Paul Bass Photo
Carl Zemke took a round three-inch file to the ground-down teeth of his Stihl chainsaw Monday morning convinced that the old blade could still do the job.
Zemke, 37, removes trees that threaten public safety for the city government’s parks and trees department. Monday he was assigned to bring down a cancerous elm tree half a block up from Elm Street on Howe. A limb had split; other potential splits threatened the safety of the busy block’s pedestrians and dog-walkers.
“I’m sharpening the chainsaw getting ready to finish taking down this tree,” Zemke said after pausing mid-gig to return to earth from the aerial bucket.
“This is probably seven, eight years old now. It probably cut through hundreds, maybe close to 1,000 trees,” Zemke said as he sharpened through a conversation on the “Word on the Street” segment of WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” program.
Some private companies don’t keep the chains or the blades this long, he said. Some “lazy guys” never sharpen their chainsaws at all. “I like to preserve it. I like to think it cuts better when I sharpen it, because it’s my liking at that point. It’s more like a chef’s knife. It’s perfect that way.”
Some who do sharpen have switched to square-edged files. Not Zemke, who describes himself as old-school.
He’s also sticking for now with gas-powered chainsaws. (“I like the engines.”) He’s watching the electric ones to see how they improve; at some point he anticipates making the switch.
Zemke’s brother got him into the tree-maintenance business 10 years ago. He started working on ash trees for the Asplundh Tree Expert company. Three years ago he landed the city job.
“’It’s an art, man. It really is. Science, art, math — you have to make thousands of decisions every second of the day. I love doing what I do.”
Those decisions include watching carefully how each segment of the tree falls to make sure no one below gets hit. The area around the tree was blocked off to foot traffic. Still, people are often on their cell phones and not looking up, Zemke noted.
Off hours, Zemke still hangs out with trees when he cans. He enjoys hiking in Sleeping Giant State Park with his 13-year-old nephew. He and his brother do off-hours jobs on the side.
Satisfied with the sharpening, Zemke returned to his feet …
… climbed back up on the truck, into the bucket, and back high above Howe.
Amid snowshower-like drifts of flying flakes of wood …
… he methodically severed the elm’s limbs and upper torso …
… wrestled them from the trunk, and sent them safely to a pile on the ground, away from passing people.
The Stihl blade hadn’t let him down.
Click on the video to watch the full conversation with Carl Zemke on the “Word on the Street” segment of WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” program.
Click here to subscribe to WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” and here to subscribe to other WNHH programs.
Click here and see below for previous“Word on the Street” episodes and write-ups.
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Zemke = smart
Person who doesn't sharpen their chainsaw blades = ER candidate