Broken Trees

[Copper]

I had just finished mowing the lawn as a good size thunderstorm started moving in.

I heard a load crack, but didn't see anything. I waited watching the gusts blowing the trees. Another loud crack and a Sweet Gum tree in my back yard, maybe 45 feet tall fell over taking a couple other trees with it.

Right on top of my armillary. I haven't checked it yet, it is still raining.


[Catseye3]

A shame. But you're lucky you weren't still out there mowing.

[Copper]

And I caught the crash on one of my Blink security cameras. I am in the frame for the last couple seconds.

Link to video

[Mik]

Some days are better than others. Some not so much - must be catching. The plumber is out with a backhoe destroying my front yard to try to fix a water line leak that is pouring money into the ground then the washing machine crapped out this morning. 2020 is not our best year.

[Catseye3]

I'm hearing distant grumblings. I think it's Copper's Sweet Gum Slayer.

[Horace]

How many trees are broken in America under the weight of hanging Black lives, murdered by white racists? One million per day?

[Rainman]

@Mik said in Broken Trees:

Some days are better than others. Some not so much - must be catching. The plumber is out with a backhoe destroying my front yard to try to fix a water line leak that is pouring money into the ground then the washing machine crapped out this morning. 2020 is not our best year.

Sorry to hear, Mik.
There is not a whole lot more frustrating, than to put out loads of cash, just to get back to where you were. It's not like you can say, "wanna see my new pipe, or my new washer?"

Bummer, but I guess we all go through it once in awhile.

[Jolly]

Sweetgum is a mostly worthless tree. Lousy firewood. Lumber that does the watusi warp. And gumballs that hurt when you step on them and help tear your mower up.

Second only to tallow trees in uselessness.

[Catseye3]

I hear cottonwoods are a pain also.

[taiwan_girl]

@Copper Glad you are okay and no damage to your house!! Kind of scary

[Improviso]

@Copper said in Broken Trees:

I had just finished mowing the lawn as a good size thunderstorm started moving in.

I heard a load crack, but didn't see anything. I waited watching the gusts blowing the trees. Another loud crack and a Sweet Gum tree in my back yard, maybe 45 feet tall fell over taking a couple other trees with it.

Right on top of my armillary. I haven't checked it yet, it is still raining.


Ok... my first thought was who has Copper got buried there?

[Catseye3]

Uh . . . have we heard from Aqua lately???

[Copper]

@Improviso said in Broken Trees:

Ok... my first thought was who has Copper got buried there?

Trolls

[Mik]

Well, it gets better and better. Today he nicked an electric cable that wasn't where it was marked. Now Duke is out there looking at it, and since electric and phone and cable have half a dozen lines going right over the path he has to hand dig that several feet and the ground is much too wet to do that.

Still no water yet.

[Catseye3]

You're not obligated to pay for that, I trust?

What a gigantic pain!

[Mik]

Actually Duke does not do repairs between the transformer and the meter (weird), but he shut off the power and luckily had the parts my guy needed to repair the line. So we were only without power for maybe an hour. If we can get water restored today through a temporary splice that would be great.

But I'm not holding my breath.

[Mik]

Water is flowing and the meter leak detector shows no leak. We may have dodged a bullet, but the plumbers both said this was a nightmare job.

Now we have to negotiate what to pay him. There were two estimates. One was for three feet of splice, the second one was for 30 feet. They actually spliced about two feet, but it was much, much more difficult than it should have been. The idiots who did it originally actually created a loop in the copper line that went down 52" deep. Should have been 32".

I'm thinking split the difference between the two estimates.

[Mik]

So, Copper.... now that I have thoroughly hijacked your thread, how are the trees doing?

[Copper]

I cleaned up the stuff on the lawn and on the shrubs.

And cut up all the branches with the chainsaw.

Now I need estimates from tree guys to take down the trunks that are broken off and still 10 feet in the air, and probably weigh as much as my house.

I am almost stupid enough to try taking down these trunks myself.

But the 50-60 foot section that fell was attached to another 50-60 foot section that is still standing. The remaining section is probably unsafe. I need a real tree guy to risk his life taking it down.

[Mik]

I think that‘s a wise choice. I’ve taken down some big trees but not that big.