The tree by the lake · · PAGE 18.

July 7, 2020:  I looked back to find a few web pages and photos showing the tree by the lake and the wind damage from local thunder storms.  The tree went from straight up to this angle after a local storm with strong winds started to uproot the tree in the soft sandy soil.  The ground below is not firm as the water level from the lake allows these changes.

October 20, 2020:  The old dock is still out there, but that has nothing to do with the angle of the tree getting to the point I felt it needed to be braced.

This wide shot of the tree gives a better view of how much the tree is slowly falling over with each rain storm passing by the house.  This image shows the growing "root ball" on the north side of the tree in this photo looking west toward Fish Lake.

May 25, 2021:  I started taking photos when the tree removal began.  I had removed the braces a few days before they arrived today.  It did not take long until the tree was fully horizontal .  With the tree on the ground,  the chain saws quickly cut the limbs and trunk into manageable pieces that could be carried away.  The tracked vehicle seen here has a front end loader that can grasp many tree limbs and the pieces of the tree trunk and carry them to the truck on the street in front of the house.

The crew was also tasked with removing the Spanish Moss from the large tree behind the house.  The guy in the green shirt has a long pole with a chain saw to reach up to remove dead branches from the strangling effects of the moss.

This photo shows the final size of the root ball when the tree was lying on the ground at the bottom left corner of the photo below.  The main thing to see in this image is the high-rise platform that gives access to the upper branches of the tree for pruning.

The track vehicle is backing out of the gate on the south side of the house heading for the street to unload the tree limbs for final removal.

This big truck is equipped with a large claw to pick up the tree limbs from the road side and place them in the truck bed.  I have seen this type of truck working after a hurricane a few years ago.

Here is the load seen in a photo above after ready to be put into the large truck.

Their truck that brought the two tracked vehicles to our location is seen here waiting for the completion of the job.  The tree trunk was brought up front before the pile of limbs.

This photo looking at the north side of tree shows the tracked vehicle ready to remove another load of limbs for transport to the street side location seen above.