, and right then I heard the extremely satisfying sound of the tree changing direction and slowly falling over its weight. A very very heavy thud later and the tree was down, perfectly to the north where I wanted it.

The wedge is still stuck in there

It was suck a huge feeling of joy and accomplishment to manage felling the seemingly impossible tree against its lean so perfectly. And I did it so closely and with such narrow margins... I mean for example if the wedge was just a centimeter smaller I would have failed.

I still cannot believe I did it afterwards. It feels extremely lucky the more I think about it. Anyway I was proudly walking on clouds the rest of the day.

The wall is getting longer

Rest of my time I am using to haul over logs and build the north wall. After that I will clean up a path for a backhoe to get in and start digging and preparing the ground along the wall.

There is a lot of cleaning left with all the sugis and their branches lying around. But it is cleaner than before in a way.

Taken from north-east looking south. Only 1 sugi standing 

And here is a overall picture for reference

Taken from the usual place

I call the west side Roppongi cause I left 6 trees standing there.

...And then there was 1 left

I am leaving 6 sugi trees on the west side of the plot. All of them are right on the border line, and all 6 lean into Mr. O's land and I don't wanna risk breaking any of his trees by felling mine. Only if he pushes me to get rid of my trees, then I will do it with him, But I guess he will need to clear his land a bit more so my sugis don't get stuck on his on their way down...
On the south side, there are 4 sugis, one of which I am going to leave to mark where the path goes. I am afraid that without such solid marker the path will gradually enter my plot.
So... 3 sugis to be chopped down on south side. The biggest thickest one has to be cut first. Actually I think that is the biggest sugi tree in the whole plot. The other 2 are right next to it, on its south side. The smallest of the three is leaning into my plot and should be pretty easy to fell, but is blocked by the big tree which is why I have to fell it first. The other one should go last cause it has a leaning towards the path, and I think I have to use wedges to get it to fall into my plot. It is slightly smaller than the huge tree so I take that problem when it is time...
With that background, I had problem sleeping on the night before the felling of the huge tree. Actually I was going to ask Mr. O's permission too because it leans north-west, meaning it will definitely fall over his plot too if it falls along its natural lean. But for some reason I wanted to skip the asking permission part.
I kept tossing and turning and imagining how the tree would fall and trying to remember how much its lean it actually was, and going over different strategies to fell it. Yep, I was pretty nervous about the outcome and didn't get a good sleep.
In the morning I went and had a better look at the tree and its lean and slowly and nervously started cutting it down. I made the face cut as much as I could towards north and then continued to cut its back. Learning from my previous mistake, I made the back cut higher up, and made sure I cut in a way that kept the tree in place by providing support where I wanted it to not fall. I kept taking breaks to check the lean over and over again. Eventually I made the final cuts to release the supports and the tree started to squeek and fell slowly to the north.
On its way down I saw that it untangled itself from the smallest sugi's branches next to it, so that when it let go it made the thin tree bend back and forth like it was made of rubber. Wow, I was extremely relieved that the huge tree fell so perfectly toward north and didn't fall into Mr. O's plot.

It also doubles as a see-saw now

Either it was a well behaved tree and I was worrying too much, or I was getting a little better at chopping trees down. Either way, I was happy and ready to take on the small tree which should be a piece of cake.

Yeee-Haaaa!

I made a couple of quick cuts into the smaller tree but it didn't move or fall as I had expected.
What I had missed was that the tree actually was not leaning to north as it seemed before. Its branches were all tangled into the huge tree's and that kind of dragged it toward north but now that it was released it was leaning to the south. It had taken a minute after the big tree fell for the small tree to stop bending back and forth and I didn't look up to check its lean again before cutting into it. It's fake lean to north was so big that I kind of assumed it was still leaning north.
So, with face cut on the opposite side of its lean, and pretty large and straight cut into where it leaned, by the time my chainsaw approached the middle of the tree it got stuck good cause the tree with all its weight wanted to fall in that direction where the chainsaw was.
The only thing stopping it from falling over the path and onto the opposite forest plot to south was a narrow strip of wood still intact, plus the chainsaw that kind of acted like a wedge.
D'Oh! What a anticlimax, after the success of the huge tree, to fail so badly on the small tree. I hurried on bicycle as fast as I could (Chika's bike that I had borrowed, cause mine had died) back home and brought wedges with me. Hurried back expecting the tree to have already fallen over by the wind or some animal, but it was still up. I managed to use the wedges to make a small small gap just tiny enough to release the chainsaw. However the lean was too big for the wedge to change its falling direction so it had to fall to south.
With the chainsaw I removed the last tiny strip and it fell, blocking the path. But the forest in the south stopped it to fall down so it kind of just hung there almost upright.
So I went to work, cutting a meter at a time from its bottom so it would fall a little bit further, but every time it fell new branches in the forest would block it.
Finally I managed to cut enough of it so that it pointed right up, slightly to the south, with its bottom buried 10-20 cm in the ground on the south side of the path. It was stable enough so after that I gave up for the day and went home.

And then there was one

You can see the small tree as I left it in the picture. It's on the right side of the path, looking almost like a normal tree that has grown there from beginning.
I was going to go back on the next day with new energy and chop up the rest of that tree, hoping it would fall somehow through the thick vegetation in the south. And after whatever happened with that, my aim was to fell the remaining one sugi in the south. That one is also leaning to south over the path. And it is much thicker than the small tree that I failed at. So after what happened, I am extremely nervous if I can do it right. I am thinking maybe the best way would be to let it fall over to south, as long as there are no huge trees in its way, I should be able to gradually chop it up... or?
Another sleepless night.

9 trees left

So... with the weekend behind me, this is what the wall looks so far. I think it is solid enough to hold the bamboo.

Maybe one third is done

and the plot itself look like this. Enjoy the after pictures.

The standard far away shot from south east

Shot from south west corner

A little more to the right so the 6 border trees can be seen better

R.I.P. my trusty bicycle

On the second day I brought my wedges too, aiming to cut down the rest of the trees including a couple that leaned outward. I was pretty nervous but I had watched some videos on how to fell trees against their lean, so I wanted to give it a shot.
Again, I started with a small one... estimated where the wedge should go and started to cut.
It didn't go well. After I was done, even with the wedge, the tree fell in a different direction than I wanted. Although it didn't fall toward its natural lean neither. I simply had miscalculated where its actual lean was...

Bye bye..

The tree fell over my bike and pretty much mashed it up beyond repairing. Oh well... I have had it for more than a couple of years now and it had already been in a car accident and also pretty rusty, so I guess I was done with it pretty soon anyway.
Other than that, the tree broke a few branches of trees in Mr. O's plot, but nothing big. I cleaned it all up. Then I chopped down a couple of more trees and after the second day this is what it looked like.

The plot is starting to look like the square that it is

Before there were more than 20 sugi trees to be cut down. Now there are 9.
Six are along the west border, and three along the south. I need to at least cut down the south ones to get more sun to my plot. the west ones I can live with. They all lean over into Mr. O's plot anyway.
The next day I dedicated to build more wall... The south trees can wait until the plot is more cleaned up.

Lumberjack

After a handful of trees were down, it started to get real crowded in the plot so I chopped the trees up into 175 cm sections to be hauled over to the north side. I was thinking I could reinforce the northern wall with the logs.

But before that, I took a couple of selfies...

Cheese!

Fuck you, Greta!

Here is what the north wall looked like after the first day. I ran out of gas and also my own energy after dragging/tipping/rolling the logs over to north side.

Not bad..

From the other side

Cutting down sugis

Over the weekend I took my Husqvarna chainsaw along and went to work with the trees in the bamboo plot. Here are a couple of shots of what the plot looked like before I went to town.

Before! Took this from south side

Same spot, viewed from east

I figured I should start with the easy ones and work my way up, so I cut down the smallest sugis which leaned inwards first. Not so many of those though so I quickly got my hands on the heavier stuff...

A couple trees down

Here is a pic of one of the biggest ones.

Big log

Thanks to the chainsaw being new, it went pretty smoothly, except for one of the smaller ones that was leaning outward. I hadn't brought my wedges so it fell over in the neighbor's plot. Luckily it didn't hit any trees or caused any damage so I quickly chopped it up and cleared it away.

A count of the rings showed that all these trees, regardless of their girth, are more or less of same age, about the same age as me.

I took some nice pictures of the rings while I was counting so I dump them here...

Rings

more rings

I chopped the logs up for later

Close up of rings

Xmas work

Over the holidays, we had quite a few nice and sunny days. I went to the woods almost each of those days, but the working pace and duration differed a lot. Worst/shortest were the days when some neighbor also would show up and start burning stuff in their plot. The smoke does not go well with physically taxing work so I would start panting after maybe an hour and just have to give up and go home.
Anyway, what I did was I stacked all the bamboo in the middle of my plot so that later I could be able to fell sugi trees and also reach along the north wall with a hoe and dig without having to move the bamboo too much. I also cleared all the branches and extra big bamboos that were lying along the north, to avoid misunderstanding about where my plot begins. Some of the more heavy duty bamboos from there I moved all the way to the other plot and laid along its borders.

Taken from south west corner

Even though I haven't really started doing anything in that plot, it already looks much nicer with the borders.

And this is the south east corner looking north 

Back to the bamboo plot, I was ready to go up the north hill and chop down bamboos that look threatening. Which means pretty much all of them.

Bamboo plot. Taken from west side looking in to north

The bamboo plot is really starting to look clean. One sign that it can almost pass as workable land was when I met Mr. O and he asked me: "So, what are you gonna plant in your land?"

A bit closer. This is where I plan to dig and plant first 

Taken from east looking north

However, after a couple of days I started realizing what a tough tough task it is to clean the north plot of bamboos. First, my electric chainsaw is starting to act bad. The batteries only hold about half an hour of charge after charging for 2 hours. And it doesn't have the same power as before, plus its chain is starting to go dull. So each time I went with a "fully" charged chainsaw I could just cut down 10 bamboos and then have to do the rest by hand saw.
Second, the number of bamboos in that particular area is way more than I thought. And third, the bamboo that are standing are pretty old and thick and very hard to cut down by hand and very heavy to haul uphills afterward.
All of this made me adopt a new strategy/policy when it comes to the north neighbor.
What I have cut down so far is fine, I also spent one day to cut down all the younger bamboos there (i.e. thinner than ca. 15 cm) so that no more addition should happen. And every year I will keep cutting down the new shoots. The remaining old ones will eventually die and start falling one by one, which should be manageable. When they dry up and die, they are not as heavy, and if they fall one at at a time, the risk of them falling over to the south is low, and in those cases, risk of them hitting something is even lower. So whenever I find a fallen bamboo I will just return it to the north.

After cutting some of the bamboo 

Same thing, from farther away

The north neighboring plot is pretty much in the same messy state I found it. But now it doesn't lean over my plot as much, plus with my plan it should actually empty itself of bamboo and replace them with some other more bush like plants. And the new bamboos I hauled up and laid there recently should discourage the random bamboo shoot foragers who pop up there cause that area is pretty dangerous to walk in. It wasn't safe before neither but now it actually looks as dangerous as it was.