Not a good day to be in the woods

[Backwoods Savage]

Probably all have heard about the widow makers but today is an excellent example. Being not able to do anything physical today I am sitting at the computer. However, a neighbor came in on his atv and I managed to get outside to sit on a chair to talk. While were were talking there was a big crash not far from us. I was sitting so as to be able to see it but he wasn't.

There is a big red oak (three in a clump) about 20 feet from where he was sitting on his atv. I saw a big dead limb fall and it did really fall loudly. Naturally, we are having a windy day with gusts going up to 30 mph or greater.

Yes, these are the days to stay out of the woods. I also say it is worse during the summer than in the winter. The reason is because all of the leaves and you won't necessarily see all the dead limbs where you can spot them in the winter. No matter, when the wind is over 20-25 mph I really hate going through the woods or doing any work there. Exception being deer season and then it is difficult to keep me out of the woods. Also, we happen to live right in the woods....

 

[rdust]

I went to a local park today on lunch, the tree's were rockin' and rollin' pretty good. I always hate really windy days, I have a bunch of standing dead pines and I really don't want to have to deal with the clean up in the middle of summer. It's bad enough I have one that I need to clean up before hunting season since it's screwing up one of my tree stands shooting lanes!

 

[billb3]

Happened to us sitting out under a white oak Saturday.

About 5 feet away, fell about 30 feet, loud thump, we looked at it, it looked at us and then ran off on all four legs. Apparenltly squirrels miss every now and then.

 

[gzecc]

I was at a friends place, and a limb fell and just grazed my head. Man, don't know if it would have killed me but it would have done some damage.
There was a google engineer walking in central park NY a couple of weeks ago that was hit on the head and in critical condition. I guess some of you people didn't think there were trees in NYC.
One never knows when their time is up! Do one!

 

[quads]

(broken link removed to http://www.channel3000.com/news/20014230/detail.html)

OREGON, Wis. -- A man was killed after a tree fell on a car in Oregon on Friday morning.

The Dane County coroner identified the victim as Roch D. Kendrick, 46, of New Glarus. He was a physics engineer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Authorities said Kendrick was driving his 1996 Geo Prism northbound in the 400 block of Main Street when a giant oak tree split and landed directly on his car at about 8:18 a.m.

"The tree split down the middle, it looks like, and landed on the vehicle," said Lt. Craig Sherven, of the Oregon Police Department. "There were reports of high wind at that time -- the wind was rather strong -- that could possibly be a contributing factor to what occurred."

The coroner said Kendrick suffered severe head and chest trauma and that he died instantly. Kendrick was the only person in the car at the time.

Witnesses said that strong winds came suddenly. One neighbor said she even heard the tree snap, then a crash.

"You're in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Oregon resident Jacque Robsin. "It was a fluke accident, because that gentleman probably knew nothing (was happening); he probably drove and the tree hit and he was gone."

"At first, there was just a huge tree in the middle of the road. You couldn't really see anything as far as a vehicle. I just thought a tree was down," said neighbor Jake Soule. "But then when the ambulances and fire trucks started coming down, I assumed there was something going on. And as they started clearing stuff away, you could definitely see there was a car underneath there."

Main Street was shut down, and it took crews at least four hours to clear the scene, cut down the tree and open up traffic.

Police said that there were high winds in the area, but there's no indication a lightning strike caused the tree to fall. Currently, investigators are looking into why exactly the tree came down.

Four years ago, there was a similar incident in the area when another man died after a tree fell on his car.

In May 2005, a tree fell across four lanes of traffic, crushing a car heading south on Monona Drive. The victim in that case was Visar Morina, a 29-year-old who came to the U.S. after leaving then war-torn Kosovo. Morina was in a coma and died days later from his injuries.

It was determined that the honey locust that fell on his car was rotted, and the city eventually cut down 30 other trees in that woodland park area that were deemed dangerous.

 

[LLigetfa]

The day before yesterday it was quite windy here. I was up on the top rung of a ladder cutting limbs off of a half dead Poplar that I wanted to drop in my yard. There were too many other trees nearby so I had to take some limbs off first. I was looking up at the dead limbs above my head that I couldn't reach, thinking all the time that one better not bop me in the head. I couldn't drop the limbs on a calm day cuz if they fell straight down, they would damage a smaller Ash that grew up at the base of the Poplar so I used the wind to help carry them away.

I wasn't about to try felling the tree though in the wind, based on the direction I needed to put it down. I've used the wind in the past to help put a leaner where it had to go. Yesterday it was calm so I dropped the tree. I didn't fell it with the saw, I used an axe and chopped the roots so it would come down slow and take the stump with it. When it had leaned over past the 45 degree point, I had to take my ladder and move the limbs of the other trees I was trying to save. I then climbed the leaner and rode it on its way down.

 

[webby3650]

A neighbor about a half a mile up the road had a Silver Maple fall yesterday. It was about 48" at the base, blocked the drive, and hit the neighbors house! If there wasn't so much brush and well, if it was anything besides silver Maple, I would see about hauling it off. I have enough wood I can be a bit of a wood snob! :lol:

 

[gzecc]

LLigetfa, You sound like the Indiana Jones of lumber jacks! Rode it down! How big was this tree?

 

[LLigetfa]

It was about 40 feet tall and skinny, maybe 8 inches at the base. I had already removed all the lower limbs I could reach from a 24 foot ladder.

 

[wendell]

I then climbed the leaner and rode it on its way down.

Why am I imagining Slim Pickens in "Dr. Strangelove"?

 

[savageactor7]

Yup when it's windy I don't go into the woods. Last night while sitting around the campfire heard a limb come crashing down in the still of the night...holy cow that was loud.

 

[firefighterjake]

I think it's OK to be in the woods on a windy day . . . as long as you're not an engineer of some sort. I, of course, base this assumption on the stories told by quads and gzecc where it is clear that Mother Nature definitely has some bone to pick with engineers.

And for the record . . . not to make light of these tragedies . . . I do not cut down trees on windy days . . . I can always find other jobs to do.

 

[billb3]

One by one he subdued his father's trees
By riding them down over and over again
Until he took the stiffness out of them,
And not one but hung limp, not one was left
For him to conquer. He learned all there was
To learn about not launching out too soon
And so not carrying the tree away
Clear to the ground. He always kept his poise
To the top branches, climbing carefully
With the same pains you use to fill a cup
Up to the brim, and even above the brim.
Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish,
Kicking his way down through the air to the ground.
So was I once myself a swinger of birches.


It really is fun.

 

[velvetfoot]

Again, being an engineer is dangerous.
(broken link removed to http://www.nypost.com/seven/07302009/news/regionalnews/manhattan/google_engineer_hit_by_central_park_tree_182123.htm)

 

[Brian VT]

So was I once myself a swinger of birches.

I hadn't read that, or swung a birch, since I was a kid (30 yrs. ago). Thanks !
We used to ride a few down over the bank from my house. Side hills make for a longer ride.
It sure does suck when you make your move too early/low and only come 1/2 way down. LOL. Then it's the big jump or swing your legs back up to the trunk.
B.t.w., gotta give Robert Frost his due credit for writing that.