Finished Clearing Brush for Course
We cut down about a half dozen small, less than 6 inches in diameter, trees on 01/21/2024 (4 hours) in the parking area on the right. We then stacked the logs from the cut trees to form a border to the parking area on the right. We also cleared brush along the creek. All of the work was done using a machete, loppers, and hedge shears. On 02/18/2024 (6 hours) we removed brush from a small island. This island will most likely become the main focal point of the miniature golf course. We also cleared brush along the creek. All of the work was done using a machete and loppers. We cleared brush on 03/09/2024 (5 hours) on the left side of the creek by hand using loppers and a machete. There are some small trees that seem to be fairly healthy that we would like to keep and design the course around. We cleared the brush on the left side of the property by hand using loppers and a machete on 03/17/2024 (6 hours). Most of the course has now been cleared of brush. There are still some larger dead trees that need to be cut down. We finished clearing the brush for the course on 04/13/2024 (5 hours) by hand using loppers and a machete. There are still some larger dead trees that need to be cut down.
On 05/18/2024 (4 hours) and 05/25/2024 (8 hours) we cut down the left half of a dead tree at the end of the gravel driveway close to the road. Initially, we tried cutting the top half of the tree so that it would not hit the road. We used tree screws and a rope to climb the tree. We ended up tying one end of a rope to the top half of the tree and the other end to another tree away from the road. We used a come-along to get the tree to lean away from the road. We then made the face cut and back cut at the base of the tree with the two-man saw to get it to fall away from the road. As it was falling, the tree got stuck in another tree. We will have to finish getting it to the ground next time. We cut down the right half of a dead tree on 06/22/2024 (5 hours) at the end of the gravel driveway close to the road. We used tree screws and a rope to climb the tree. We tied one end of a rope to the top half of the tree and the other end to another tree away from the road. We used a come-along to get the tree to lean away from the road. We then made the face cut and back cut at the base of the tree with the two-man saw to get it to fall away from the road. We also cut several feet off from the base of the left half of the tree that got stuck in another tree when it fell in May. After removing several feet from the base, the tree was light enough for us to move. We were then able to pull the base out until the tree cleared the other tree and fell to the ground. We cut down two dead trees on the right side of the property close to the road on 07/13/2024 (4 hours). We used a pole saw to set a rope around the upper half of the trees. We then attached the rope to an already fallen tree on the ground. We used a come-along to get the trees to lean away from the road. We then made the face cuts and back cuts at the base of the trees with the two-man saw to get them to fall away from the road. When they were close to falling, we pulled the saw out and used wedges to finish getting them to fall away from the road. On 08/04/2024 (4 hours) we began the one and only grass cut of 2024. We used a manual weed whip and scythe. Then we finished cutting the grass on 08/11/2024 through 08/15/2024 working approximately 2 hours each day for a total of 10 hours. This time we used a manual weed whip along with an electric hedge trimmer plugged into a gas generator. The electric hedge trimmer was used to cut the majority of the grass, and it did a great job considering a lot of the grass was over 6 feet tall.
We cut up some logs on 09/14/2024 (4 hours) from fallen trees and started building a corduroy road. This temporary road will be used to travel through the parking area without getting stuck. We cut up several trees that were already on the ground into logs on 10/19/2024 (4 hours). We then added some of these logs to the corduroy road. In addition, while the leaves were still on the trees, we marked the trees that were dead by placing a notch in them on the side facing the road at chest height. This way during the winter we will know which trees are dead and can be cut down. On 11/16/2024 (4 hours) we cut down a leaning Catalpa tree with exposed roots. The tree was located in the parking area, and we felt it was unsafe. In addition, we cut up several trees that were already on the ground into logs. The logs were used for edging on the right side of the parking area. We cleared brush on 12/14/2024 (4 hours) from the back left corner of the course. Then logs were stacked and used as edging to outline the back of the course on the left. In addition, a couple of dead trees were cut down.
