I was called today to look at a large tree, very close to the house. The boyfriend called for the girlfriend, he accurately described a horizontal crack through 1/2 the trunk that got wider when the wind blew. It sounded like this had been going on for some time, and no other problems were mentioned.
That's the sort of call that gets my attention, so I trotted right on down, expecting to see some sort of manageable, but scary looking problem. When I arrived, there were several people nervously pacing the sidewalk. They refused to go to the back yard; I soon found out why. It seems that the boyfriend left out a few details.
1. It was not her tree, and she wouldn't spend any money without the landlord's authorization.
2. Earlier this year, huge limbs had fallen off the base of the tree on two sides, due to a rotten trunk.
3. The tree was obviously rotten through the core, and back to the other side.
4. Large was a serious understatement. This hackberry tree was better than 4' diameter at 8'-12' in the air, AFTER the lower limbs had been broken off. The remaining crown was at least 70' tall, and was leaning away from the house with every gust of wind.
There was a 15-20mph wind blowing, the electrical service line to the house was 1' behind the trunk, on the side the wind was blowing it toward. The amount of somewhat healthy wood still present in the trunk hanging on to the towering crown (fully leafed out, too!) was maybe 10" thick, all the rest of the 4' trunk was decayed and crumbling.
The lady told me the Power & Light Co had been there and said there was nothing they could do, that the tree would just have to pull the power line down, ripping the meter off the house when it fell. Boy were they right!
It would have been insanity to climb, there was no bucket truck access, and if you attempted to cut the tree down, it would have been impossible to put a notch on the lee side without collapsing the small amount of solid wood still hanging on. Furthermore, there was a primary line line at the back of the lot that would have been hit if the tree was dropped into the available space. It was the scariest tree I have ever seen. I couldn't understand how it was still standing.
I moved her barbecue grills out of the fall zone and disconnected the cable tv, figuring I would hear it crack before it headed my way. I asked her if she was prepared to pay me any money to clean up the mess after the tree fell, because I could probably get the Power & Light Co to lower the line for me. From the look on her face, I could tell that wasn't going to happen.
So...we watched, and waited. After 10 unbelievable minutes that the tree didn't blow over, I hear a small crack or two. I announced that it was going NOW, and sure enough, the next gust of wind took it over.
The lady got a miracle. It fell slightly into the wind, which missed the primaries. It bounced off another tree, and straddled the chain link fence, and bent NOTHING. It pulled down the service line, which seems to have been poorly tied to the anchor, and didn't even pull out the anchor hook. Meter was still on the wall, and the wires were not shorted where it went into the box.
I gave her a quote to clean up the mess, presuming she would give it to the landlord. I would probably have paid her money for the privilege of seeing that scary tree. It was more exciting than any amusement ride I have ever been on.
That's the sort of call that gets my attention, so I trotted right on down, expecting to see some sort of manageable, but scary looking problem. When I arrived, there were several people nervously pacing the sidewalk. They refused to go to the back yard; I soon found out why. It seems that the boyfriend left out a few details.
1. It was not her tree, and she wouldn't spend any money without the landlord's authorization.
2. Earlier this year, huge limbs had fallen off the base of the tree on two sides, due to a rotten trunk.
3. The tree was obviously rotten through the core, and back to the other side.
4. Large was a serious understatement. This hackberry tree was better than 4' diameter at 8'-12' in the air, AFTER the lower limbs had been broken off. The remaining crown was at least 70' tall, and was leaning away from the house with every gust of wind.
There was a 15-20mph wind blowing, the electrical service line to the house was 1' behind the trunk, on the side the wind was blowing it toward. The amount of somewhat healthy wood still present in the trunk hanging on to the towering crown (fully leafed out, too!) was maybe 10" thick, all the rest of the 4' trunk was decayed and crumbling.
The lady told me the Power & Light Co had been there and said there was nothing they could do, that the tree would just have to pull the power line down, ripping the meter off the house when it fell. Boy were they right!
It would have been insanity to climb, there was no bucket truck access, and if you attempted to cut the tree down, it would have been impossible to put a notch on the lee side without collapsing the small amount of solid wood still hanging on. Furthermore, there was a primary line line at the back of the lot that would have been hit if the tree was dropped into the available space. It was the scariest tree I have ever seen. I couldn't understand how it was still standing.
I moved her barbecue grills out of the fall zone and disconnected the cable tv, figuring I would hear it crack before it headed my way. I asked her if she was prepared to pay me any money to clean up the mess after the tree fell, because I could probably get the Power & Light Co to lower the line for me. From the look on her face, I could tell that wasn't going to happen.
So...we watched, and waited. After 10 unbelievable minutes that the tree didn't blow over, I hear a small crack or two. I announced that it was going NOW, and sure enough, the next gust of wind took it over.
The lady got a miracle. It fell slightly into the wind, which missed the primaries. It bounced off another tree, and straddled the chain link fence, and bent NOTHING. It pulled down the service line, which seems to have been poorly tied to the anchor, and didn't even pull out the anchor hook. Meter was still on the wall, and the wires were not shorted where it went into the box.
I gave her a quote to clean up the mess, presuming she would give it to the landlord. I would probably have paid her money for the privilege of seeing that scary tree. It was more exciting than any amusement ride I have ever been on.
Last edited:
