Insurance job or complete incompetence?

[CarbonNeutral]

Look at these pictures: (broken link removed to http://www.epicfail.com/2013/04/30/tree-removal-fail-2/)

No wedge in sight, massive tree, don't know where they were intending to drop it as it can't go toward the truck, the left, or the house. Maybe the house was scheduled to be demolished? It still seems lucky they managed to do that without killing anyone/dropping it elsewhere?

 

[Jags]

Looks to have been intentional.

 

[Nick Mystic]

Very strange! Must be more to the story. You can see a tiny wedge cut on the backside of tree away from the house. There is not a good view of the house side of the tree, but from what you can see there is no wedge cut showing. The hinge appears to be in the center of the cut. The top photo, where the view is partially blocked by the guy in the blue shirt, it looks like the guy with the saw has made a cut into the tree that is longer and deeper than the wedge cut and there is no wedge showing the photo yet. This might be an example of why you don't hire someone going door to door asking if you need a tree cut down!

 

[Jags]

If he was doing a back cut to drop the tree away from the home, he would have been closest to the house to do it. If that tree went the wrong way he would never have gotten the saw out in time.

 

[Nick Mystic]

The tiny wedge showing on the side of the tree away from the house seems to show that he had intended for the tree to fall toward the wedge and away from the house. I think we would need to have more photos posted in their proper sequence in order to figure out exactly what happened. From the four photos posted my guess is he first made the tiny wedge cut away from the house to drop the tree so it wouldn't hit the house. Then he made his back cut and got his saw pinched when the tree started lean toward the house. This would have occurred when his back cut had made it about halfway through the tree, based on the center hinge showing in the later photos. He then somehow removed his saw or got a second saw and proceeded to cut through the tree from the wedge side and when he got near the center of the tree it fell toward the house. Although there are no ropes showing in any of the photos I suppose it is possible that these guys had one on the tree and they were pulling away from the house in hopes that they would be able to pull it down in that direction. Perhaps the rope broke and then the tree fell in the direction it wanted to go, which was toward the house. Of course, that doesn't explain how or why there would be a cut through the wedge clear to the middle of the tree.

 

[Jags]

Of course, that doesn't explain how or why there would be a cut through the wedge clear to the middle of the tree.

I suppose if this guy was dumber than the tree he was trying to drop he could have made the face cut to the center hinge area...but that is...well...not a very smart move.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Look how close that neighbor next door was on the left. you know there's a neighbor on the right and a street pretty close. With a big @$$ tree like that- there would be no safe way to drop it. Unless he was roaring drunk, I think it was intentional.

 

[paul bunion]

Intentional, the truck that you can see the very back of the bed of in picture 2 would not have been there if it was intended to fall away from the house. Nor would the photographer have been standing there to take the picture at impact.

 

[smokinj]

The tree in the back all nice and trimmed up and looks to be from a climber. Now why would they drop it without at-least trimming it up. Oh and bet there a house on the other side of the street. Me thinks photo shop. (You cant see the trimmed tree first 3 picks))

 

[lukem]

Intentional, the truck that you can see the very back of the bed of in picture 2 would not have been there if it was intended to fall away from the house. Nor would the photographer have been standing there to take the picture at impact.

I think you nailed it, however, judging by the way the tree was...ahem..."notched"...I still say it could have just as easily smoked the truck and the photographer.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I think you nailed it, however, judging by the way the tree was...ahem..."notched"...I still say it could have just as easily smoked the truck and the photographer.

I thought it was notched facing the house. The last pics seem to show that

 

[lukem]

I thought it was notched facing the house. The last pics seem to show that

Exactly. If a picture only *seems* to show a notch, it wasn't a very good one. I'm not sure what they were thinking about with that little divot that they took out of the front.

On something like that where fall direction is everything you want to make a steep top angle, and possibly even a angled bottom so it doesn't pop the hinge part of the way down.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Exactly. If a picture only *seems* to show a notch, it wasn't a very good one. I'm not sure what they were thinking about with that little divot that they took out of the front.

On something like that where fall direction is everything you want to make a steep top angle, and possibly even a angled bottom so it doesn't pop the hinge part of the way down.

Right, but it fell toward the notch. Shallow or deep, tight or steep- it fell the direction it was supposed to, so the notch style was not an issue (am I missing something?)

If I wanted a tree to fall on that house, I would have made a notch in the same place

 

[lukem]

All I'm saying is...these guys look like they were in over their head and I wouldn't be in disbelief if the tree took out the truck and camera man. I agree it was intended to hit the house.

The back cut was made...then he made the little purposeless divot on the front. You can tell by the position of the divot relative to the scar on the tree in the first 2 pics. I guess that could have been done to get a wedge in there?

When he's making the back-cut on the second pic, there appears to be only enough sawdust on the ground to have come from the back cut. A tree that size is going to make a lot of dust if you are putting a good notch in there.

I wouldn't rule out the possibility that they tried making a back cut, then tried wedging it, then notched it.

 

[bogydave]

Looks intentional to me too.
Nice pictures & it hit the house perfrect.
They knew what they were doing. IMO
Nice hinge

 

[DanCorcoran]

Looks like the tree in the rear was trimmed in advance to ensure that the large tree would fall directly on the house and not hang up in the rear tree.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

The tree in the back all nice and trimmed up and looks to be from a climber. Now why would they drop it without at-least trimming it up. Oh and bet there a house on the other side of the street. Me thinks photo shop. (You cant see the trimmed tree first 3 picks))

Good eye Jay. Also look at all 4 pictures and compare picture 2 & 3 to pictures 1 & 4. See how clear 2 of the pictures are but the other two are not as clear?

Still it would be good to know the whole story and I'd like to have the firewood from that tree too!

 

[Thistle]

I love to watch pros at work....

 

[BoilerMan]

I was thinking of why was there someone standing by the truck all ready and poised to take a picture mid-fall onto the house. I don't know about you but when I cut trees down no one is around and certainly not ready to take consecutive pictures of my felling especially mid-fall. Before and after I can see, but not in the 5 second window of falling.

TS

 

[CarbonNeutral]

I was thinking of why was there someone standing by the truck all ready and poised to take a picture mid-fall onto the house. I don't know about you but when I cut trees down no one is around and certainly not ready to take consecutive pictures of my felling especially mid-fall. Before and after I can see, but not in the 5 second window of falling.

TS

Ding, Ding. It has to be a setup. Or criminal negligence, one of the two.

 

[CarbonNeutral]

And, by the way, nice to see hearth.com still going so strong....