Mike Murowski had a big ole Maple tree with a lot of rot in it. It was near his garage. and he was afraid of a storm blowing it onto the garage. We started to cut it about 10 foot up. Mike had a ford 2700 tractor he lashed to the tree. He was far enough away. his plan was to pull the tree the direction he wanted it to fall. Helen his wife and another lady stood near the garage to watch. I stopped cutting and told them to move. They were quite put out and didn't want to move. After some discussion that got quite heated. (I don't talk to ladies like that unless it is life and death) They moved.
Well rotted trees have a mind of their own. The tree started to fall ok, then took a sudden turn as it fell. The tractor was jerked 5 foot in the air and landed 10 feet from where it had been. The tree landed where Helen had been standing. I was forgiven for the harsh words. It landed a little over 90 degrees from the planned location. That was over 25 years ago. Both Helen and Mike are gone now but I have never forgotten the lesson. Any time you think you are far enough away you are not go back anothe 50 feet or more.
What gets me is the guy in the picture is smiling.
Bill
Bill
"Life's tough.It's even tougher if you're stupid." - John Wayne
" We hang petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." - Aesop
Tractors Owned: 1947 FCub 1948 FCub (FrankenCub), 1949 C, 1952 SA, 1963 IH 3414 Backhoe Diesel, 1960 Oliver 880 Diesel, 1945 Mack EF Fire Truck
Circle of Safety: Y
Location: MD, Baltimore and Freeland
Postby Carm » Tue Mar 22, 2005 1:44 pm
I'm sure we all have had our own close calls with trees. As for me, it was leaning up hill so thats where I cut it to fall. Well, it rocked back and fell downhill. The good news is that it took out a barbed wire fence we've been meaning to remove anyway! Just be careful everybody.
Tractors Owned: Restored: 1950 Cub, 1950 Cub Demo, 1948 super AI, 1935 Silver King, 1946 Oliver 60 RC, John Deere M
In working clothes: 1950 cub, 1948 cub, 1941 A, 1948 H, 1963 B414, 1958 240U, 1947 Oliver 60 industrial, Oliver 70 industrial. IH 450,
Location: CT, Middletown
Postby artc » Thu Apr 07, 2005 8:32 am
somewhere close to 20 years ago, after a hurricane took power out all over our area, my partner and his dad decided to remove a tree that was in the front yard. power was out. i arrived on an unrelated mission as they were cutting, and recall commenting that their planned fall zone didn't match what the tree was planning. they proceeded anyway.
power wire (dead) was attached to the house. tree and power wire met, power wire was abruptly removed from the house. i should also comment that the power wire was fed from a pole on the other side of the street, a fairly busy 50mph road.
at this moment, a US postal truck was motoring down the road. the power wire dropped to the road in front of him, he passed over it, and then the wire wrapped itself around the rear axle.
looked like a fighter jet landing on an aircraft carrier! man was that dude surprised. once it stopped and rolled backward a few feet, we of course went to see how he was. no injuries, no apparent damage to the post office jeep.
very lucky that day.
Tractors Owned: 47, 48, 49 cub plus Wagner loader & other attachments. 41 Farmall H.
Location: Mo, Potosi
Postby John *.?-!.* cub owner » Mon May 16, 2005 7:48 am
Will see if I can find another one. It is a practically new customized pickup with a tree about 3 feet in diameter laying across the bed, with the truck totally mashed to the ground and destroyed. there is a guy standing in the back with a stupid look on his face, and holding a chainsaw.
If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem!!!