Bad Day for Pole Barn

[KennyG]

Yesterday I found a tree on my pole barn. It was actually on my neighbors property. I noticed it was dead last year and thought about suggesting we take it down. It would have been tight to get it between our barns, but I wish we had tried now. I have to call the insurance company but I think I will probably take it off myself since it's hard to get tree services on short notice. It doesn't look likely to roll or twist on me. Since I have a ceiling and insulation, I can't tell if there is structural damage but it looks like one or two purlins might be broken.

 

[ovrszd]

Dang it.... Looks like it possibly missed the lower purlin and just caved in the metal??? Hope so!!!!

Let us know how you get it off and what you ended up with in damages.

 

[Hoss710]

not a ideal way to start a week.

 

[dodge man]

I’d let the insurance company deal with it, that’s their job. If they say go ahead and do it yourself then have at it. This way they can’t say you made it worse when you did it yourself.

 

[Zmann.]

Agreed
it looks like a crane assist job to me

 

[ovrszd]

In my Insurance World an adjuster comes, offers a cost to repair, we negotiate and come to terms, Insurance writes a check for that amount, I'm on my own.

I've never tried to make the insurance company fix my damage. Maybe I'm missing something?

 

[BlueKnife]

Agreed
it looks like a crane assist job to me

Certainly the safest way to do it. If the OP has access to a large enough piece of equipment (excavator, wheel loader, large skid steer etc) the job could be done with that. Trying to get it down without something big enough to hold it up is asking for damage to the wall of the building. I did tree work like this for 20 years, FWIW.

 

[MossRoad]

I agree with the others that if you're going to claim it on your insurance, don't touch it until the adjuster comes out and takes a look at it and they give you the go ahead to get it removed or even remove it yourself. There've been many stories over the years about people fighting with insurance about such issues. Good luck. Hopefully it isn't too much internal damage.

 

[2manyrocks]

If you try to remove it and it slides off your barn onto the neighbor's barn, then there is that to deal with, too.

 

[Johnkn]

If you bring in a piece of equipment to help, make sure you run over that damn mole hill at the corner of your building a few hundred times. LOL

Good luck

.

 

[MossRoad]

 

[KennyG]

A lot of good advice here. However, when I called my insurance agent, I found I have $4000 deductible on my homeowners. Since this is the first potential claim I've had here in the 13 years I've owned it, I'm probably money ahead, but I'm on my own here (unless I want to go after my neighbor, which I don't want to do.)

I don't have any equipment close to capable of lifting this so I did as I usually do - make do with what I have. The first thing I did was trim what I could with my pole saw from the ground and cleaned up the area.

Then I got on the roof and trimmed everything that wasn't loaded to reduce the weight and limit the potential for things twisting into the barn as it came down. My 20v Dewalt pole saw was a real hero here. It did a great job. Also, a tip for anyone else in this situation - take a broom up on the roof with you. It's gets slippery with the wood chips and sawdust.

 

[KennyG]

Next step, I cut a big notch in the top edge of the tree, as high as I could comfortably reach. Then I undercut it until it started to move and ran like hell. As I had feared, it did hit the side of the barn as it fell, so I've got to replace a piece of siding, as well as some roof sections. I did get lucky though in that all the wall damage was confined to a single piece. Now that it's down, I will have to work out the repairs.

 

[KennyG]

Yes, I've got a major mole project coming this year. With our mild winter, they have appeared all over and pretty much wreaked havoc on all my yard. I really hate moles.

 

[nyone]

That looks like it's been hald dead for a while. You may need to be prepared for the insurance not to cover it due to deglect.

You really dont need a large piece of equipment to remove that tree. Cut everything on the roof except for the main trunk that's alreaty on the garage. Then get off the garage roof and cut short enough that the rest of the trunk wont hit the wall. Your prob left with a 4ft section of trunk that will be falling uncontrolled. A 4ft section if it even does hit the building may damage 2 pannels and 2 more pannels is alot cheaper than a crane.

 

[ovrszd]

Yes, I've got a major mole project coming this year. With our mild winter, they have appeared all over and pretty much wreaked havoc on all my yard. I really hate moles.

I just noticed I have mole activity by my barn. Never had that before.....

 

[Alan46]

Next step, I cut a big notch in the top edge of the tree, as high as I could comfortably reach. Then I undercut it until it started to move and ran like hell. As I had feared, it did hit the side of the barn as it fell, so I've got to replace a piece of siding, as well as some roof sections. I did get lucky though in that all the wall damage was confined to a single piece. Now that it's down, I will have to work out the repairs.

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View attachment 783832

Nice job! Did your neighbor offer to help with cost or labor? Asking for a friend!

 

[ovrszd]

How did the roof look? Did it bust the purlin? Puncture the roof metal?

 

[newbury]

Next step, I cut a big notch in the top edge of the tree, as high as I could comfortably reach. Then I undercut it until it started to move and ran like hell. As I had feared, it did hit the side of the barn as it fell, so I've got to replace a piece of siding, as well as some roof sections. I did get lucky though in that all the wall damage was confined to a single piece. Now that it's down, I will have to work out the repairs.




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Looks like it's time for another window.

 

[Molalla1]

I just noticed I have mole activity by my barn. Never had that before.....

Burn them out with (chemical/torch) . . . .