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We returned to the big ironbark tree for the completion of the Inaugural Lop on the 10th June 2007. In attendance for the felling were Tobes, myself and the newest Woodchopper, Nhi. Our first female woodchopper had a swing of the new axe on the afternoon it was purchased and came along for more..

As mentioned at the end of the write-up about the Inaugural Lop, I broke my old axe Sally and had to buy a new one. I found Jemima, a beautiful hickory-handled Plumb axe that came with a free file. The test run out in the backyard on a log was a good sign of things to come. I also bought some workmen’s gloves and a pair of tinted safety glasses.

Once again, I got the opportunity to open the day’s chopping and the effects of a large night-before were not agreeing with the jolts going through my guts. We started at around 10.30am and we were committed to knocking this tree down before sunset. After I had taken out a small section, I let Tobes try out Jemima for the first time..

Given the dangerous nature of chopping down a massive tree such as this one, having safety precautions and procedures devised was paramount to avoiding any incidents - safety first. Throughout the day Tobes and I discussed such matters as what the woodcutter is to do when the tree started to fall and designating a safety zone for non-active woodcutters to sit.

Toby and I were both in the safety zone after showing Nhi the ropes. Nhi took to it with true muster as she swung the weighty 2kg axe into the impervious ironbark and succeeded in taking out chips of the tree. Quite a few hours of us taking turns on the tree had passed before we hesitantly took a tea break up at the house, remembering that our axe broke on return from the house last time. Our morale was positive and the progress was looking solid..

On returning from the relaxing tea break, I dressed-up the mildly sharp axe blade with the file and strongly belted into the tree to see if the new Tasmanian-style axe was up for the job. Tobes and I were becoming bewildered with the fact that the tree still stood given the wedge that we had chopped out of it.

Our quick progress was due in part to a little productivity game I trialled with Tobes and I where we would tag team each other for 3 sessions of 30 seconds hard and fast chopping - almost like show chopping. The tree forked out just above where we were making our wedge and when Tobes hit directly below it, he got covered in tree sap for the next few blows. We came to a point when it got very tense - the non-chopper was well and truly in the safety zone and was responsible for being the “spotter” when the tree looked like falling..

Tobes and I were still in disbelief as the tree appeared to defy the laws of physics and gravity in the final stages of the lop. I can remember banging the axe into the tree with long pauses in between then one bang and I heard the beast give out the all mightiest creak.. I bolted up the opposite hill, my back turned to the tree with my trusty Jemima in my arms yelling out TIMMMBERRR!! and laughing in pure elation at the same time.. Luckily the other woodcutters were paying full attention as the tree landed directly into our safety zone.

Nhi and I took some happy snaps with hardiest axe I have used yet - working through an ironbark log in the backyard and a full day’s chopping a living ironbark tree far surpassed the longevity of my former broken axes.

Although the tree landed in the safety zone, it still landed in the uphill direction I had bet Toby $50 on prior to the felling. The day wasn’t over yet, the other part of the tree fork was still standing on a sliver of wood and needed to be lopped. Toby and I started off sharing small sessions of attacking the last section of the tree then Toby got stuck in, determined to have a piece of Woodcutter glory - the glory of knocking over a tree.

Toby did indeed finish off the tree, however the tree’s upper limbs fell into the canopy of the surrounding trees. Given the fact that the smaller tree was also leaning on the side of a hill, the job of getting this offcut to lay flat was very difficult. We tried using a rope for a tug-of-war, we tried a giant sledgehammer and we finally tried pulling on the rope from different angles which did have better results but it was to no avail. The tree remains in the position pictured above and we shall return with a chainsaw to process the fruits of our labour..

The Inaugural Lop of the Woodcutters got under way on the 2nd June 2007 at a picturesque property situated in the Redland Bay area. The chopping down of a tree was an idea that had been bandied about quite a few times during previous chops and was planned to happen at a weekend-long campout many kilometres away from a city. Although the Woodcutters Inaugural Jamboree didn’t take place at the lop, we were still lucky enough to have the opportunity to bring down this 100-foot ironbark monster.

I have been often asked about the legality of rocking up with an axe and chopping down a tree as big as this, let alone any tree. Lightening had struck our lucky tree and it was approved by the council to be removed - by way of axe! The tree might have shed all of its leaves but it was by no means weakened, it still had a “green” thick base.

When we arrived at the lop site, the owner of the property let Tobes and I know about the deal with the council approval and also let us know about his doubts of us getting the job done. We knew we would fell the tree, we just didn’t know how to do it.

The plan was to chop a wedge out of the base to make it fall up the hill as the tree was on the side of a slope. I started off the account with Sally, hitting straight into the bark. My brand new steel-capped Dunlop Volleys providing some assistance on the inclined chopping ground.

Hitting straight into the papery bark was absorbing most of the force of the blows, so we stripped off the bark where we were going to chop. Once we dressed up the chopping region, our progress was slow and arduous. Chopping ironbark is quite hard on the arms as each chop rattles right up through the axe and it sounds like an axe hitting concrete.

After about an hour and half of chopping, we were called up to the house for a lunch break. During lunch we dined on fine Subway footlongs whilst we enjoyed views of Moreton Bay. We then returned back to the tree with our raw, leathery hands to recommence our work on the tree.

Toby “re-opened the batting” for a little while and handed the axe to me for what would be the last chop of the day. I delivered around 14 blows to the tree in my first chop since lunch before disaster struck - I broke Sally clean off at the head.

The fibreglass handle theory had let me down, yet another $50 axe had let me down and we were half-an-hour’s drive away from my Bunnings receipt. With no backup axe, we had to call it a day due to equipment failure.

Another broken axe, another visit to the Bunnings that afternoon looking tough in my flanny and steel-capped Volleys. I went on a shopping spree picking up a brand new Swedish-made Plumb (Cooper Tools) hickory-handle Tasmanian axe with free rats-tail file, a pair of green-and-gold heavy-duty riggers gloves and a sweet pair of tinted safety glasses.

I rushed home with my brand new equipment and tested out the new axe on one of the logs in the backyard.  The new axe didn’t fail to impress me on the ironbark log which I tore through in under 10 minutes.  I was pretty stuffed by the end of my mini-chop as a day of chopping trees and logs wore me out.  The name of my new axe will be revealed in the next post..