Felling a Tree - March 28-April 1, 1994 The following article once appeared in a newspaper. Is it a good article? Could you make it better? "HOW TO FELL A TREE" Tree removal used to be a hard, hazardous job, one better left to removal companies. But along came the lightweight chain saw and now it's easy to cut a 30-foot tall tree into neat fireplace-length logs in a few hours. There's just one problem. Felling a tree is still hazardous, although it need not be. If you have analyzed its fall correctly and have made the proper cuts, it will fall exactly where you plan. But if you haven't, no amount of guy wires or ropes can be trusted to guide its crash to the ground. The first thing you have to do is find how much room it needs when it falls. You can do this by using the Boy Scout method of measuring heights. A triangle with sides of three, four, and five feet is placed so that you sight along the five-foot side while you move the triangle to a point where the top of the tree comes into sight, as shown above. That's how far the tree will reach when it's felled. Correct solutions to the problem were submitted by: Rebecca Naughton Grade 9, Fairfield HS, CT Katie Getsy, Grade 9, and Ben Ladik, Grade 12 Steel Valley High School, Pa. Jill Grobelski and Derek Morrison Grade 9, Steel Valley High School, Pa. Barb Lutka Grade 9, Steel Valley High School, Pa. Next problem || Previous problem || Table of Contents || Forum Home Page