Mark Ingrisano of Deep Root Tree Service in Farmington cuts the last branch off the old Broadway pine Tuesday morning, with the assistance of a crane from Nickerson Building Movers & Crane Service in Kingfield. Ingrisano cut limbs up as far as his bucket loader would take him before the crane hoisted him up to finish the work. A pulley system with a brake safely brought limbs down. The top pieces of the trunk cut showed rot through the middle as predicted. “The tree has been there a long time,” said Stewart Goodwin, 81, a nearby neighbor. “I remember it being there all my life.” The tree was estimated to be around 150 years old.

A crane from Nickerson Building Movers & Crane Service hoists Mark Ingrisano of Deep Root Tree Service up to the top of the 70-foot pine tree on Broadway in Farmington Tuesday. A pulley system brought each piece down safely after Ingrisano cut it off with a chain saw.

A crane from Nickerson Building Movers & Crane Service hoists Mark Ingrisano of Deep Root Tree Service up to the top of the 70-foot pine tree on Broadway in Farmington Tuesday. A pulley system brought each piece down safely after Ingrisano cut it off with a chain saw.

Mark Ingrisano of Deep Root Tree Service in Farmington lowers a limb from the old pine on Broadway down to a town truck Tuesday. Ingrisano cut as far up the tree as he could, then a crane from Nickerson Building Movers & Crane Service in Kingfield hoisted him to the top to finish cutting the 70-foot pine. Broadway was closed but people wandered through watching the work. “We’re watching a piece of Farmington’s history,” Azalea Shanti said as she and sister, Rowan, and mother, Cheriese, watched.  They walked by it frequently and Azalea called it an owl tree cause it had so many holes in it, she said.

Mark  Ingrisano of Deep Roots Tree Service in Farmington lowers a limb from the old pine on Broadway down to a town truck Tuesday. Ingrisano cut as far as he could before a crane from Nickersons hoisted him to the top to finish cutting the 70-foot pine. Broadway was closed but people wandered through watching the work. “We’re watching a piece of Farmington’s history,” Azalea Shanti said as she and sister, Rowan, and mother, Cheriese, watched.  They walked by it frequently and the girl called it an owl tree cause it had so many holes in it, she said.

A piece of the trunk of the old pine on Broadway was lowered into a waiting truck Tuesday. Mark Ingrisano of Deep Root Tree Service is pictured working from his truck bucket after taking the top limbs and branches down. Some longer pieces near the bottom will be sawed in to boards, Public Works Director Phil Hutchins said. Ross Clair of Chesterville will set up a portable saw station at the department to cut the tree into boards if the there is enough good wood in the trunk, he said.

As smaller pieces of the pine on Broadway were lowered to a waiting truck Tuesday, the rotten center of the tree was clearly visible. The tree had apparently been hit by lightning at some point. Safety concerns prompted town officials to bring it down.

Observers watch Tuesday as one of the last pieces of trunk on the old Broadway pine in Farmington came down.  A crane from Nickerson Building Movers & Crane Service hoisted the piece of trunk in to a waiting town truck. It was taken to the town’s Public Works garage. Mark Ingrisano and his assistant, Jordan Whitney, of Deep Root Tree Service worked from about 7 a.m. to after 12:30 p.m. with a short break mid-morning.