Hick's Buddy Identifies a Corpse, and Pony House Gets a Zipline

Hick hired one of his buddies to assist him in renovating Pony House. Just for certain jobs he can't do by himself, like working under the house. Hick can get in, and Hick can get out, but Hick can't repeatedly crawl in and out to get what he needs. Hick's Buddy is no spring chicken, but he said he has no issues with going under the house. With HOS (Hick's Oldest Son) busy with other things, this should speed up the Pony House projects, since Hick will know for sure when he can tackle certain jobs.

On Wednesday they shored up the floor joists that were unstable under the Master Bedroom. Thursday, Hick's Buddy finished removing the old ductwork under Pony House. According to Hick, it was not usable. As an extra bonus, Hick's Buddy found out what was stinking up Pony House. A DEAD SQUIRREL. Which he also removed.

In addition, Hick has an agreement with "a kid from the storage units" to assist him in jobs Hick's Buddy can't do. Such as putting in the plumbing. Such a small world! Apparently Kid also works at the Liquor Store where I buy my scratchers, and has a girlfriend who works at the post office with Pony. AND is on the new crew of Tree-Trimmer Guy. He's not exactly a kid, at almost 30.

Anyhoo... they've been lopping off lumber from the pecan tree this week. Hick says he sent me a picture, but it hasn't arrived yet. He also had a short video, but I knew our weak-as-a-kitten invisible internet juju could not handle such a transfer.

Tree-Trimmer Guy made a ZIPLINE to drop the limbs. Hick says you can one it online if you look for tree-trimming ziplines. I'll take his word for it. In fact, Tree-Trimmer Guy said he'd never used one before, but looked it up and gave it a try. Here's how it works, as seen in Hick's video...

Up in the top of the pecan tree, you can see leaves rustling. Then a log the thickness of a Sumo Wrestler's thigh drops down into view, and begins sliding down a rope that is stretched from up in the tree, down into the back yard. That's all there is to it. Hick says it happened too fast for him to turn the phone and show the other end of the zipline. 

Tree-Trimmer Guy has his truck parked in the back yard. It has eye bolts on the front that the other two workers thread a rope through. The upper end of the rope is attached in the tree. Tree-Trimmer Guy ties off the section of limb that he's about to cut, with its ropes attached to the zip line. The guys on the ground pull the zipline rope taught, but have to let it go slack as the zipping limb nears the ground, or it will slam into the front of the truck!

Tree-Trimmer Guy called Hick on Thursday afternoon, and said he had finished the limbs hanging over Pony House. Now the main part of the tree is left. As Hick says, the upper limbs are still as thick as a regular tree trunk. He paid Tree-Trimmer Guy $1000 of his fee on Wednesday. So $1250 of the agreed-upon price of $3250 has been paid.

"I knew he was planning to cut the limbs over the house Thursday. So I didn't go over to work. I didn't want to be inside while that was going on."

Hick said that one limb he watched come down the zipline was so heavy that the tractor almost couldn't pick it up. It was thicker than Hick could reach his arms around. I think Tree-Trimmer Guy is learning a lot on this job.