Cutting trees off of houses

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cjnspecial

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We've got a hurricane coming our way and it looks like my part of the country is going to get hit pretty good. The most common situation other than pine tree's snapping off is oak trees uprooting and leaning over on the roof. What methods do you guys use to get trees off of houses if no crane is available(they will be few and far between for a while)? ANY ADVICE IS GREATLY APPRECIATED.
I read another thread(below) about undercutting the tree by the rootball every 3 inches until the rootball is on the ground but there was no mention about how far to undercut into the tree...15% 20%??

The safest way is a little tricky if it's almost on the ground and sprung, first you must determin that there is no presure side ways where the tree could swing towards you , then you must check the ground that there are no imature trees already lieing down that may stand up when the root wad falls back into place, the next step is you need a good running sharp saw with a good escape route behind you start your cut about 4 ft away from the rootwad straight down everytime the tree starts to crack and pop pull your saw out of the cut and start a new one about 3 inches closer to the root repeat this until the presure on the tree is released and the tree is on the ground,be sure your body is on the rootwad side of the cut the root will not kick sideways but the tree can. you will need good eye protection it will make a real mess of the bottom 6 ft of the tree but it is probably one of the more safe and inexpensive ways to do it. Do not keep the saw in one cut to long or you will get pinched it should take about 8 cuts straight down , when you get to the point of about 15% of the tree holding on , the presure is off and the tree is lying on the ground you can then move about 10 feet up the trunk cut it right off there before cutting the last little bet off the root to keep from getting pinched. good luck let me know how you make out be safe wear the proper gear and have a second saw handy and a buddy.
 
Unless your life or someone else's is threatened, leave it to a proffesional. I did 13 days of storm cleanup in Sept. 1996 in Wake County (Raleigh) NC after Hurricane Fran, and it was some of the most dangerous work I had done to date. I owned a tree service at the time and it was hard work sun-up to sundown. I was licensed and insured so if anything happened it was covered. The hospitals in the area were full of people who had tried to use chainsaws in ways beyond their capabilities. Unless you have dealt with it, you have no idea about the stored energy in a hung tree. That is my advice.
 
Unless your life or someone else's is threatened, leave it to a proffesional. I did 13 days of storm cleanup in Sept. 1996 in Wake County (Raleigh) NC after Hurricane Fran, and it was some of the most dangerous work I had done to date. I owned a tree service at the time and it was hard work sun-up to sundown. I was licensed and insured so if anything happened it was covered. The hospitals in the area were full of people who had tried to use chainsaws in ways beyond their capabilities. Unless you have dealt with it, you have no idea about the stored energy in a hung tree. That is my advice.

Sound advice. Take heed.
 
have done a ton of storm damage take downs... forces involved are very_dangerous!

half fallen tree trunks crossed every which way can be life threatening.
don't even think about taking them down... unless you are dead sure which way tension will release :chainsaw:

a pole saw like a Stihl extendible pole saw (HT 75) can be a life saver. pole saws allows the release of tension from a safer distance.

sometimes no matter what you do... how carefully release is analyzed... tree trunk can spring a different direction... a pro can see it coming and get the hell out of the way!

Unless your life or someone else's is threatened, leave it to a proffesional.~

Unless you have dealt with it, you have no idea about the stored energy in a hung tree.
 
Unless your life or someone else's is threatened, leave it to a proffesional. I did 13 days of storm cleanup in Sept. 1996 in Wake County (Raleigh) NC after Hurricane Fran, and it was some of the most dangerous work I had done to date. I owned a tree service at the time and it was hard work sun-up to sundown. I was licensed and insured so if anything happened it was covered. The hospitals in the area were full of people who had tried to use chainsaws in ways beyond their capabilities. Unless you have dealt with it, you have no idea about the stored energy in a hung tree. That is my advice.

Well said. Especially the part about the stored enegy in a blowdown. I've seen tangles of blowdown just explode in every direction. You might make one little cut, the tree will snap, hit other trees...it gets ugly real fast. There's nowhere to run, no safe place to be.
 
OP: Are you evacuating or riding out the storm?

I would only cut storm damaged stuff if I felt confident cutting it, or if someone was in immediate danger. If I had any doubt I would leave it alone for the time being.
 
+1.. to everyone saying "careful"...

We had 6 houses hit by trees in our community in the last storm.. not to be trifled with.

If you want to help, there will be plenty of "not on houses" work..
 
OP: Are you evacuating or riding out the storm?

I would only cut storm damaged stuff if I felt confident cutting it, or if someone was in immediate danger. If I had any doubt I would leave it alone for the time being.

We're riding it out. Very, very little chance of flooding where I'm at, 100+mph winds are expected though. Also, there are tons of standing dead pines everywhere left over from katrina so well probably be clearing trees out of the roadways first. I'll probably cut what I'm certain I can be safe with with the equpment I've got. I helped cut a couple off houses after katrina but most were not sprung. Rains hitting pretty hard right now so I'm heading out. Thanks for the advice :popcorn:
 
We're riding it out. Very, very little chance of flooding where I'm at, 100+mph winds are expected though. Also, there are tons of standing dead pines everywhere left over from katrina so well probably be clearing trees out of the roadways first. I'll probably cut what I'm certain I can be safe with with the equpment I've got. I helped cut a couple off houses after katrina but most were not sprung. Rains hitting pretty hard right now so I'm heading out. Thanks for the advice :popcorn:

Hope to hear back from ya, be safe!
 
We're riding it out. Very, very little chance of flooding where I'm at, 100+mph winds are expected though. Also, there are tons of standing dead pines everywhere left over from katrina so well probably be clearing trees out of the roadways first. I'll probably cut what I'm certain I can be safe with with the equpment I've got. I helped cut a couple off houses after katrina but most were not sprung. Rains hitting pretty hard right now so I'm heading out. Thanks for the advice :popcorn:

Take care...

Hope to hear back from ya, be safe!

Ya mon, good luck to you! Prayers sent! Be safe!
 
Trees are down everywhere, on houses, roads, driveways......it looks like a friggin hurricane hit or something, lol.

We have a brief break from the strong winds and wanted to post a pic of my back yard. You can see a 4.5 ft diameter oak tree fell over on my neighbors fence and snapped about three other trees clean off on the way down. I don't think there is a single pine tree with a top in it either, you can't see upwards real well but there are 5 pines in that pic that split or the tops broke out. If you have a tree service, now would be a good time to pack your bags and take a road trip.

Gotta run, running computer off my car battery/inverter and the strongest winds are yet to come.

attachment.php
 
Play it safe down there.

Hope you are OK. Next time you plug the "car computer" in send us an update.
:camera: are always appreciated.
 

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