Maybe not the most expense cord of maple, but....

[toddnic]

Woke up Thursday morning at 6:00 AM to no water. I figured that the contacts on the pump control box at the well head were corroded and needed cleaning. I got my screwdriver and sandpaper and headed out the door. It only took me a few seconds to realize that the screwdriver and sandpaper were not quite the right tools to remove the 2 foot in diameter maple from of the top of the well head. Well, thankfully it did not cost over $1000 to fix the damage but it definitely was close. Most expense cord of wood that I had to c/s/s myself.

 

[Beardog]

Ouch

 

[Electric B]

That is about like my luck, from the pic looks like there is plenty of room for a tree to fall without causing damage. But it had to land on the well.

Glad no one was hurt.

 

[Soundchasm]

Murphy and his stupid law... Did it just fall over?

 

[toddnic]

Murphy and his stupid law... Did it just fall over?

The tree was hollow at the bottom. From the outside it looked like a healthy beautiful maple tree but the inside had been eaten either by ants or termites.

 

[Soundchasm]

Oh man, those are some life-changing events when the trees are that deceptive. You see a tree 500 times and then there's that one day when it just looks somehow different, being all horizontal and stuff.

Glad nobody was under it.

 

[Fred Wright]

Well, the maple will help pay for the damage by heating your home. There's some consolation at least.

Carpenter ants and maples... they seem to go hand in hand for some reason. Couple years ago I was felling a willow oak in the woodlot. It sideswiped a red maple on its way down. The maple snapped off at the base and fell across the street. Thankfully there was no traffic at the time. I hustled out there and cut it into pieces, dragged the limbs and brush to the shoulders so traffic could pass. Went back later that evening with the cart and cleaned it up.

The tree base was hollow, completely eaten away by carpenter ants. No indication from the outside at all.

 

[Jags]

Just to clarify - ants don't mess up healthy trees. Unhealthy trees draw ants too them. Those trees were on their way out before the ants got involved.

 

[BrotherBart]

Barely dodged that bullet myself in 2004 when the tornado spun down next to the house. This one landed right beside the well head.

 

[D8Chumley]

BrotherBart why does your well head stick up so far? Mine is only up about 6" from the ground with a stone ring around it about 3' in diameter so I don't get too close with the mower. Just curious, I haven't seen more than a dozen well heads in my life, most people I know have that funny tasting city water. Toddnic sorry to hear, like said previously thankfully nobody got hurt

 

[BrotherBart]

I don't know. Only well I have ever had and when the nice gentlemen ripped me off replacing the pump three years ago they didn't seem to think it standing that tall was a problem. Or at least didn't mention it. The pump was sitting right on the bottom. I had'em pull the new one up five feet out of the mud.

Of course the county inspection records say the well is 160' deep but it turns out it is only 103' and don't even get me started on what the septic field is instead of what is in the permit/inspection records.

 

[D8Chumley]

Just curious if mine was unusually low. I'm on my 2nd 1HP pump in 7.5 yrs, the last one puked 3 months after the 5 yr warranty expired My well is 600' deep, water at 160 and pump set at 300'. Me and 2 buddies pulled the first one out with my quad and a big ol' round right next to the head to keep the plastic pipe from busting. I let the pros pull the second one

 

[Dix]

Glad no one got hurt !!

What type of a well is that? Mine is submersible, and I have no well head sticking up out of the ground.

 

[D8Chumley]

One of my good friends has a well that the head is buried also. He got tied in to city water a year or so ago, but he doesn't know where the PO has it buried in his yard to even service it if he had to

 

[Jags]

It is not uncommon for the the drillers to leave the wellhead up or down a bit. When they are pounding the casings, they will try and leave "just the right amount" stuck out. That distance can change from driller to driller.

Mine is so old that I have a well pit. Everything underground with a steel top.

 

[toddnic]

Glad no one got hurt !!

What type of a well is that? Mine is submersible, and I have no well head sticking up out of the ground.

I've got about a foot showing above the ground encased in concrete. The well is about 180 feet deep with a submersible pump.

 

[WiscWoody]

My casing is over a foot above ground but the only thing that's hit it is my slow sliding car from trying to get up the hill after freezing rain. They say the pump doesn't go as deep as the casing, some where between the water table and the bottom of a well. It's technical... And I don't understand....