We chopped down trees today..

Big pine tree - This is a before picture of the biggest tree we had to cut down.
United States
October 28, 2012 5:31pm CST
So everyone's talking about how bad this storm is going to be. We are in central NY and it is supposed to hit us pretty hard Monday night and into Tuesday. They're talking 75 mph winds and probably declaring a state of emergency! We can weather a storm.. no big deal. I'm not big on making preparations. We've got food. We did go buy some candles today. Wish we had a heating source other than electric heaters.. but it's not too frigid outside so we should be okay. The only thing I was really worried about was the 2 pine trees next to my house.. actually right outside my bedroom window. One of them had already broken during a previous storm.. but not all the way. About 10 feet or so off the top had fallen down, but luckily it did not fall towards the house and nothing had been damaged. Of course I was worried about both the trees as they were still taller than the house. If they fell they could take the whole house down, and hubby and I would definitely not survive it since they'd fall right into our bedroom first. Well hubby had tried to call someone about taking the trees down, but couldn't get a hold of anyone.. so he got his chainsaw and did it himself! It was quite an ordeal. But we got them both down without hurting ourselves or causing any damage (except to some nearby trees which one of the pine trees fell into). So now we're pretty well set for the storm. There are no other trees near the house that can cause any serious damage. Did you ever have to do any tree cutting to prepare for a big storm? Have you ever cut down a really tall tree?
4 people like this
12 responses
@peavey (16936)
• United States
29 Oct 12
I never have, but there is a huge spruce in my back yard that I worry about sometimes. It would take a strong wind to take it down, but if the ground was saturated, it could topple over. I don't want to take it down because it helps with the privacy between me and the neighbors, but I might have to anyway. I hope the storm doesn't cause much damage. The reports are ominous.
@peavey (16936)
• United States
29 Oct 12
Yes, I know. Because spruce are shallow rooted, though, it would topple faster when the ground was wet then a strong wind came along. It could break, but I don't think it will. We're not in hurricane country, so I don't worry about that so much.
@peavey (16936)
• United States
29 Oct 12
I understand.
• United States
29 Oct 12
I worry about everything, even if I don't have to.
@lilybug (21107)
• United States
29 Oct 12
I have never had a tree that was mine to cut down. I want to trim up the one on the side of the house a little bit because it is starting to hang over part of the porch. I am sure my landlord will not care if I cut some of the branches down. If I wasn't going to be late on my rent again this month I would call him and ask him to do it for me. I hope you guys don't have any damage from the storm. Stay safe.
• United States
29 Oct 12
Don't you have a guy friend who could do it?
@lilybug (21107)
• United States
29 Oct 12
I have one person that I can think of that would do it for me. He is this kid( I say kid but he is 23)I used to work with. He will basically do anything for me. He is actually coming over later today to take a look at my car.
@GardenGerty (160721)
• United States
28 Oct 12
When we bought this house the next door neighbor offered to pay half if we would take out a big huge pine tree that was on our lot but scraped their roof. We paid someone and split the cost. I had not thought about how awful the damage will be from trees. A few years ago we had such bad ice storms that in a large city nearby they filled a stadium with downed branches and trees. Hold on and stay safe.
• United States
29 Oct 12
We've seen a lot of damage from downed trees and limbs.. and there are lots of trees nearby. We're basically surrounded by woods. There may be some downed power lines.. but there are no longer any trees close enough to damage our home.
@AmbiePam (93003)
• United States
29 Oct 12
I've seen too many movies where a person cuts a tree and then it falls in the wrong direction and crushes the person who was chopping it down. Doing that would scare me.
• United States
29 Oct 12
The first one almost happened that way.. The second one we had tied a rope around it and me and my son were about 50 feet away tugging on the other end of that rope to get it to fall in our direction. It ended up going a bit sideways and falling into neighboring trees instead.. but it didn't fall on any of us, or the house, or the cars.. so I call that success.
@crissy92 (91)
• United States
29 Oct 12
I had a tree really close to the back of the house a few years ago, but the ex took it down. Thanking God he did now, cuz it was right next to the house, and it would have demolished the house, no doubt. I live in Pennsylvania, and I don't think it's going to get nearly as bad as in New York. Stay safe!
@kimte20 (88)
• Philippines
29 Oct 12
in the phil no because we are only getting ready for the effect such as first aid , food and a lot of clothes maybe.. its better if they cut tall trees because who knows that tree will fall...
• United States
29 Oct 12
That was good for you to protect your home like that. I don't have those worries my super takes care of our building.
@allknowing (136778)
• India
29 Oct 12
I so admire you guys out there. Here in India, for every little thing we will take the help of labourers. Even for our house work we have maids. But what I have noticed is that you have good equipment and gadgets to work with. The chainsaw that your husband used must have helped him a lot. Nevertheless it was an achievement! Hope the storm will diffuse itself and not harm you in any way.
@natliegleb (5175)
• India
29 Oct 12
wow that is ideally great but in a way it leads to deforestation,be careful about that
@riyauro (6421)
• India
29 Oct 12
I come from a place where we have hurricane season and within that certain period of the year, anything can happen so we a to prepare when it is hurricane season. We have shutters on the windows and we do cut down the big trees if there is chances of falling. I can relate to you very well in this case. I am sure you are ready now for the storm. 75 mph is gonna be strong, stay safe. Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful day ahead.
@mariaperalta (19073)
• Mexico
28 Oct 12
Sounds like you are ready for it. I saw on cnn it looks like a monster storm. Stay safe there.
@marshkt (87)
• Sri Lanka
29 Oct 12
i never cut a tree, i will never! trees are life :)