Im a bit nervous about some of the trees around my house / property

[GrumpyDad]

I need to call someone in to take down a 70' dead white pine near my cabin. It's only about 30' away so, that is making me nervous. I also have about another 15-20 of these guys looming within 30' of my property with only the tops showing growth, and all other branches either have fallen off or are about to.

These are all end of life from when they were planted. 6 years ago I had to take down 14 of these guys, half of which I dropped myself as they werent near any buildings.

Im curious what trees are most prone to falling due to a bad storm, assuming they are otherwise healthy. It's not very common for trees to topple over where Im at. I live on rocks. Lots and lots of rocks. If I dig a wheel barrel full of dirt, over 70% of it will be 6-12" rocks. Whenever we dug out for my expansion, we had a dump truck full of boulders. I think trees rooting around all of this has likely helped them stay rooted. My cabin sits on what was likely a creek bed at one point ten thousand years ago.

Just looking for advice on what I should let grown, what I should remove, what I should never have near a house and what I shouldnt worry about. Thanks.

 

[peakbagger]

At some point those dead pines start throwing dead branches and a branch dropped from 70 feet will punch a hole in the roof. Its pretty rare for a typical pine to blow over once the needles are off unless it a straight line wind event, so some folks just take the risk and hope insurance will pay for it. I have 100' white pine (live) that I am planning to get cut prior to building near it and its still live. On occasion I find live branches that came off during a wind event and they are usually stuck in the ground several inches. I will need to pay a bunch to someone to cut it as its lean and crown growth means it wants to fall across a street and into a big bunch of utilities.

 

[GrumpyDad]

At some point those dead pines start throwing dead branches and a branch dropped from 70 feet will punch a hole in the roof. Its pretty rare for a typical pine to blow over once the needles are off unless it a straight line wind event, so some folks just take the risk and hope insurance will pay for it. I have 100' white pine (live) that I am planning to get cut prior to building near it and its still live. On occasion I find live branches that came off during a wind event and they are usually stuck in the ground several inches. I will need to pay a bunch to someone to cut it as its lean and crown growth means it wants to fall across a street and into a big bunch of utilities.

Yup, I worry about those branches. I love a nice wind because I know that many branches are going to fall off and clean up the trees. I tell my family to really watch or avoid walking when it's windy out as we are all tree covered. And if you hear something crashing through the wood look up and cover your head with your arms.
I had a scare with a pine. One blew over halfway up of what was left. That crashed against another tree, broke in half and crashed through my deck taking out the railing system on both sides, missing my new grill by an inch or so. The other chunk hit the ground then a tree then came to rest sideways on my roof damaging the soffit and facia.

My tree guy I heard is retired unfortunately. 70 ish years old, and he would just quickly climb up a tree, tie off to another tree, jump over to that tree, tie something there, throw something down, jump back to the dead tree, cut a chunk off and then someone would lower that chunk ever so gracefully. I had a dead ash that I needed cut down and he showed me how to operate the thingy at the bottom and how to lower down a tree. Amazing. I still have those ash rounds I need to cut up.

I have a large cherry tree with sizable branches looming over my cabin, Im not sure what to do about, aside from these pines.

 

[Eman85]

I live in a very rocky area also, that makes the trees easier to fall in high winds. The trees roots can't penetrate deep to get a good hold. Many times when a tree falls there will be large rocks in the root ball that it had to grow around.

 

[Nealm66]

It might be worth it to have a certified arborist to take a look. Just be aware they may also be a sales person always get 3 bids and request proof of license, insurance and a written contract and possibly a bond if very high $

 

[GrumpyDad]

It might be worth it to have a certified arborist to take a look. Just be aware they may also be a sales person always get 3 bids and request proof of license, insurance and a written contract and possibly a bond if very high $

My arborist is damn honest thankfully but he is retired. He might come check things out and give advice on what to do and how much to pay.

 

[DonTee]

I have similar soil to yours also. The only trees I have blow over around here are big poplar/aspen trees. The pines are pretty stable.
When I cleared the area for my cabin ten years ago, I took out any trees that were leaning towards where the house would be.

Now we want to put a porch on one side, and I need to take out a few more trees. I’m nervous about the trees damaging other trees on the way down. So I’m thinking about renting a boom lift. That way I can go up a ways and take the trees down in sections.

I also have a logging winch I sometimes use to pull a tree in the opposite direction of the lean. If I was a better wood cutter I could do that without the winch

 

[Kwolt]

I need to call someone in to take down a 70' dead white pine near my cabin. It's only about 30' away so, that is making me nervous. I also have about another 15-20 of these guys looming within 30' of my property with only the tops showing growth, and all other branches either have fallen off or are about to.

These are all end of life from when they were planted. 6 years ago I had to take down 14 of these guys, half of which I dropped myself as they werent near any buildings.

Im curious what trees are most prone to falling due to a bad storm, assuming they are otherwise healthy. It's not very common for trees to topple over where Im at. I live on rocks. Lots and lots of rocks. If I dig a wheel barrel full of dirt, over 70% of it will be 6-12" rocks. Whenever we dug out for my expansion, we had a dump truck full of boulders. I think trees rooting around all of this has likely helped them stay rooted. My cabin sits on what was likely a creek bed at one point ten thousand years ago.

Just looking for advice on what I should let grown, what I should remove, what I should never have near a house and what I shouldnt worry about. Thanks.

Rocks aren’t a problem, shallow bedrock is. Roots will find their way between the rocks but will only grow on top of bedrock with limited anchorage.

 

[GrumpyDad]

Rocks aren’t a problem, shallow bedrock is. Roots will find their way between the rocks but will only grow on top of bedrock with limited anchorage.

Hey you are replying to a rather old post, but thanks for that feedback. I think our bedrock is fairly deep.
Across from us we have a GIANT hemlock. It looks very healthy, and my tree guy wasnt worried about it. It's probably 120+ feet tall, I dunno. I originally thought 150 then a couple people said no way. It's seriously massive. If I remember I'll take a picture of it with something for scale at the trunk.