some really wicked storms came through today. A huge red oak came down next door, the rootball was around 11' tall, tree was around 40 to 44" diameter, 80 or 90 ft tall. Some pics of the storm and some of the tree. It's at the back of my neighbor's property and fell on my cousin's property, she said her boyfriend will cut it up. He don't have the saws to do it, so I will wait patiently for her to call me.......
onetracker, I probably won't get any of it. However, I told my cousin if she needs me to come down with a REAL saw instead of the little craftsman her boyfriend has, I would bring my big saw down and buck the trunk up for him. As for the rootball, I am amazed too. I looked at it pretty good and it kinda looks like the middle may be rotting out some, it will be interesting to see inside the tree when it's bucked up.
Thanks Zap, everyone is safe, yeah I am glad too! It was one of the worst thunderstorms I've ever seen. We drove around town and there are trees and limbs down everywhere, I am guessing we had a microburst smack us. We drove to the neighboring town just south of us and there is no damage at all. Crazy weather. I have some video of it, will post it to youtube later if I get a chance. Takes forever to upload vids to youtube!
We're between Altoona and State College, it hit us around 5:30-6:00 and its still thundering out with some rain but the wind is gone. We got HAMMERED earlier. I was working in Harrisburg back in the late 90's when some bad storms brought a microburst through down there. On a good note its only 64° outside now, good sleeping weather!
If you get involved in cutting it up, BE CAREFUL !
When you get close to the rootball, it's has a good chance to stand up fast, keep your head clear!
Maybe brace the root ball with a couple 4x4 braces so it don't stand up & hurt anyone.
I'd work from the top down on one that big.
Glad it didn't hit anyone or any buildings.
Be safe
Looks like a fun one to work on, but very heavy
Yes that would be very unfortunate. I don't allow kids anywhere near where I am cutting, heck I won't even let adults around if they are not part of my crew. Bad things happen when you least expect it!
I am going to go over there this morning and explain to them that they should try and knock as much of the dirt out of that rootball as they can, if they are motivated to do so. For starters, it would put a lot of the dirt back in the hole, minimizing the need for fill to be brought in afterwards, Second, it would make the stump a lot easier to get out of there. Not sure what their plan is, but I feel fairly confident I will be the one dealing with the trunk because it is a monster and I know for a fact that kid doesn't have the tools or know-how to deal with it.
I was thinking that too.. The oaks around here rarely come down but the white pines either snap or uproot..
This oak is in a low area that has been really wet this spring, so the damp soil combined with 70+ mph wind gusts we had late yesterday did it in. Dang shame, too. It was a really really old tree.
