Down Tree. What to do with it?

[JimVonBaden]

The limbs are 4-8" in diameter. I have access to a chainsaw and a polesaw, but not sure the polesaw is up to cutting limbs that big or under tension lying on my fence.

Good advice from most, fun from others.

Thanks,

Jim

 

[MScott]

The limbs are 4-8" in diameter. I have access to a chainsaw and a polesaw, but not sure the polesaw is up to cutting limbs that big or under tension lying on my fence.QUOTE]

Just notch the top of the branch and cut from underneath.

 

[JimVonBaden]

The limbs are 4-8" in diameter. I have access to a chainsaw and a polesaw, but not sure the polesaw is up to cutting limbs that big or under tension lying on my fence.

Just notch the top of the branch and cut from underneath.

Reaching over the fence, cut from underneith? I'm not that limber anymore!

Jim

 

[Brad54]

Tell him that since he isn't doing anything about his tree laying on your fence, you're going to take care of it rather than get his insurance company involved.
He'll say that's great, go ahead.
Tell him you'll need to get at it from his yard, because you don't have access through your fence. He'll say that's fine, go ahead.

Then take a day off of work, and get started the minute he goes away to work.
Drive your truck into his back yard, bust out the weed whacker and chain saw, and blaze a 6-foot wide swath through his foliage... make it good and open, so he's got a perfect view of this swath from his back porch.
Then cut the dead tree apart and get it off your fence. Leave the pile of limbs and everything right there in his yard, at the end of the swath... he'll see it all the time.
Load your weed whacker and chain saw back up into your truck, and drive away.

Done. With his permission.

-Brad

 

[BDT/NWMN]

What if it never touched the ground on my side?

Jim

PS I will check into that.

Never touched the ground,,, but in my mind,,,,,that fence counts the same as the ground.... The weight of the remaining limb that is resting on your fence could, in time, cause the fence to collapse....

If physically able to do so, I would lean a ladder against the fence, place a second ladder on the other side and go in there with a chainsaw to cut the limb off... Keep in mind that this is what I would do.... But I do have ladders, chainsaws, and EXPERIENCE using this equipment... A downed tree can be very dangerous to cut in a situation like this, as there will be tension on that limb... I would not encourage an inexperienced person to go ahead and try cutting that limb.. But ,, it should be taken care of,, reguardless...

 

[JimVonBaden]

Tell him that since he isn't doing anything about his tree laying on your fence, you're going to take care of it rather than get his insurance company involved.
He'll say that's great, go ahead.
Tell him you'll need to get at it from his yard, because you don't have access through your fence. He'll say that's fine, go ahead.

Then take a day off of work, and get started the minute he goes away to work.
Drive your truck into his back yard, bust out the weed whacker and chain saw, and blaze a 6-foot wide swath through his foliage... make it good and open, so he's got a perfect view of this swath from his back porch.
Then cut the dead tree apart and get it off your fence. Leave the pile of limbs and everything right there in his yard, at the end of the swath... he'll see it all the time.
Load your weed whacker and chain saw back up into your truck, and drive away.

Done. With his permission.

-Brad

That would be fun, but I think I would be more inclined to try BDT/NWMN's idea instead.

Jim

 

[CoconutPete]

I'd vote for the "knock on his door with chainsaw in hand" idea. If he gives you any kind of pushback I would go straight to city hall though. If he keeps "resisting" it may be beneficial to file a police report at some point - it sounds stupid I know, but it's the most official way I can think of to get something on record in case you need to reference back to it in the future.

 

[signcrafter]

I'd vote for the "knock on his door with chainsaw in hand" idea. If he gives you any kind of pushback I would go straight to city hall though. If he keeps "resisting" it may be beneficial to file a police report at some point - it sounds stupid I know, but it's the most official way I can think of to get something on record in case you need to reference back to it in the future.

Police report? Of what? Does anyone know the laws in the OP's state as to acts of God like this? I know in my state the OP is responsible for the clean up and damage to his property and if he wanted to go the insurance route then it's through his own insurance. In other words the neighbor who's tree it was isn't responsible for anything. Kind of sounds like this is the way it is there also and the neighbor knows this and that is why he is giving the OP the piss off attitude.

It would be nice to confirm the laws in the OPs state before giving advice. If the laws in his state are the similar to my state there is a lot of bad advice in this post. But maybe the laws differ from state to state, I don't know.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Police report? Of what? Does anyone know the laws in the OP's state as to acts of God like this? I know in my state the OP is responsible for the clean up and damage to his property and if he wanted to go the insurance route then it's through his own insurance. In other words the neighbor who's tree it was isn't responsible for anything. Kind of sounds like this is the way it is there also and the neighbor knows this and that is why he is giving the OP the piss off attitude.

It would be nice to confirm the laws in the OPs state before giving advice. If the laws in his state are the similar to my state there is a lot of bad advice in this post. But maybe the laws differ from state to state, I don't know.

Correct, act of god, the neighbor is not responsible. Since he doesn't want to do the clean-up, the only question is one of access to his place for me to do clean-up, and what to do with the limbs I cut off my fence.

The bigger issue is really access. He has 20' of near jungle to get through to get to the fence, plus poison ivy.

I'm thinking I like the idea of two ladders and just climb over and cut it off my fence.

Jim

PS No major damage from the storm yesterday, just a bunch more small limbs in the yard to clean up.

 

[CoconutPete]

Police report? Of what?

If the whole "act of god" thing applies in his town/county it probably won't work and I know it sounds odd, but I have had people recommend it during the oddest of situations over the years. I can't think of a more official papertrail.

It sounds like your neighbors yard is pretty isolated behind your fence though ... at this point I would either Jump the fence and cut it or maybe get a helper to jump the fence and cut it from the other side and just toss the stuff back there.

 

[signcrafter]

Correct, act of god, the neighbor is not responsible. Since he doesn't want to do the clean-up, the only question is one of access to his place for me to do clean-up, and what to do with the limbs I cut off my fence.

The bigger issue is really access. He has 20' of near jungle to get through to get to the fence, plus poison ivy.

I'm thinking I like the idea of two ladders and just climb over and cut it off my fence.

Jim

PS No major damage from the storm yesterday, just a bunch more small limbs in the yard to clean up.

***** he is telling you to get lost. Would be nice if neighbors could help each other out, would take 30 minutes and then have the rest of the day to drink some beers.

I have a fiskars tree pruner(hand pole saw) that has a nice blade on it and will cut 4-8" branches fairly easy. Takes a little work but it does the job. Allows you to stand far enough back that if something were to fall the wrong way you wouldn't get hurt.

Also, I wouldn't worry about his fence. He doesn't care about yours and he doesn't care about his property back there so I would just cut away and if something were to happen to his fence I would simply say it happened when the tree came down as an act of God.

 

[03protege]

I wouldn't necessarily say it his responsibility, as so many on here have said just based on my experiences from Katrina, but regardless I would be hacking that **** apart and throwing it in his yard so I can fix my fence.

My only concern would be him pulling the trespassing card, so the ladder idea would be the method of choice. Or wait till he is gone and claim the ladder method is what you used.

 

[JimVonBaden]

OK, so there is a clearer picture (s) of what I am seeing:

FYI My neighbor was never rude, he was just not interested in doing anything about the downed tree. I have yet to approach him again about me doing it.

Note also the lack of easy access to the tree from his side.

Jim

 

[Cougar67]

Morally I would think he would take care of it and the mess on his own property to keep the neighborhood looking good. But VA has some weird fence laws. My neighbors got into it with the neighbors on the other side after Hurricane Isabel (2003). I think they still don't speak. Someone's tree fell and squished a play set and it turned out to be a claim on the non tree owner's insurance.

In Caroline County VA there was a homicide over a farm fence a few years ago. In VA law a property owner can erect a fence to corral his own livestock and bill the adjoining owner for half the cost of the fence! The dispute went to the court of appeals and when the non fence building neighbor lost the appeal he shot his neighbor to death!

 

[R-132 Fan]

Nice mess you have there. I see a chainlink fence in there. That fence might be taking part of the weight of the tree.
If you hired me to deal with it I would take a stepladder against the wooden fence and clip the poison oak back off the fence first. Wear long rubber gloves and take your time. Clip here and there studying the **** and push it pack onto his property. Use a rake or a small shovel to move the poison oak, Try not to handle it even wearing gloves. Wash the gloves afterwards or throw them away. Wash any tool handles that might have the poison oak juice on them.
Once the poison oak is off the fence, get the pole saw and start taking cuts off of what is hanging onto your property. Cut back as far as you can reach. Small pieces are a good idea. I like to use my small electric chainsaw for work like that.
There could be limbs that are driven down into the ground and are supporting the tree. Given the size of that tree and how long it has been there I think the fence isn't the only thing holding the tree up. Just keep cutting it back and see how it goes. If you can get it cut back off of your fence that may have to be enough. The way the poison oak is growing, I imagine it will cover everything up back there eventually.
Does your town have a brush pickup? If so I would wait to cut this stuff up until just before the pickup day. You can put it out for the city to haul it away.
If it's Oak you can burn it, otherwise throw it back over the fence. I doubt the owner would even be able to see it in that mess. I wouldn't concern myself if he likes it or not

 

[EOC_Jason]

It doesn't look like there is anything in your yard that it can damage if it falls? I would just take it slow cutting off small pieces and letting them fall in your yard... Once you get to the fence line use a ladder to cut enough to where you can let it fall into his yard. If you need to get over to drag it away from the fence use another ladder...

If the wood is good for firewood, keep it... If not, you have manageable sizes you can throw over the fence... They will biodegrade eventually... Doesn't look like he would even notice all the pieces in that jungle...

Glad I don't have reactions to poison ivy or poison oak....

 

[Bib Overalls]

To bad you don't live next to "Jack."

Jack and his brothers have a 40 acre pasture that abuts me. Ten years ago we had a big wind storm and a large oak on my property fell across the fence. The brothers graze horses and cattle and I was most worried about them getting out.

So I tracked down Jack and told him I would initially get the tree trunk cut up where it crossed the fence and work on the tops a little at a time and pass the remnants over to my side for burning. I also told him that I would pay for fixing the fence.

Jack thanked me letting me know and that he would move his stock while repairs were made. Then he told me he and his brothers built the fence when they were boys and that it was in a sad shape. He also told me they had a barn full of fencing supplies and not to worry about that.

I set to work and got the fence line cleared. Then Jack and his brother "Silent Bob" came down with on a couple of ATVs and fixed the fence.

A couple of hours later Bob returned on a big old John Deere with a blade and pushed it all up in a burn pile. It sat for a couple of years and then they burned it.

A good neighbor is a good friend. Jack and I eat breakfast a couple of times a week now.

 

[EOC_Jason]

^^^^^ Awesome story....

Back when hurricane Ike hit (2008?), it pretty must destroyed any and all fencing. We were without power for two solid weeks. Fortunately we have a NG grill, so we just cooked on it and sat out on the patio eating our meals. We fixed the fences ourselves (what else are you going to do for two weeks when you can't go to work or anything?) Our neighbor isn't exactly the handy man type, so when dinner time came about he would walk through the gap in the fence with a nice cold six pack of beer and we would have a nice evening chowing down and talking about the day... To this day we still talk about those days.