That is a reasonable task for the pole. Should it be more pointy? The gutter adze was the tool for removing thickness at joist, if I am not mistaken. The scrub plane of the adze world. I like it, gouge it out, flip it to check fit and flip it again for a little more removal and flip it back for home, and I didn't have to bend over. Working with the late Bill Copperthwaite, he often went to extremes to reduce repetitive steps, like bending over and over and over or climbing up and down a latter too many times. It is places like this that I see the "old timers" shined.
