Widow maker galore

BringinHeat · Aug 9, 2015

Had a big storm roll through last weekend at our cottage. I finally got up there to see the damage for myself.

Thankfully no damage to our cottage. My shed had a close call.

Pretty unbelievable what happened in the back 40....

And those are only a few if the trees that were destroyed. There were a bunch of huge maples that were blown over and uprooted.

I already snagged a good amount of real nice cherry. I'm going try getting some of the less dangerous maples next week.

Osagebndr · Aug 9, 2015

That's a lot of headaches for sure. Dangerous stuff

Oldman47 · Aug 9, 2015

Spend most of your time studying and very little time actually cutting. You want to live until next winter.

BrotherBart · Aug 9, 2015

Oldman47 said:
Spend most of your time studying and very little time actually cutting. You want to live until next winter.

Can't count how many I have walked around with a beer contemplating for a year or more before I pulled the start rope.

AmbDrvr253 · Aug 9, 2015

Yikes! Well, at least it is off the ground! Let mother nature have her way and then reap the rewards......LOL

BringinHeat · Aug 10, 2015

Yes for sure. I'm not even sure where to start with a lot of these.

Here's a pic someone across the lake took just before the storm hit:

They said winds were 70 to 100mph and hail larger than a golf ball.

Babaganoosh · Aug 10, 2015

Unless you have a way to pull or push them down like a backhoe I would not mess with those. Maybe cut a few notches in them so they rot thru and fall quicker but that's it.

Copper44 · Aug 10, 2015

Which lake is that? We were up on Burt when the storm hit.

BringinHeat · Aug 10, 2015

Manistee Lake

This was the one that knocked out everyone's power and trapped them there until it could be removed (which was over 24 hours later). This is right next to my property and is the only road in and out.

Copper44 · Aug 10, 2015

It was pretty wicked for sure. We luckily only lost power for about 7 hours. There's tons of firewood for the taking all around northern LP right now!

BringinHeat · Aug 11, 2015

No doubt. I talked to a guy yesterday that said they closed down I-75 at Grayling that Sunday at around 4:30pm. He was driving back from Gaylord to the Detroit area....took him over 8 hours. !!!

D8Chumley · Aug 11, 2015

Agreed, no way I'd get near that until Mother Nature has it on the ground. We had a black walnut and a hackberry fall across our road onto the power lines on each side of our driveway 2 winters ago. Couldn't get in or out for many hours until the tree company cut it off the lines. I drug the logs up the driveway with my truck and bucked them up. Love me some free wood! Be careful, no wood is worth getting hurt or worse over

BringinHeat · Aug 14, 2015

... and the hits just keep on coming....

This one came down yesterday and took the power lines down. I don't know how these lines are still intact. Neighbor said there were some wind gusts, but not too bad. I really didn't think this tree was going to come down that easy the way it was hung up.

Again this is right next door (that's my sign on the tree). I feel like I'm at ground zero

Oldman47 · Aug 14, 2015

It looks like it has your driveway blocked. Be careful with that power line right next to your work area.

BoiledOver · Aug 16, 2015

If we were closer, I would offer to help for one load per day. 150 miles round trip is a tad too distant. Good luck on your logging chores.

bags · Aug 16, 2015

Plus side is that it looks like plenty of future firewood. Down side is tons of dangerous work to get it. Start picking it off or pulling it with a truck, tractor or equipment and some distance between you and the falling stuff.

Another option is to maybe hire a track hoe and operator and let them come out and push / pull the stuff down where it is safe for you to deal with. Or if you feel like and can afford an insurance claim do that and have a tree service come and deal with it but you keep the wood.

Hiring an experienced track hoe operator might cost you a chunk of money but no claim and look at the pay back on all the firewood you will get to offset the money hurt. I'm sure you'd get more firewood than the excavators cost although it sucks to pay for wood and it's way safer than dicking around with it yourself. They can also move it and lay it out as you want for easier cutting and processing.

Just some thoughts. Sucks dealing with insurance but I know they would pay out. Look at it this way. What kind of liability do all of those dangerous widow makers pose for you and your insurance co. if someone gets whacked by one?

BringinHeat · Aug 17, 2015

bags said:
Plus side is that it looks like plenty of future firewood. Down side is tons of dangerous work to get it. Start picking it off or pulling it with a truck, tractor or equipment and some distance between you and the falling stuff.

Another option is to maybe hire a track hoe and operator and let them come out and push / pull the stuff down where it is safe for you to deal with. Or if you feel like and can afford an insurance claim do that and have a tree service come and deal with it but you keep the wood.

Hiring an experienced track hoe operator might cost you a chunk of money but no claim and look at the pay back on all the firewood you will get to offset the money hurt. I'm sure you'd get more firewood than the excavators cost although it sucks to pay for wood and it's way safer than dicking around with it yourself. They can also move it and lay it out as you want for easier cutting and processing.

Just some thoughts. Sucks dealing with insurance but I know they would pay out. Look at it this way. What kind of liability do all of those dangerous widow makers pose for you and your insurance co. if someone gets whacked by one?

Fortunately the trees in some of those pictures are not on my property. Still doesn't stop me from wanting to get the wood though :cool:

. Most of my neighbors would appreciate getting these trees down however, so I may still give it a shot at some point.

I don't think I could afford to hire a machine to help with this so I was thinking of trying to use my handy dandy Maasdam Rope puller to help pull some of the dangerous ones down. I'll just have to see how it goes.

Maybe I'll get lucky and have a few more come down on their own.

bags · Aug 17, 2015

BringinHeat said:
BringinHeat said:

Maybe I'll get lucky and have a few more come down on their own.

Click to expand...

Good Luck! I have one serious widow maker now as of about 1 1/12 - 2 months ago. We had a nasty storm here it it took out numerous trees on my property and all went down to the ground. However there is one that has me highly concerned and have not really a clue as to how to deal with it YET. I'll ponder on it awhile. It's a big one too and snapped the tree about mid way up about 25 feet or so.

bag of hammers · Aug 17, 2015

Wow that pic on the lake just before the storm is ominous, but really beautiful at the same time. Looks like a few dominoes in the mix, really amazing how certain trees get whacked while others beside them go unscathed. Agree with the others - many walkabouts over the coming months or longer before tearing into it. Some scary hangers there. Gravity is a b$tch....

Widow maker galore

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