Have to cut two of my trees, which is kind of bittersweet

[Red Squirrel]

One tree is in my front yard, it started to split in half. I cut most of it myself but there's one section going over the house that I rather hire out. The other tree is in the back, and it's too risky to do myself so I will hire out. That one just started to die and is rotting inside out and could fall on the house. Sad to have to cut them, but the good part is this means I could put solar in front and in back. I have not gone up to measure but rough estimates based on standard shingle size show me I should be able to easily fit 4 LG 400w modules in front and in the back, giving me a total of 3.2kw with half facing east and half facing west. I could probably fit more if I do another row with like 2-3 of them. There's some room on south side of house too but not as much.

I don't know if it's worthwhile until I experiment with a way to automate the snow removal though as there is snow for a good part of the year here but it's nice to know the option is there. I already have 400w of solar on my shed as an experiment and the snow is definitely a challenge. I usually end up trying to keep it clear for part of the year then by December I just give up lol. But if I work on a way to automate it, and also deal with freezing rain (some ideas in a thread I made on that) then it's something worth considering.

Bonus pics of front tree:

 

[svetz]

That poor truck got buried... ;-)

 

[HRTKD]

LOL @ svetz. The first thing I saw in the first picture was the F-150. I'm a truck guy, don't ya know?

Red squirrel, you're on FTE with the same username, right?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Haha yeah that pile of branches is huge, picture does not even do it justice. I was going to hire out getting rid of it since I have to consider how much my time is worth, it looked like 20 truck loads easily. But oddly enough, it shrunk! I guess from drying out, just did not think it would actually shrink. I was looking at it yesterday and it looks like I could MAYBE do it in 2 loads if I take time to cut up the bigger branches in smaller sections and keep the bigger ones for the fire. So I will end up doing it myself.

What is FTE?

 

[Supervstech]

I have been hauling branches and trees for 6 SOLID weekends... I have easily hauled 20times that much foliage... thank god my city has tree pickup service. I just pile it up, any length right at the road, and the city grinds it up and hauls it away with the trash route.
I have another 10 loads or so to go before I am done... man, ignore a Forrest a few years, and WOW does it creep up on ya!
I’ve got tulip poplars, mimosa, cypress, oak, elm, and black walnut, and tulip poplars, and long leaf pine, and tulip poplars... pecan trees... oh, did I mention tulip poplars... red tips, and godawful wisteria... also, HUGE poison Ivy, and oak BOTH flourishing in my yard...
I’m not affected by either yet, but everybody that comes to help has to take excessive precautions around the stuff...

I have cut down huge trees that are dying in my yard choked out by the wisteria... I wish the squirrels would stop planting so many tulip poplars and black walnuts...

 

[Supervstech]

I lost track of the point I was trying to make...

That tree branch shouldn’t be much trouble to trim yourself... unless they are getting the front cheap because of the backyard tree you need them to remove...

I should post pics of thetree resting on my chimney I need to get removed... I might tackle it myself, but WOW it is scary looking...

 

[Dzl]

What is FTE?

Guessing here, but based on the acronym and the truck in your driveway, I'm thinking "Ford Truck Enthusiast"

 

[HRTKD]

Guessing here, but based on the acronym and the truck in your driveway, I'm thinking "Ford Truck Enthusiast"

Correct. That's the short hand for the Ford-Trucks.com website. It's where I hang out for truck related topics and they have an excellent towing set of subforums too.

The reason I asked if Red Squirrel was over there is that there is a member there with the same user name.

 

[gnubie]

I took down a tree in my back yard that was damaged by a cyclone and covered half a normal yard with the remains. Chipping it took it down to a couple of loads in a trailer due to weight, not volume.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Ah no that's not me at the Ford forum, I guess I must have an imposter.

So the trees are completely gone now! That one branch in front looked easy in the picture but in reality it was a hard one which is why I left it. I kept looking at it too thinking I can do it then when I started to figure out where to set the ladder and then actually climbed it with the chainsaw in hand, it just felt very unsafe. If I had cut the branches from the top they were small enough to just let them hit the roof, but cutting from the bottom, it would be too much weight as the bottom section would drag the branch off the roof and maybe damage the gutters. But yeah, gone now, so don't have to worry. Got lot of firewood now. :D












I don't really have a before for the back one but it can kinda be seen in these pics from when I was building my shed:






And bonus pic of solar panels, back when I apparently used to get haircuts. (actually I think I had decided to start growing it out around that point)

 

[HRTKD]

I get the "red" part of your name now.

Solar panels look great!

 

[PHoganDive]

We had an ice storm a few years back that caused MANY trees to shed branches from the weight of the ice. Cleanup took quite a while, as did getting power restored.

 

[Supervstech]

Here is my house sunday...

 

[gnubie]

Oh boy, that is a bit scary.

 

[Supervstech]

Yeah... 2800 estimate on tree removal only... chimney is shattered on top... supporting entire mess...

I ain’t getting close to that any time.