...was discovered while out on a walk to a section of my property I rarely venture. Most of the trees in this area are healthy oaks, hickories and maples and it is a section of property that is accessible only on foot and maybe by four-wheeler or UTV (if I had one). To put this in perspective - the spar in the center of the photo is approximately 18' tall, 18" diameter shagbark hickory. The rest of the tree shattered and is on the ground. The piece that is being held up is about a 20-22" diameter BRANCH from a 53" diameter white oak. The oak is out of the frame just to my right. The branch came completely free of the parent tree, destroyed the hickory and a few other smaller trees, and is now suspended in midair by the hickory and by the telephone/DSL line that is underneath it. I'm not sure I should even touch this thing, but there is an awful lot of wood available on the ground, and by selective trimming, that I could remove without even shifting the balance of this mess. Also, if I call Fairpoint, our local telephone and DSL "provider", it'll be 15 years before they even look at it. Any ideas? There's probably 3 cords of wood sitting there and I want it.
Fall another tree onto the one suspended is about the only suggestion I have. That may just get you another tree hung up though-basically its a gamble. Its also the only gamble I would take with that mess. You wouldn't see me standing under it for longer than a few seconds. If you really want to get stupid crazy, get a ladder, put some tannerite up into the area that is on top of your spar tree, step back 100yds, and blast away.
Any chance you can get a cable over the top section and use a come-along or something else to pull it down? The cable may take a beating, but I guess that a matter of time anyway - at least you get to choose when to lose service! Cheers!
I don't blame you I would want to get that wood also. Maybe a pole saw trim the ends to get the larger section to the ground? Whatever you decide do it carefully!
I'm with NH_Wood ... get a long cable or long heavy duty rope... and get it up as high as you can on the biggest diameter of the branch... hook to a rugged come along way away from the action... and tug away. Pull enough and she'll come down. Then carefully trim away the branches around the cable, knowing the cable may be under load and snap back up. Be careful. Any pics may come in handy whenever Fairpoint shows up too, to show what you had to do... if they should ask.
I was thinking something similar. There are several other large trees in the immediate area, I was going to look into rigging a pulley or snatch block in a nearby tree, pulling up on that branch section and gently lowering it out of the spar. I would still have to clean up everything else I could reasonably reach before attempting any kind of rigging. Also, if it comes down to having to hire a pro or leaving the whole mess sit, it's gonna rot there. If it takes out the phone line, then the telephone company can blame themselves for not performing appropriate line maintenance.
Where does the DSL line go? Only to your house? Do you have service through them? I'd call the phone co - they'll have it on the ground sooner than you think. I had some internet service issues a while back; when I finally called them, they said they were seeing an issue with their lines, and they sent someone out the next day. They topped one of my trees that was near their lines, so not only did I have my internet back, I had a pile of wood waiting for me, and a nice trunk to tip over! Win-win-win!
...And if they don't come out fast enough, a bit of "accidental pruning" of their lines should provide just the right motivation!
Theres alot of stored energy there..proceed at your own risk...if its that big...im suprised it didnt break 1 or both poles on either side..that CATV has a steel messenger in it....after enough weight has been lifted it can slingshot..i see this all the time...i would call the utility and git a pro tree service to remove it....just my $.02....
x2 ....be sure to tell them that you are more than willing to dispose of the wood once it's bucked up and on the ground
Yea, there's no cable here. That's just a copper telephone/DSL cable. It's older than me, probably installed sometime in the early 1960's. Those poles go down through the woods and used to carry the electric lines as well, but in about 2001, the power company put up a whole bunch of brand-new poles on the road and moved all their lines. Fairpoint refuses to move their line to the new poles so long as they have the old poles and the easement down through my property. I can't force them to move the line. It's my opinion that the line diminishes my property value and prohibits me from the full potential use of the property, but I'm not even going to open that can of worms at this point.
Yeah I was surprised it didn't break a pole either. Those poles are 50+ years old. However, the butt of the branch is supported by the hickory spar. If the branch had come down full-weight on the line, I'd bet that line would be on the ground. And I don't think they care. There is an external steel cable which parallels the phone line, and it has some sort of coiled wire wrapping both of them together. The external steel cable can probably take a lot of punishment.
Its on your property...and poses a danger to you...they should take care of it...remember...a squeaky wheel gits da grease
It would be pretty silly to risk your own neck on something they might do for you for free - no matter how upset you are with them. You can always get your revenge later on. Running transmission lines through the woods was probably never a good idea, and it could become quite costly if trees keep falling them every couple months.
