Fun with Trees

[JD Miller]

Happened First year at my new property . Pondarosa Pine "Y" split top One top broke off in a storm and pierced the roof then laid over on the wall . Was like an explosion inside and wrecked a truck
Since I cut down 10 huge pondarosa pine trees on my property near the shop and house
Shop is repaired 4 trusses replaced

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[FTWingRiders]

Well THAT *****.. sorry to see that.

 

[rsparks64]

Those are some big trees. Ponderosa’s are my favorite pine tree but I guess that size is dangerous when too close to buildings. I lived in Oregon for awhile and looked at some homes in the middle of Ponderosa stands and never thought about that.

 

[dcg9381]

damn, double unlucky... Beautiful spot though....

I've been really resistant to cutting back the trees at the shop/house due to privacy benefits, but this has me reconsidering.

 

[CraigStu]

3 years ago we had a 25ft miss the east side of the garage and I didn't think much of it. 2 years ago we had a 50ft miss the west side of the house by 2 ft. I found a link to local wind direction on my phone and I always check it during any storm. So I have been dropping trees on the north and west sides of the house because that is where the wind mostly comes from. About a dozen so far. I have two large ones to go and am considering renting a man lift so I can top them off. If I can cut off the top 20-25ft they wouldn't hit the house. Then I will start looking at south and east sides. Dropping trees is not very hard. The hard part is getting rid of the debris. That was a great excuse to buy a used mini excavator. I found a church run wood yard that provides firewood to people who can't afford it. They like to end up w/ 16-18" pieces so I cut trunks and branches to 48 to 54" which are too heavy to load into my trailer. The mini does that just fine. As I understand it though, pine is not good to burn in a stove.

 

[pcmeiners]

My last house had,Himalayan, Ponderosha pines, blue spruces, and maples all of them grew too fast and too tall for for hurricanes. Beautiful trees but dangerous due to shallow rooting, end up taking them all down. I would never again plant them any closer then )80 ft from a structure.

 

[bbxlr8]

Sorry to see and hear that. Had a similar thing happen here in PA, not pines, but massive old growth oak trees, 100+ tall w/ several branches 12+" breaking off and piercing the roof like spears. I had moved into an existing house w/ detached garage as the second owner and already removed some of the ones closer right away. It was Hurricane Sandy. Even though I am 75 miles from the coast, I'm on a ridge, and winds took over 20 mature healthy trees, laying them down east to west. Stupidly repaired myself rather than looking into insurance claim; it is stick-built w/ an attic, so vehicles were spared. Had one fall covering a nice big gazebo as well.

Since cleared back from the house and outbuildings, although I have a few HUGE ones farther away that I am considering. Shame as I love the forest and trees, but enough is enough.