Because I recently suffered tree damage and admire heavy machinery, I was curious to watch Gene Ryan and crew removing a large ash tree at 513 W. Morris Street, Morrison, IL, on Wednesday, March 3, 2010.  The process involves multiple stages, but I witnessed only a small portion of the task.

It was exciting to approach the blocked street and see a towering crane hoist a large chunk-of-trunk away from the intact base of a tree, glide it smoothly across the sky, and deposit it on the street.  Ryan is the master behind the machine.  One piece weighed about 9000 pounds, he estimated. 

His oldest son, Brett, is called “Bucket Man.”  He waited patiently for his return to sawing the next segment.  Ryan said his son has grown “from ground to bucket” in his tree responsibilities. 

This short quote applies to Ryan’s Tree Service, Inc., which is located at 23454 Emerson Road, Sterling, IL, but the irony sounds like George Carlin:  "Hmmm...we chop down trees and chop up wood."

How long did it take the team to deconstruct the 5-foot-wide ash and eliminate the debris?  Later that day Ryan stated they worked from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Only a gigantic stump remained to mark the day’s labors, when I drove past at 5:00.  It covered “16-20 inches” of the drive to the garage in the owner’s yard, he said.

Perhaps that led to the decision to remove the old tree.  Ronald Hilty, who watched the event with me, lives next door.  I commented, “So, you have known this tree for a long time.”  He answered, “It’s a messy tree; dropped a lot of trunks and sticks in the spring.  I’ve been cleaning it up for many, many years.”  He described how the ash tree spread over both the neighbor’s house and his.

Ryan told me he calculated the tree’s age, based on its radius of 30 inches times the three-and-a-half rings per inch at the interior.  This gave an estimate of 105 years; one could guess the ash tree took root in 1905.

I was invited to watch Brett cut the next section of tree from Hilty’s backyard deck.  The younger Ryan walks around the tree while standing in the bucket, guided by his father, and uses a chainsaw to slice through the trunk.  I carried away bits of the tree, particles that filled the air like wood glitter.

"The best friend on earth of man is the tree. When we use the tree respectfully and economically, we have one of the greatest resources on the earth." Frank Lloyd Wright

Ryan told me that he would use 80-85 % of the wood as home firewood and to heat his shop.

Besides the giant crane, a Bobcat was used onsite to move smaller limbs and branches to the chipper and to clean up.  Dump truck loads of chipped wood were removed before the job was complete.

Somewhat selfishly, I asked, “What happened to all the chipped wood?”  I could have used some for garden mulch.  It is recycled at Ryan’s farm--placed on the ground or used as bedding for his cattle.  He farms 600 acres in addition to running his tree service and newly formed crane business.

“For 26 years I used B & B [Crane] Service in Morrison.  Then, I bought my own and have had it for three years.  You get to the point where you don’t want to track up someone’s yard” [with a truck.] The crane allows remote access from the street or driveway, as in this case.  He hires out to set building trusses, aid other tree services, and do grain handling legwork.   

Ryan’s son, Chad, is serving in the military, stationed in Hawaii.  He will retire at age 39 and join the family business.  But which one?

Gene Ryan stated, “The rule of thumb is, everybody stays inside until it begins to rain and get warm.  I usually get only 4 or 5 calls a day [in late winter.]  But, now, I’m getting 10 to 15 a day.”

“Spring has sprung” when trees are felled by Ryan and his team.