Thread: Took out a window today

Bad day for me, chunked down one limb over the roof,no problem, went to fell the other half beside the house and when it hit a 4' middle section exploded and flew up (over the air conditioner ) and took out the outer window on a double hung. Homeowner was very understanding, a good friend for many years, and his son and I will repair the pane and a small section of chipped siding. I should have listened to that little voice telling me to take smaller bites instead of giving in to the cold weather...

Originally Posted by Slvrmple72

Bad day for me, chunked down one limb over the roof,no problem, went to fell the other half beside the house and when it hit a 4' middle section exploded and flew up (over the air conditioner ) and took out the outer window on a double hung. Homeowner was very understanding, a good friend for many years, and his son and I will repair the pane and a small section of chipped siding. I should have listened to that little voice telling me to take smaller bites instead of giving in to the cold weather...

Silver man you got to go easy my friend. Bad things come in three, keep an eye out over that shoulder. Good luck.

Originally Posted by Ekka

OmG, that is really good.

been there,, was taking apart a large spruce that crashed a roof....chucking pieces off the roof,, one limb sprung back up and hit the window.. told the home owner... she's like " I'VE GOT A TREE IN MY LIVING ROOM,, A WINDOW IS THE LEAST OF MY WORRIES ! " called the glass company,, they are like "how did you bust a window,, the screen isn't broken???

We slung a rock or something into a sliding glass window with a stump grinder about 3 months ago. Cost us about $270 to replace the glass. I bid the stump for $250...

$#!7 happens...

The last time I broke a window, I hate to admit it but it was at my home. Got careless on the home turf I guess, and instead of roping down a heavy branch trued to chuck it to the back yard. It sprung back and went through the bathroom window...

Couple of hundred bucks later I had a shiny new window installed, and a minor blow to my ego...

few years back a local co. broke a $30,000 window at the hosp. window was in the courtyard and had to be choppered in dew to its size and location. a good idea for grinding is two pieces of plywood on hinges placed in front of the business end of the grinder.

The other day the guy I was working for had his helper climber rigging some lone deadwood out of a tree. It flipped, hung up and when it came down there the tip of the long dead limb smashed an artdeco brass landscape light.

My personal worst was the very large red oak trunk on a house. That was several years ago and I put an account on it here. I can still remember hearing the tension side of the hinge pop and seeing it start to move towards the house...and I try to push it in the right direction

If you cannot find it here, you will need to buy me a beer for me to recount it again.

Originally Posted by (WLL)

few years back a local co. broke a $30,000 window at the hosp. window was in the courtyard and had to be choppered in dew to its size and location. a good idea for grinding is two pieces of plywood on hinges placed in front of the business end of the grinder.

I nailed a window last winter grinding an upturned stump. Apartment building, got the third floor, 2 apartments over at such a acute angle you wouldn't have believed a rock could have broken it. Had plywood guarding the windows I figured were at risk. We had to use the boom truck to get the glass guys up there.

Flying wood on the rebound from connecting with the ground .... happens.

A faller was killed about 3 years ago locally. He had dropped a bigger Ponderosa Pine on a fire salvage and was hit by a large portion of limb over 40 feet from the stump. What the investigators thought happened was he saw that the tree was committed and since there were no obstacles in its path he turned and walked away and apparently never looked back.

Sometimes a dead / drought (brittle) limb will hit in a spring configuration and break in a manner sending part of it back in the general direction of the stump.

I'm posting this thought so anyone listening will consider these things do happen. This is the type of thread, with unusual but relevant stories, that can be eye opening even for the fairly experienced guy.

Thanks fellas, I dont feel so bad now but I see clearly that I am still on the learning curve. I know what you are saying about dropping branches, I always try to make them land butt first ever since I had that one hit, bounce, and take out a fiberglass pole pruner mere seconds after my groundie had walked past. Don Blair calls it Last Cut Syndrome in his Arb. Eqpt. book and sure enough that was the last limb I was felling for the job. I had enough foresight to have the neighbor move his car... if I had not that limb would have gone for the sunroof instead i have some pics but dont know how to reduce them to fit, can anyone help, I have them in kodk easyshare,thanks

Dropped a dead tree along a sidewalk-piece flew up and broke a window when it hit.


Worst damage-one of my first crane jobs. Dying sugar maple, went up and split into two different tops. Slung one top and not the other (i know, but was still a rookie.) Cut both tops as one, crane taking it over the house, the second top broke off-right on the roof. Cracked roof boards. It started sliding down the roof. Ripped shingles. Flipped over the edge. Hung up on the gutter, and swung right into a bay window. Ripped the gutter down which dropped into a set of phone and cable services. They ripped out of the house taking a big chunk of siding with it. The whole mess finally hit the ground, or at least the guy's patio with a big barbecue on it. The boss jokes now and then that i'm still paying for that one.

Originally Posted by beowulf343

The boss jokes now and then that i'm still paying for that one.

Do you thank him for keeping you on?

Originally Posted by beowulf343

Dropped a dead tree along a sidewalk-piece flew up and broke a window when it hit.


Worst damage-one of my first crane jobs. Dying sugar maple, went up and split into two different tops. Slung one top and not the other (i know, but was still a rookie.) Cut both tops as one, crane taking it over the house, the second top broke off-right on the roof. Cracked roof boards. It started sliding down the roof. Ripped shingles. Flipped over the edge. Hung up on the gutter, and swung right into a bay window. Ripped the gutter down which dropped into a set of phone and cable services. They ripped out of the house taking a big chunk of siding with it. The whole mess finally hit the ground, or at least the guy's patio with a big barbecue on it. The boss jokes now and then that i'm still paying for that one.

Now that's some damage!

We had a close call with the ole flying wood/rebound thing this summer. We were taking down a half dead, half rotten pine on a job site for an under construction, multi million dollar house. Pretty much the whole front of the house was huge custom windows, and that's where the tree was. Siding wasn't on the house yet. I was on the ground for this one, climber had stripped the tree and I was going to pull the spar over, basically parallel with the front of the house. He had left exactly 1 stub near the top of the spar in the direction of the pull. I have no idea why, we're both allergic to stubs, almost never leave them. I didn't say anything, just the groundie today, but was afraid the stub might kick up loose rock when it hit, there was alot of lose rock on the site. Well...when it hit, I watched in super slow motion as the stub shattered and took off towards the house, hitting it like a rocket in a shallow V shaped area between 2 of the windows. Each side of the V was only about 3' wide, it hit both sides of the V, tore the housewrap in both places, and didn't touch the windows. Later, I said to the climber "Remember that stub you left..." and showed him the hits. His response "Holy s*4%". I shudder to think what replacement on one of those windows would have been.

Sometimes you get lucky.

Originally Posted by John Paul Sanborn

Do you thank him for keeping you on?

I would actually give a guy some credit for coming back after making a whooper like that. For me it prove that the guy had some guts and wouldn't run in adversity. Might turn out to be an asset. Didn't seem as though it was a blatant mistake. Just sounded like it went bad. About as bad as it could.