Was thirteen with my dad getting firewood. He went after a standing deadfall and I commented it had a serious twist - told to go stand by the truck. Went down the road and turned around just in time to watch the tree smack the box and the roof of the truck. Finished up cutting everything...... he never said a word the entire time. Mom lost her mind over the damage to her truck.
I spent my summers as a teen up at Grandpas hunting camp cutting trees, cutting and stacking firewood and even doing a little commercial lumbering when we would take trees to a local sawmill for a little cash. Two times in my life I have looked at trees that were too close to the house and needed to be removed and decided to go ahead and spend the money and bring in the pros. I "read the lean" and said "no way". On one of them they used a bucket truck and lifted it out in pieces.
I cut wood in high school with a buddy, to sell for extra money. We used his truck and saw, and made a few bucks. I also worked in a gas station. I was working a 12 hour Sunday shift, and he was cutting wood alone, and he dropped a tree onto the box of his truck, smashing one side of it. Not a lot of damage, but enough to tell what he had done. He got a lot of grief at school the next week, over that one.
I shoot a fishing line over the top of tree with an ounce sinker and slingshot . Pull a 3/16" nylon rope over the branch with that . Then a 1/4 inch wire rope gets pulled over with that. Hook it to my F250 and put a good pull on it . Learned that from an Amish buddy that fells trees for a living .
This was such an incredibly "stupid" idiot that it defies belief.
Consider the possibility that the owner was "selling" his home to the insurance company. I expect that an insurance investigator would be looking at serious maintenance/repair issues that needed to be addressed with serious expense prior to the event.
Two middle-aged men find themselves walking along a Florida beach. The first says to the second, "You're retired? You look so young.'
The second man says, "Yes, I spent my whole life building my business. Then there was a fire. Rebuilding? That wasn't an attractive option, so I took the insurance money and came to Florida.
The first man says, "My situation was similar to yours, except that a flood wiped out my business, so I took the insurance money and here I am in Florida.
The second man looks at the first and says, "A flood??? How do you start a flood???"
For trees that leaned like that, my dad wrapped a loooong chain around it high up, then made the notch cut. After this, he pulled the chain with the tractor until the tree fell - in the direction he wanted it to go.
Look at the bright side, he still has most of the roof, the chimney's intact, and there's plenty of firewood and dry kindling.
Any time I fell a tree near the house, its time for the stout nylon tow strap, the chain come-along anchored to another tree, and plenty of tension. Cut the felling notch, heave in on the tension, make the back cut. That sucker is only going one way.
Because it's much easier to cut and split that sucker when it's cold than when it's blazing hot outside. Anytime I've got wood to cut and split, I put it off until it gets cold - if I can.
The old man would cut and I would split and stack. Kind of pissed me off when he bought a hydraulic splitter after I joined the Army. He used wedges and always seemed to put them down exactly where he wanted. Damn sure never dropped anything on the house or barn. Eod1sg Ret
Not very good at 'reading the lean', is he?
ReplyDeleteEveryone thinks they are a lumberjack.....no wedges, no visible notching....
ReplyDeleteStupid is stupid does. Oh well I guess he'll never make that mistake again
ReplyDeleteLOL... wanna bet?
DeleteI'm no tree trimmer but even I saw that coming way before it happened
ReplyDeleteJD
There ARE easier ways to remove snow from a roof.
ReplyDeleteHe just wanted the firewood closer to the house.
ReplyDeleteWas thirteen with my dad getting firewood. He went after a standing deadfall and I commented it had a serious twist - told to go stand by the truck. Went down the road and turned around just in time to watch the tree smack the box and the roof of the truck.
ReplyDeleteFinished up cutting everything...... he never said a word the entire time.
Mom lost her mind over the damage to her truck.
I spent my summers as a teen up at Grandpas hunting camp cutting trees, cutting and stacking firewood and even doing a little commercial lumbering when we would take trees to a local sawmill for a little cash. Two times in my life I have looked at trees that were too close to the house and needed to be removed and decided to go ahead and spend the money and bring in the pros. I "read the lean" and said "no way". On one of them they used a bucket truck and lifted it out in pieces.
ReplyDeleteI cut wood in high school with a buddy, to sell for extra money. We used his truck and saw, and made a few bucks. I also worked in a gas station.
ReplyDeleteI was working a 12 hour Sunday shift, and he was cutting wood alone, and he dropped a tree onto the box of his truck, smashing one side of it. Not a lot of damage, but enough to tell what he had done. He got a lot of grief at school the next week, over that one.
I shoot a fishing line over the top of tree with an ounce sinker and slingshot . Pull a 3/16" nylon rope over the branch with that . Then a 1/4 inch wire rope gets pulled over with that. Hook it to my F250 and put a good pull on it . Learned that from an Amish buddy that fells trees for a living .
ReplyDeleteExcellent advice except for the 1/4 inch, which once caused me to run harder and further than I had intended.
Delete3/8 inch now seems wiser to me, 200 feet of it, because I'm old, cowardly and intend to live to be very old and very cowardly.
Dumb ass.
ReplyDeleteThis was such an incredibly "stupid" idiot that it defies belief.
ReplyDeleteConsider the possibility that the owner was "selling" his home to the insurance company. I expect that an insurance investigator would be looking at serious maintenance/repair issues that needed to be addressed with serious expense prior to the event.
Two middle-aged men find themselves walking along a Florida beach. The first says to the second, "You're retired? You look so young.'
The second man says, "Yes, I spent my whole life building my business. Then there was a fire. Rebuilding? That wasn't an attractive option, so I took the insurance money and came to Florida.
The first man says, "My situation was similar to yours, except that a flood wiped out my business, so I took the insurance money and here I am in Florida.
The second man looks at the first and says, "A flood??? How do you start a flood???"
For trees that leaned like that, my dad wrapped a loooong chain around it high up, then made the notch cut. After this, he pulled the chain with the tractor until the tree fell - in the direction he wanted it to go.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's on video!
ReplyDeleteLook at the bright side, he still has most of the roof, the chimney's intact, and there's plenty of firewood and dry kindling.
ReplyDeleteAny time I fell a tree near the house, its time for the stout nylon tow strap, the chain come-along anchored to another tree, and plenty of tension. Cut the felling notch, heave in on the tension, make the back cut. That sucker is only going one way.
Not my circus, not my monkey, but why cut down a tree when there's snow on the ground?
ReplyDeleteBecause it's much easier to cut and split that sucker when it's cold than when it's blazing hot outside. Anytime I've got wood to cut and split, I put it off until it gets cold - if I can.
DeleteOK. That makes some sense. The only time I ever cut firewood was in the summer, at the insistence of my father. As a teenager, I of course complied.
DeleteThe old man would cut and I would split and stack. Kind of pissed me off when he bought a hydraulic splitter after I joined the Army. He used wedges and always seemed to put them down exactly where he wanted. Damn sure never dropped anything on the house or barn. Eod1sg Ret
ReplyDeleteThe money he saved not feeding you any more paid for that splitter, Top.
Delete