We had a 40 foot Blue Spruce get knocked over by high wind gusts (it has been gusting to 40-50mph with white out conditions here today), but when it fell it didn't hurt the house.

It did bend the satellite dish some (knocking out satellite service), and temporarily blocked the front door. I grabbed my bow saw and had the wife and kids remove the debris from my limb cutting.

We now have full access to all of the doors in the house, the electricity is on (we have an all electric house), no windows were broken when the tree fell, and we have plenty of food.

Also we can get to the store and gas station if need be in our Tahoe.

I plan to offer the tree up as a donation to anyone who can use the wood.

I was not able to get my chain saw started, so I may have to take it to the Stihl dealer for some service since I haven't run it in a few years.

Anyway I am blessed that nobody was hurt, the house wasn't damaged, and my family has all its needs and many of its wants met.

We’ve had our share of high winds over the past few summers. We’ve had 2 deciduous trees snap off mid-trunk.

Towards the end of our mile, some folks have lost about half of their tall pine trees. Shallow roots and wet sandy soil. Luckily none have hit their house.

quote:

Originally posted by mcrimm:
We’ve had our share of high winds over the past few summers. We’ve had 2 deciduous trees snap off mid-trunk.

Towards the end of our mile, some folks have lost about half of their tall pine trees. Shallow roots and wet sandy soil. Luckily none have hit their house.

That is what we have here.... sandy soil, and some of the tree roots were at the surface of the soil.

Reminds me I have to call a tree guy over.

Glad all is good. It could have done some damage.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Reminds me I have to call a tree guy over.

Glad all is good. It could have done some damage.

Thank you. Hope you get your tree taken care of inexpensively.

I plan to make an announcement at church tomorrow and figure that enough of the men will show with their teenage boys to help cut and remove the tree. The wood most likely will be used to heat someone's house. If I can't get help that way I will call a tree removal service to cut/remove the tree.

Got the quote for removal today.

It will be as much as a nice rifle with optics $1300.00.

Ouch!!!! Oh well at least the house didn't get damaged.

quote:

Originally posted by lizardman_u:
Got the quote for removal today.

It will be as much as a nice rifle with optics $1300.00.

Ouch!!!! Oh well at least the house didn't get damaged.

DaAAAAMN. A new Stihl chainsaw is much cheaper. If you were a bit closer, I'd come help.

Glad everyone is safe. Tree removal sure has gotten pricey over the last few years. Damn.

You got very lucky.

I had a 40' palm tree fall in front of my eyes last year when Hurricane Irma passed. It lived about 17' from the front of my house. THANKFULLY it fell away from the house onto the street or it probably would've fallen right through my roof and landed on my living room floor as palm trees are all trunk except for the top and very heavy.

That's the sort of thing that can easily go the wrong way and be much worse.
The street I grew up on was lined with these huge elms, sadly all gone now... The one in front of our house came down after a storm. Smashed the (empty) carport, and just barely clipped the corner of the house.

That corner was my folk's bedroom, and my mom had her sewing machine right in that corner. One limb came through the roof and smashed the chair at her sewing table.

The chair she'd been sitting in thirty seconds earlier. She had gotten up because she though one of the kids was calling her. We were all asleep, and my dad was working that night. Guardian Angel if you ask me.

quote:

Originally posted by lizardman_u:
Got the quote for removal today.

It will be as much as a nice rifle with optics $1300.00.

Ouch!!!! Oh well at least the house didn't get damaged.

My dad finally had an oak towering 2 ½ times taller than his home removed. He felt it was leaning closer every year. His regular guy billed $3,500 but dad also had prices over $6,000.

I tell ya I don't mind paying for the removal. Since I have a bum shoulder.

I am thankful no injuries to people or animals, and no damage to the house.

The satellite guy might have to fight the tree a bit to replace the dish, but the tree removal guy is going to cut out some of the tree today or tomorrow.

This may not happen all at once as we have a bunch of snow and more on the way. The tree service is going to leave the stump until better weather when they can come grind it out without dealing with a foot or more of snow.

Dave

After last year's hurricane I had 4 Jamaican Coconut palms that blew over - probably 25' high. Removal costs were quoted as high as $4K. I cut it up myself, including using a chain hoist to get the one out of the water at my dock (Crushed by seawall fence) - and used the truck to take the cut-up pieces to dump. Took a 3 day weekend and busted knuckles but saved the cost. Chainsaw got a workout.

Not sure if that is possible with your Spruce, but one option if you can find another strong back somewhere.

quote:

Originally posted by zoom6zoom:
That's the sort of thing that can easily go the wrong way and be much worse.

Yep. A good friend of mine lived 70 miles from the coast in a Houston suburb and evacuated for Hurricane Ike even though his home was many, many miles from evacuation zones. The reason he evacuated his family is that they had a nearly hundred foot tall pine tree in their backyard that made him nervous.

The neighbors called after Hurricane Ike passed and said a huge pine tree hand fallen through his house and was nearly to the street. A few days later, he arrived to inspect the damage and found the tree had tore completely through the 2nd story and the trunk had smashed the first floor living room couch in the place his daughter would normally sit. House was a total loss between the tree, wind, and water damage but his family was safe and he was insured.

The other lesson to learn is that he was underinsured by about $50k. Always a good idea to have the home insured for replacement cost or at the very least insured for the fair market value.

Glad you are safe.
Where are the pictures?

quote:

Originally posted by lizardman_u:
Got the quote for removal today.

It will be as much as a nice rifle with optics $1300.00.

Ouch!!!! Oh well at least the house didn't get damaged.

Gee, for that much you can buy a new chainsaw, cut up the tree, donate the wood, and still have a nice sum of money left!

Or, you could just wait until you get your current saw running and use it. Save even more!.

I assume the tree was living, so the wood will not be burnable for a while.

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:
Glad everyone is safe. Tree removal sure has gotten pricey over the last few years. Damn.

Yeah, a couple years ago, our neighbor had a tree drop across her driveway. She was quoted $1200 to remove it. She agreed, they cut a path through the middle of the tree to free up the driveway. Moved that chunk (8-9 feet long, about 20 inches thick) off the asphalt. And left! I ended up bucking up the tree, splitting and stacking the firewood beside our firewood pile in the backyard. Didn't charge her anything. Part of being a neighbor.

A few blocks over there is an evergreen that snapped about four feet from ground level, must be at least 35 feet of tree across his yard that just missed his house. It was pretty windy a couple of nights ago around here, one of the casualties.

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:

quote:

Originally posted by lizardman_u:
Got the quote for removal today.

It will be as much as a nice rifle with optics $1300.00.

Ouch!!!! Oh well at least the house didn't get damaged.

DaAAAAMN. A new Stihl chainsaw is much cheaper. If you were a bit closer, I'd come help.

That’s kind of what I was thinking.