Tree vs. power line.

[vtsnowedin]

I have fun posting every good thing I do with my tractor here so it is only fair if I post a full account of my screw ups. My neighbor widow wanted some trees close to her house cut so she would not have to worry about them being blow over and onto her house. No problem I think I can use the tractor to either push them away from the house or pull them away with straps and or chains. It was a cluster of sugar maples with some leaning towards the house. The first trees went OK but the biggest that leaned the most toward the house got me. instead of falling off to the side of the tractor as planned it fell sideways and just missed the garage. Problem was that the house power feed was hitched to the garage and the tree top did a good job of swatting that to the ground. Our power co-op sent a crew right up and they did a great job of getting the power back on at no charge but let me know I shouldn't make a habit of it.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

Congratulations vtsnowedin! Ya broke EVERY SINGLE RULE about how to take down a tree, and survived. Glad you're okay.

 

[vtsnowedin]

Congratulations vtsnowedin! Ya broke EVERY SINGLE RULE about how to take down a tree, and survived. Glad you're okay.

Oh not EVERY ONE of them! There must be some I haven't got to yet.

 

[RandyT]

Used to work in Indiana as a utility forester. The first week on the job, was called out to a brush fire under a 138 KVA transmission line. The fire department discovered the cause of the fire, when they found a knee cap. Guy had dropped a tree into the line, and the resulting voltage and amps, melted the saw down to nothing and ignited the magnesium components of the case. Other than the knee cap the saw operator was cremated on site.

 

[vtsnowedin]

Used to work in Indiana as a utility forester. The first week on the job, was called out to a brush fire under a 138 KVA transmission line. The fire department discovered the cause of the fire, when they found a knee cap. Guy had dropped a tree into the line, and the resulting voltage and amps, melted the saw down to nothing and ignited the magnesium components of the case. Other than the knee cap the saw operator was cremated on site.

Oh yeah that is some nasty voltage. This was only 240v service line and it didn't even pop the breakers. And yes before anybody types it out I know 240 x 30 amps is enough to kill you.

 

[travlitt]

Looks like the fault would be before the breaker. The transformer fuse would be the one to "pop"

 

[Redneck in training]

Crew hired by our utility was clearing their right of way. One of our trees was too close to the line so they wanted to butcher the tree by cutting all branches on one side off. My wife told them just cut the tree completely but not to drop it on our fence. While felling it they missed our fence but dropped it in 25 kV line. Hitting the wires didn't trip the protection in the substation but created a power surge that damaged bunch of electronic devices and fried many smart electric meters within about a mile. Our house was, despite being closest to the cause of the surge, spared but our whole house surge protection device was annihilated. Since new one was paid by the utility I bought the best I could find.

 

[Redneck in training]

Friend of mine told me a story about trying to make a tree fall in certain direction by pulling at it with a pickup while cutting it. When they cut the tree wind made it fall exactly the other way than intended and threw the pickup like a kids toy.

 

[TJP89]

Friend of mine told me a story about trying to make a tree fall in certain direction by pulling at it with a pickup while cutting it. When they cut the tree wind made it fall exactly the other way than intended and threw the pickup like a kids toy.

Yeah, I forget how to do the physics there, but I know that a 50/60 foot tree has enough weight and length for a lever to move just about anything. I cut down a big dead willow recently and the guy helping suggested he push on the trunk about 5ft up to get going in the right direction. I told him that that wasn't going to do squat if the tree went backwards, so he'd just better stay away from the tree and saw. The notch is what really directs the fall, get that right and you're mostly there.

 

[vtsnowedin]

Well the tree in question in my case had about a half cord of wood in it so weighed about a ton. I was pulling on it with a 7500 lb. tractor. Trouble was I couldn't drive the tractor and the saw at the same time. I should have used a higher hitch on the tree and a longer chain line and had somebody pulling steady away from the house as I cut the last cut.

 

[JRobyn]

... The notch is what really directs the fall, get that right and you're mostly there.

You got all the rest exactly right, but it is the HINGE left between the base of the notch and the back cut that directs the fall. The notch does only two things; creates 1/2 of the hinge, and determines at what angle in the fall the tree breaks (when the notch closes).

I know what you meant ;-)

- Jay

 

[EddieWalker]

You're not the only one to do this. My dad was clearing some trees in our horse pasture to create more grass. I walked it out with him and told him what trees to take out, which was most of them, and to be careful of the power line running through the middle of the pasture. He has taken out tens of thousands of trees with the backhoe, so it's no problem that he can do it. But on the very first tree, he forgot all about the power line and knocked the wire off the very top of the pole where it's attached to some ceramic looking insulator.

He said he forgot it was there.

Power company came out around midnight, put it all back together again, and never charged us.

Hopefully that was a lesson learned. I learned not to let him work that close to anything he can damage ever again!!!

Eddie

 

[rekees4300]

Other than the knee cap the saw operator was cremated on site.

That would be called having a bad day. I have a pine tree leaning toward a powerline. If it falls it may or may not hit the lines, hard to tell just by looking at it. Thought about cutting it down this Spring but then thought "discretion is the better part of valor". Will let the pros at the power company deal with it safely.

 

[aczlan]

Will let the pros at the power company deal with it safely.

Very often, if you have a tree that could fall and hit the power line, the power company would be happy to come out and take it down for you. They would rather roll a crew (or a subcontractor) than have a limb land on a line.

Aaron Z

 

[arrow]

You got all the rest exactly right, but it is the HINGE left between the base of the notch and the back cut that directs the fall. The notch does only two things; creates 1/2 of the hinge, and determines at what angle in the fall the tree breaks (when the notch closes).

I know what you meant ;-)

- Jay

Most of the time this is true. I have seen trees disobey this axiom all the time and most of the time it was maples. I think because most maples do not have the fiber density to necessarily always obey a hinge plus most of them are top heavy to begin with as their branch structure is so dense. The hinge itself is the weak link easily shearing in counter directions. I have seen maples take a 90* turn to the hinge so always look at a maple with mind of branch population and from two axis's and not just the apparent lean.

Vt's problem here was that he was only himself and with no tractor driver to pull while being cut, the directed fall was non existent. It would not be the first time a tree was cantankerous to the cutter.
Glad you're ok VT. with nothing more than minimal but aggravating collateral damage.

 

[bcp]

Very often, if you have a tree that could fall and hit the power line, the power company would be happy to come out and take it down for you. They would rather roll a crew (or a subcontractor) than have a limb land on a line.

Aaron Z

Neighbor has a couple like that they refused to take out, even when the trimming crew came through. Said something like if it was over 4 feet away, they couldn't cut it. They are higher than the power line, and the tops are near the road center, but the bases are on the other side of the road from the power line.

Bruce

 

[vtsnowedin]

Glad you're ok VT. with nothing more than minimal but aggravating collateral damage.

Not as glad as I am. As embarrassed as I am about this I thought it necessary
to post it as a caution to others that are as bold as I am.
I think it was Will Rogers that said " What worries me about him is all the things he knows for sure that just ain't so"! If a little honesty and humility keeps another member here from a serious injury I'll feel a little better about it.

 

[stuckmotor]

Don't feel alone. I tried to get a tree going the right way by putting pressure on it with the bucket before I sawed it. The bucket wasn't high enough and there wasn't enough pressure so, tree flipped back onto the tractor. It must have taken me an hour to saw the tree off of the tractor.

 

[vtsnowedin]

Don't feel alone. I tried to get a tree going the right way by putting pressure on it with the bucket before I sawed it. The bucket wasn't high enough and there wasn't enough pressure so, tree flipped back onto the tractor. It must have taken me an hour to saw the tree off of the tractor.

I kind of knew I wasn't alone but the group of us that will admit it is a lot smaller then the group of us that did it.

 

[gwiley]

Since we burn 10 cords a year I cut a LOT of trees, many of them over 30" diameter at the cut. I have learned a few things:

1. Estimate the center of gravity of the tree by examining the canopy and large leaders and the lean using a plumb line - you can't fight gravity. There are limits to how much a hinge can do.

2. Always keep your wedges and hammer on your belt and get a wedge in as soon as there is room. This is one thing I like about larger trees - there is room for a wedge.

3. If there is any wind - wait.

4. When in doubt about the fall put in an anchored line rated for what you are doing. I use a throw line to pull a bull line at least 30' up into the tree then tension that rope using a large enough tree as an anchor. 250' of rope with a 11,000 lb break strength is only a few hundred dollars and well worth the money.