Hackers at their best

[deevo]

This happened a month ago to a fellow in my neighborhood who I usually do tree work for, and thought he would save himself money. So the Hack told him he'd do it for $100! So the homeowner said sure, numpty had his wife and 2 other guys doing construction next door on the end of a yellow nylon 3/8 rope from Canadian Tire or somewhere 10' up, it was going to hit this house or the neighbor's anyways the way he was hacking at it! ie. see the face cut 3/4 of the way through the tree and the angle it was on! So away he went (I wasn't there when this happened) but from what everyone said the 3 people on the rope had there hands wrapped, soon as the tree left the stump it flung them into the side of the house! Then soon as the tree went through the house, the hack said to the homeowner that he doesn't have insurance! Grabbed his wild thing (No I'm not kidding either) had the ball's to ask for his money! Said he'll get a construction crew out by dinner to fix it and took off! Well sure as S^%t no one showed up, buddy never answered his phone (still hasn't) the insurance investigators are after him now. So here's how I come in, I just happened to be coming back from a big job we were coming back from that day and all the neighbor's are calling me saying I have to see this, sure why not I said. So right when we pull up so does the insurance guy, he said it's all yours and to get it off ASAP. Now it's starting to rain so we took some of the weight off the part hanging over the front of the house and tarped it for the night.....More pictures to come

 

[deevo]

More

So the next day we went back, I put my block up in the neighboring tree behind the house, tied the tip, lifted it just above the roof level, moved it over and lowered it down to the ground. Treemandan I used a method like yours you posted a while ago, worked really well. The tree was wedged pretty good in the house, we had to limb it very carefully to begin lifting it after we secured it. It was down 5-6' into the house, pushed all the trusses/supports down right through to the kitchen and shifted a large portion of the roof because it came down where 3 parts of the roof meet. Engineers just submitted their report last week and now they have to apply for permits. Total cost to fix this.......Estimated at $80,000, almost the whole roof has to be redone, new trusses etc.... So I've blown up all these pictures, take them with me for every estimate I do, simple explanation......pay for it to get it done right the first time by trained professionals or pay later......like this guy! Don't always go for the lowest price, and always ask for proof of insurance!:greenchainsaw:

 

[outofmytree]

Great pictures.

This would be the best example I have seen of how not to save money. $80,000 is a hard life lesson. Bet the HO is hearing about this from his wife untill hell freezes over.....

I have a question regarding raising the stick. With such an acute angle on your lifting rope did you get any slippage at the butt? If not, was this something you prepared for and if so how?

I have never had a tree wedged that firmly on a house. Looks like some seriously fun rigging.

 

[deevo]

Great pictures.

This would be the best example I have seen of how not to save money. $80,000 is a hard life lesson. Bet the HO is hearing about this from his wife untill hell freezes over.....

I have a question regarding raising the stick. With such an acute angle on your lifting rope did you get any slippage at the butt? If not, was this something you prepared for and if so how?
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No slippage at all, lifted right up (after we de-limbed it) the like I said raised it just above the roof line moved it 2' away from the house and lowered it down to the ground. It was a heavy tree, but the tree I had the block in was fairly big, healthy and strong! Barely moved at all!

 

[deevo]

Great job!

Here's a little unsolicited advice:

When using a tree as a gin pole like you've done to lift a load consider the load applied to the gin pole. In your example the pull needed to lift the tree off of the house shows up doubled on the gin pole tree. I've drawn in yellow my suggested pull line running from your gin pole tree to the base of another tree in the background. This second tree should be in a direct line with your gin tree and the load you are lifting. What it accomplishes is to put the load on your gin pole tree almost directly down....trying to push the gin tree into the ground....Vs. pulling it towards the house. It's takes a second pulley to rig but there is a substantial strength gain in the system. It essentially 'guys' your gin pole tree.

Thanks for that, I was going to ask something like that. I've done many before, of course not every one is going to be the same. All have some sort of difference, I was lucky to have those big maples behind the house for rigging points! Also saved money by not having to sub a crane out!

 

[M.D. Vaden]

Hey Deevo ...

Can you PM the moderator of this site and see it they could make this a Sticky if you duplicated the Topic in the homeowner helper forum ??

Suggest reducing the pics though to 700 pixels wide.

More homeowners read here than we may think. I've heard from some personally before. Pretty sure this would be of interest.

You could copy and paste the text.

It's a great example, and the photos seal it.

 

[Work Saw Collector]

Cool post, sorry it cost him so much! It should be costing the guy who fell it.
The only thing is most average home owners wont see this thread until they have dropped one on there house.

 

[HS Climber]

Did they ever catch the guy. and so the guy didnt have to pay for it.

 

[deevo]

Still looking for him

Did they ever catch the guy. and so the guy didnt have to pay for it.

They went to his house after numerous unreturned phone calls, he was renting it, he's gone, u/k where to. The homeowners insurance is covering it, his rate is going up that's for sure. No 3 strikes here, next one, his insurance gets cancelled! That's what he was told! The good thing for me out of this whole thing is they are using my company for all insurance jobs around here!

 

[Haywire Haywood]

If I was the HO, I would move all my stuff into storage, go rent an apartment, and tell the bank about their misfortune. LOL A repossession would be better than being 80K upside down on a house...

Ian

Edit.... didn't finish reading where his insurance is covering it... WOW, how lucky can you get?

 

[markct]

wow thats a mess indeed! it amazes me how some people think that with just a couple guys and a rope they can redirect a tree weighing thousands of lbs. whenever i have done trees that needed heavy directional guidance it was always with a half inch or bigger steel cable, attached to the tree so it cant possibly come unhooked, and usualy attached to a bulldozer or large farm tractor. i remember seeing pictures online of a car that had been dragged backwards and tumbled around like a toy when it was tied to a large leaning tree to direct it but the tree outweighed the car apparently! i had to laugh about the part in your post of the guys holding the rope getting flung against the house!

 

[fishercat]

Ho got what they paid for.i have no sympathy.

insurance should cancel him and not pay.unbelievable.

this is why on estimates i tell the customer to verify insurance by phone,not to trust a piece of paper.

 

[treemandan]

Numpty huh? well I'll be.

 

[clearance]

It wasn't me!

 

[Rookie1]

Im still trying to grasp this. Tree was really crooked.

 

[deevo]

Im still trying to grasp this. Tree was really crooked.

Yeah, just like his head I guess! I've seen some ugly cuts, but this guy gets the winner of the month award!

 

[fishercat]

you can tell by the fiber it twisted.

Yeah, just like his head I guess! I've seen some ugly cuts, but this guy gets the winner of the month award!

what a gem.i bet he uses that job for a referral on his next bid.

 

[tree md]

Wow, a hunnert bucks??? What a bargain!!! :greenchainsaw:

 

[deevo]

what a gem.i bet he uses that job for a referral on his next bid.

 

[whitemountain]

Something I hope I never have to see, woodchips on my roof!