I have a dilemma.

When the original owners built our house, they cut down as few trees as possible. As a result, trees literally surround us.

The good news is that the trees keep the house cooler in the summer and provide a wind block all year round. The bad news is that the trees limited the places where I could erect a tower on our property. There was really only one good clear spot to raise my 55 foot tower and that is where I put it when we moved in 14 years ago.

But now my tower and I are in a tight spot. Sixty to 70 foot trees are now encroaching on the tower and after another growing season or two, the trees will prevent me from rotating the beam on the top of the tower.

I own a chain saw, but I am not brave enough to cut down 70 foot behemoths. I never use a chain saw above ground level, so I won't be climbing to clear out the offending branches. Therefore, I will have to hire a tree professional to clear the area around my tower.

I know that some of you are braver than I am and are willing to tackle a tree no matter how big it may be, so this week, I want to direct you to some Web sites concerning tree cutting safety.

How to Fell a Tree Using a Chainsaw provides a detailed and illustrated discourse on the subject at the About.com Web site.

Homeowners Tree Cutting Safety includes some sage advice on the topic like, "Ladder and chainsaw are two words that do not belong in the same sentence."

Tree Trimming from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) addresses the task of removing branches rather than whole trees.

I hope those pages help you have a safe tree experience.

Until next time, keep on surfin'!

Editor's note: To communicate with Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, save a tree and send him e-mail instead or add comments to his blog. By the way, every installment of Surfin' is indexed here, so go look it up.

Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor