Close call!

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Yesterday evening, we were out mowing, and a storm blew quickly in. The sky grew dark and strong gusts of wind were at the leading edge. We were in the process of putting the mowers away when I heard a loud crack. A large branch fell right in front of me onto the driveway- right between the two cars. Two feet in either direction, one of the cars would have received significant damage.

I'd been meaning to trim the branch with the rope chainsaw, but it was high enough to make getting the throw weight up difficult, and close enough to the barn to make it risky to the barn (particularly the gutter- which is why it was slated for removal). There were no signs of damage to the branch before it fell.

The tree is an old hybrid red maple, at least 60 years old and 60 feet tall. Another large branch broke off the opposite side about a week ago.

 

[WoodyIsGoody]

Glad no one was hurt! Now you have more firewood!

 

[Jacob Hicks]

Thank God no was hurt in that incident. A similar incident also took place in front of my eyes when I was in Sydney for a visit to my aunt's home. A large old pine tree fell down due to heavy wind in my aunt's front yard. No one was hurt, but little bit of the front yard area got damaged. The next day, aunt got the details about the professional tree removal service from a website and immediately consulted the team for the safe removal of dead tree. Thanks to the team who helped us in that situation.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Glad you're ok!
It is easy to underestimate how heavy a branch is when it appears weightless in a tree.

 

[Dobish]

glad you are ok! I remember during Hurricane Bob, we had just come back from being evacuated and we drove down the street. I had just gotten to the front door and I turned around to see a huge branch fall right next to my aunt.

A couple of years ago, my grandfather offered to move his car up the street so someone else could use the driveway parking spot. We all said no, it was his spot, we were young, we could walk. He didn't move the car, and a branch fell down right on the hood...

 

[Soundchasm]

After we took down a 60+ year old silver maple in the front yard (might have well sold it as howitzer barrels), a sugar maple is the only maple I'll trust. We even had a big leaf maple (maybe 10") I nearly pushed over by hand. When I see a silver, I see (outgoing) dollar signs...