gonna be cutting, splitting, and bucking for a long time now.....

[svk]

I have had to cleanup behind a few tornado over the years. Probably the most dangerous chainsaw work you can ever do. trees twisted, some up rooted, and a lot just bent over from bigger trees falling on them. I have always kept a long cable to do this type of work. Anything that I can pull on down or off top of something bent and twisted, I just hook to the truck and yank. It takes time to do it that way, but it beats the heck out of getting slapped by a big limb that was under pressure. Polesaws are your friend for this type of work. Take your time and besafe

Good point.

Guys will also put longer bars on polesaws for freeing larger limbs and trunks. If you have to cut at an angle that 8-12" bar runs out of reach pretty quickly. You can put a longer bar on there and although it will cut pretty slow it will work.

 

[Del_]

I'm on wooded land and quite often have trees down and in the way.

Just think how screwed folks are that have to hire out this kind of cleanup!

Be safe out there.

 

[muddstopper]

This thread has me looking back in History. I was 16 years old April 3, 1974. The tornado outbreak that day produced more F4-F5 tornados than any other supercell in history, 30 total in a 24hr period. More than the Supercell of 2011. It was a F4 tornado that hit my area. It took down my dads shop which was about 200ft from the house. It took the porch off our house as well as all the shingles. It moved the house about a foot off it foundation. My Mother, brother, myself and our 3 year old cousin had taken refuge in a bedroom closet. As soon as the storm had passed we looked out the bedroom window, which all the glass had been broken out in very window, and watched the tornado move on toward town. My dad was a Lineman for the TVA and had already been called out of town to cover the tornado damage around Chattanoga tn that had taken place earlier that day. Of course when the storm hit Murphy his crew was turned around and headed back home. It would be several hours before we even knew where he was at. Dad had always had some sort of log truck and at the time he had a ford with a bigstick wood loader on it. we had two chain saws and gas. We had a aluminum jon boat that storm had wrapped around the loader on the truck. My brother and I managed to get the boat off the truck and head down the driveway. We used the truck lights to see how to saw the trees out of the driveway trying to make our way to check on My sister who lived about half a mile from us. We managed to cut a path to our nearest Neighbors house only to find the house gone. Two Children where killed there. We managed to find the Husband and ife and got them out from under the debris. One child was found below the house in the creek. All the time we could hear other people running chainsaws and they had managed to get to where we where. My sisters husband was with them and thats when we found out they where alright and the tornado had skipped over their house. The road was blocked each direction and we had injured people that needed care so we turned the truck around and headed toward town, cutting trees and brush opening up the road. We soon met other folks trying to cut their way into where we where and got the injured loaded on a pickup and headed to the hospital. My wifes grandmothers house was blown away but only minor injuries. My Brothers girlfiends house was also blown away, again on scratches and bruises. The tornado had picked up after their homes and sat back down inside the city limits. There 2 more people died. All the people that where killed in this storm where related. The Tornado then hit the side of the Mountain and lifted back into the sky. Where it had hit straight on the mountain, it removed all trees and dirt leaving a large rockface that never recovered. They have built a new highway thru there now and most of the tornado damage was wiped out by the construction. I think about this storm every time a tornado is mentioned on the news. This thread made me think about it again. and I just wanted to tell my story.

 

[amberg]

Wish you luck with the cleanup, It does look like a big mess. Again stay safe!

 

[rwoods]

This thread has me looking back in History. I was 16 years old April 3, 1974. The tornado outbreak that day produced more F4-F5 tornados than any other supercell in history, 30 total in a 24hr period. More than the Supercell of 2011. It was a F4 tornado that hit my area. It took down my dads shop which was about 200ft from the house. It took the porch off our house as well as all the shingles. It moved the house about a foot off it foundation. My Mother, brother, myself and our 3 year old cousin had taken refuge in a bedroom closet. As soon as the storm had passed we looked out the bedroom window, which all the glass had been broken out in very window, and watched the tornado move on toward town. My dad was a Lineman for the TVA and had already been called out of town to cover the tornado damage around Chattanoga tn that had taken place earlier that day. Of course when the storm hit Murphy his crew was turned around and headed back home. It would be several hours before we even knew where he was at. Dad had always had some sort of log truck and at the time he had a ford with a bigstick wood loader on it. we had two chain saws and gas. We had a aluminum jon boat that storm had wrapped around the loader on the truck. My brother and I managed to get the boat off the truck and head down the driveway. We used the truck lights to see how to saw the trees out of the driveway trying to make our way to check on My sister who lived about half a mile from us. We managed to cut a path to our nearest Neighbors house only to find the house gone. Two Children where killed there. We managed to find the Husband and ife and got them out from under the debris. One child was found below the house in the creek. All the time we could hear other people running chainsaws and they had managed to get to where we where. My sisters husband was with them and thats when we found out they where alright and the tornado had skipped over their house. The road was blocked each direction and we had injured people that needed care so we turned the truck around and headed toward town, cutting trees and brush opening up the road. We soon met other folks trying to cut their way into where we where and got the injured loaded on a pickup and headed to the hospital. My wifes grandmothers house was blown away but only minor injuries. My Brothers girlfiends house was also blown away, again on scratches and bruises. The tornado had picked up after their homes and sat back down inside the city limits. There 2 more people died. All the people that where killed in this storm where related. The Tornado then hit the side of the Mountain and lifted back into the sky. Where it had hit straight on the mountain, it removed all trees and dirt leaving a large rockface that never recovered. They have built a new highway thru there now and most of the tornado damage was wiped out by the construction. I think about this storm every time a tornado is mentioned on the news. This thread made me think about it again. and I just wanted to tell my story.

I past through your area some weeks later. The path of devastation seemed to go for miles.

Ron

 

[muddstopper]

My area wasnt the only one hit that night. There where over 148 tornados in 18 hrs with over half being classified over F2, 30 verified as geater than f3 with 23 as F4 and 7 F5's There was 358 tornados in April of 2011 but fewer of such great strength and they occurred over a greater period of time. The 2011 tornados claimed the life of a local man that was cleaning up after the storm. A large pine had been blown over and when he cut the first log loose from the stump, it rolled over crushing him. Wind damaged trees can and do kill. Even when you think you know what your doing, its so easy to make a mistake and the price can be very high. I think I will stop researching now, its doesnt change anything remembering what happened, but hopefully it will make some folks stop to think before they fire up those chainsaws and wade into a bunch of twisted damaged timber.

 

[unclemoustache]

Dang, that's some story. Sorry you had to go through all that, but glad you and your family survived.

 

[muddstopper]

Having worked for the railroad for 40 years, I have had to work countless storm cleanups. On the railroad, you dont stop for little things like tornados and hurricanes. In fact, if the weatherman said a hurricane was going to make landfall, the company would start sending us that direction. I have been racking my brain trying to remember anyone ever getting hurt during one of those cleanups and cant think of a single one, or at least nothing serious that I can remember. I really dont see how it never happened, often working round the clock, pouring rain, and it darker than a stack of black cats. I guess working in conditions you know can kill you, you dont take the chances and are a lot more careful. We did have a co-worker get killed in a landslide about 4 years ago. it was raining and he was patroling track at night. The men got out of the truck to remove a rock that had fallen into the track and all of a sudden the mountain turned loose and buried him. The guy with him was missed by the slide but the truck was buried and nothing he could do to help. Sometimes it doesnt take a big storm to get hurt, just a little rain can make big things happen.

 

[chuckwood]

Went through a hot period out here (back to normal mid 80s now). I worked through it by starting early and quitting about 11. Makes a short work period but at my age, short work periods are all I do anyhow . I carry 3 bottles of frozen water, by the time the heat hits (9:30 ish) they are about 1/4 thawed and sips of ice water really hit the spot.

I carry a big jug of iced tea or iced water with me. But most of my chores in the heat right now involve mowing, gardening, building maintenance etc. I'm not too enthusiastic about sawing in this heat. This summer has been pretty brutal and I'm gettin' old myself. Today's high was 95. When I was in my 20's and 30's I could take doing construction work in southern heat all day long. At night I'd still be feeling the heat burning on my skin and I didn't look forward to getting up the next morning and doing it again. At 67 I still wonder if I've got what it takes to do that again like I did as a young man, but I really don't know. Between the hours of 11 am to three or four o'clock pm I chicken out and go inside with ac on and waste time on facebook, watch videos, process garden produce, login to AS, anything to avoid burning up outside. I'm not very active as a global warming denier right now because it's just too damn hot and humid to put me in the mood. I'm hoping for a very cold winter.

 

[turnkey4099]

I carry a big jug of iced tea or iced water with me. But most of my chores in the heat right now involve mowing, gardening, building maintenance etc. I'm not too enthusiastic about sawing in this heat. This summer has been pretty brutal and I'm gettin' old myself. Today's high was 95. When I was in my 20's and 30's I could take doing construction work in southern heat all day long. At night I'd still be feeling the heat burning on my skin and I didn't look forward to getting up the next morning and doing it again. At 67 I still wonder if I've got what it takes to do that again like I did as a young man, but I really don't know. Between the hours of 11 am to three or four o'clock pm I chicken out and go inside with ac on and waste time on facebook, watch videos, process garden produce, login to AS, anything to avoid burning up outside. I'm not very active as a global warming denier right now because it's just too damn hot and humid to put me in the mood. I'm hoping for a very cold winter.

I did a bit of roofing in central Texas with hight temps well over 100. Of course we knocked off when the shingles got to soft to work on. Was on leave from the AF and dad had taken a job reroofing a shed. I helped him, temps probably only in the 80s but at that time, I though 80 was HOT. Finished the job, crawled off the roof and chugged an iced bottle of beer...went flat on the ground. Never tried cold beer when sweating since...at least not to chug one.

As for hoping for a cold winter? Same here. Haven't seen one in some 20 years.

 

[rwoods]

Muddstopper,

The 2011 tornados came through our area killing several. I worked the aftermath clearing county roads with a bunch of untrained folks and a deuce and a half. I won't do it again unless hard pressed. One of the crew broke his foot when a stem rolled on him. One of the trees I cut off the phone and cable lines dislodged another several spans away and out of my sight sending it down among some who were foolishly working under it. Thankfully none were hurt.

For several years, I have periodically cut in the area. Still a lot of energy tied up in that twisted mess.

Ron

 

[muddstopper]

Chuckwood, your not far from me, If I was able, I would come over and give you a hand. I am about 70 miles from Sweetwater, how far are you from there. Ran my saw last week to cut some overgrown shrubs around the house, took about 2 hours to cut and cleanup the brush. Couldnt hardly walk for about 3 days. Doc says two more months. We'll see, but that would work out to Oct/Nov, prime wood gathering time of year. Let me know around then if you need a extra set of hands. My wood is already bucked and in the dry for the next couple of years, so I dont have to worry about gathering any for myself for a while.