OK, today I went out to have a little chopping fun.
I started out clearing out some branches that were intruding into the driveway, ranging from teeny to 2" in diameter. I used my handy Paul's Hatchet for this, and it did a bangup job. Worked into a frenzy, I looked for something else to chop. There were perhaps a dozen small pine trees, diameters 1"->2.5", growing along my fence, that clearly needed to go. The Hatchet made short work of them, though when I went into the house to wash it off, my wife told my mother, on the phone, that I was busy finding out how big a tree I could cut down with how small an axe.
This gave me a great idea. There were two pine trees in the front, 4.5-5" in diameter, that weren't going to make it - the bottom limbs were dead, and they were stunted, being hemmed in by many larger trees. I cackled, grabbed my BM-E, and headed outside.
My wife came out at a priceless moment - my last wack on the biggest tree, after which it went down with a cry of "timber!". My 5 year old daughter asked my wife "what is Daddy doing"? She responded "I think he's trying to cut down the tallest tree in the forest - with a herring..."
Anyway, the two larger trees came down just fine, using only the BM-E. A lot more work than using an axe, but not too horrible - I was quite surprised, really.
Both blades remain sharp, and show no signs of damage, even though Paul's Hatchet hit several rocks and such while trimming the driveway.
Later in the afternoon, my wife and I were assembling a shed, when she complained "this tree keeps getting in my way!" I whipped out The Hatchet, and down came the wee tree before she could blink. She looked a tad surprised.
Anyway, got to go, someone's at the door with a little white coat...
