Questionable standing-ish dead tree
- Thread starter SpaceBus
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
I'd have an insured pro come out and deal with it.
Last edited:
mstoelton
Feeling the Heat
Stay away, if you cut the tree and cause an issue, the power company will blame you and may try to charge you for the damages.
They won't. My neighbor felled a healthy tree on their line and nothing happened.
For what reason? Too difficult? How would the pro cut it down?
Too dangerous if one does not know what one is doing. There are you tube videos that show how some would cut this down, but every tree and situation is somewhat unique.
Yes, you are right. It doesn't look like it's going to fall down in the near future, so it can wait for a bit. I was asking in this forum for ideas, but I am looking elsewhere as well. I'm the end, I still want to cut it down myself. We have 24 acres and I'm not calling someone every time it's not an easy tree.
I have tremendous respect for the dangers. I've heard similar stories, and there are many. Trees definitely require respect. After this tree is dealt with, I intend to clear more trees away from the power line to hopefully not have this issue in the future.
bfitz3
Feeling the Heat
Gravity and time will do it for free. I’ve spent way too much time/effort and risk to quickly take down a couple that were hung up. After reaping the rewards of patience on a particularly nasty one, I’ll gladly wait from now on.
Am presently waiting for a nice 18” sugar maple to pop off of some other maples. It’s fallen from maybe 60 to 45 degrees as the smaller branches have broken. Once it;s down.... easy pickens!
Am presently waiting for a nice 18” sugar maple to pop off of some other maples. It’s fallen from maybe 60 to 45 degrees as the smaller branches have broken. Once it;s down.... easy pickens!
I would just wait if it didn't look like it would fall on our power lines. Unfortunately my power company won't do anything about it until there is a problem.
Me I would hire person to do it. I had lots of those after couple windstorms. Rather pay couple thousand dollars than be dead or cripple. If you have to do it see if cable and tractor can help. Just remember no tree is worth your life. After reviewing your pics I would send wife out with 75f cable we have and tractor and yank it clear. If you don't have equipment see if you can borrow or hire person.
I do have a ram 3500 that should be able to pull that tree down in low range. Would you recommend a synthetic tow strap or to stick with steel cable?
darktower007
Feeling the Heat
Pay a pro.. and call and check their insurance! One company near me had a crane fall on a house... and their insurance lapsed!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
charger4406
Feeling the Heat
I might just get a come along and some more chain. I don't like using vehicles to pull hung up trees. Last time I broke two tow straps and dug holes in my land lord's yard with his tractor.
Medic21
Minister of Fire
I would use a skid loader or tracto to get it on the ground. Until it’s down I wouldn’t touch it.
Is a little firewood worth a serious injury? It’s dangerous enough, why make firewood cutting more dangerous? You can buy 30+ loads of wood for the price of a EMS and ER bill for something that’s not too bad.
Is a little firewood worth a serious injury? It’s dangerous enough, why make firewood cutting more dangerous? You can buy 30+ loads of wood for the price of a EMS and ER bill for something that’s not too bad.
It's not for firewood necessarily, it will be burned, but the tree will fall on the powerlines eventually. I don't have a tractor yet, but but I think a come along plus some straps will bring it down safely.
I'd use tow straps on the tree (non-conductive), and then switch to chain to your truck, it'll come right down.
wooduser
Minister of Fire
Whose property is it on?
As I understand the way the civil law treats hazardous trees, the owner of a tree can be held responsible for the damage it does if he knows or should have known that the tree is a danger to life or property.
If it's on someone else's property and you are concerned about a power outage should the tree fall, you might consider a letter to the property owner informing them of the hazard.
A letter to the electric utility warning them of the hazard might get them going, too, for similar reasons and to avoid a power outage and greater damage to their property. Utility personnel in the field might be inclined to ignore a hazard that the company risk manager might take more seriously.
As I understand the way the civil law treats hazardous trees, the owner of a tree can be held responsible for the damage it does if he knows or should have known that the tree is a danger to life or property.
If it's on someone else's property and you are concerned about a power outage should the tree fall, you might consider a letter to the property owner informing them of the hazard.
A letter to the electric utility warning them of the hazard might get them going, too, for similar reasons and to avoid a power outage and greater damage to their property. Utility personnel in the field might be inclined to ignore a hazard that the company risk manager might take more seriously.
My question is, how are you going to take it down in a different direction than gravity and time will. A tree that's broke off leaning that bad is only going one way, so if it's going to hit the lines on it's own, it's going to hit them when you try to take it down. I only have my phone, but I can't see the lines in your pics. Also, did the trunk snap or did it uproot? If you can hook a piece of equipment to it and yank it down, go for it. If you have to do any sawing at the base, that could get dangerous. I could be wrong, but I don't think a pickup truck or come a long is going to get it.
It's broken about four feet from the ground, and only resting on the stump. It's not died recently, and it's been drying out for a while. It was probably standing dead and then blew over. I just cut an 8' falls stump today, probably 18" across, and the 16" long rounds were lighter than a smaller tree that I cut down for a neighbor. The 8' stump is basically seasoned. I imagine my leaning tower of calamity tree is the same, but perhaps more rotten.
Similar threads
