The year long saga to clear the Ruru track of a big kahikatea that came down during Cyclone Gabrielle is finally over thanks to our amazing friend and volunteer, Paul, who is a Trainer/Assessor in the Arbocultural department at Treescape.

Last year, Paul removed the huge tree which was too big for us to handle.

However, a smaller storm in October caused the stump and root ball of the original kahikatea to fall onto the track, blocking it again.

We requested Paul to help out once again.  He pointed out that the falling stump had undermined another big kahikatea further uphill and he removed it before it could fall and cause further problems.  The stump and root ball, however, was too encrusted with clay and mud to safely use a chainsaw on it.  A chainsaw blade encountering dirt immediately becomes dull.

Paul advised us to try to clean off as much clay as we could and he would then be able to cut up the stump.  We requested some of our volunteers to have a go and they did a great job.

Once the stump was cleared, Thomas decided to tackle the job himself.

Unfortunately, his two chainsaws were no match for the thick heavy roots and only managed a few cuts before packing up.

We then got in touch with Paul to request his help once more and he immediately agreed to come out after work on Thursday.  He even purchased a new special purpose chain which was designed for cutting surfaces that might be contaminated by dirt, etc.

Paul arrived early evening, fired up his chainsaw and went to work.

He started out by cutting off some of the big protruding roots.

He then made a series of cuts at various angles around the stump until it literally fell apart.

As the smaller bits fell off, he cut them down to manageable size.

And he very kindly moved everything off the track.

Thanks to Paul’s help, we can now get to work cleaning up the track and preparing it for summer visitors.

CUE Haven is blessed to have so many wonderful friends and volunteers and we really appreciate Paul’s willingness to give up his time to come out once again to help with some very challenging work.  Thank you!!