Tree limbs over power lines: whose responsibility?

[hornian]

I have two big pecan trees in my backyard. One of them has a pretty substantial limb that has grown over the power line that comes into my house, and I'm worried about a storm blowing through, knowcking it down, and loosing power and having a live wire in the backyard with my dog. I was told that the city (I live in Austin) would cut back limbs that threaten power lines, but since this is a line that comes off the main grid into my line, is this still the case?

 

[Mrmyke709]

I'm afraid you might be.
It's never easy with powerlines.
Usually, the city comes in, does a HORRIBLE job pruning back limbs (bad cuts, leaving stubs, etc.), then the tree is weakened. Years later, a storm comes in , and BOOM, a limb breaks because of the shoddy tree work.
It's a cruel and vicious cycle.

 

[BA93]

If it really worries you, then you might feel better having it done yourself by hiring someone to do it.

 

[Mrmyke709]

When they are downed, it's VERY dangerous, as is clearing any big limbs.
Once gravity gets ahold of them, they may fall in an unintended direction and crush ****.
One day I was trimming the perimeter of a lawn, I was stalled by about 10 minutes.
When I returned, a HUGE oak had split in half, right where I would have been. I would have been crushed like a bug.
We call that a mystery limb. Why did it let go? I dunno. No wind at all.

 

[ScoPro]

About 20 years ago, a fair wind caused a huge section on an old willow tree to break off & crash clean through my neighbor's roof down into his living room. A couple of us went over there to help him clear it out. It was an odd feeling firing up chainsaws in the middle of his living room and buzzin' away at the tree.

 

[lowery21]

Jesus Mrmyke! That is scary as ****.

 

[NickDanger]

I fire up the chain saw in my living room every January. The 11' tree goes in all nice and soft, but it's damned if it's going to go out without a fight to remove all the paint from my ancient doorway. So, I saw it up into little pieces and have a deal with my wife that I get paid for every one of her precious little ornaments that I discover hidden in the bowels of the boughs.

 

[NickDanger]

BTW, I have been told that the term "widowmaker" was coined to describe a tree which has been cut, but refuses to fall. When they do decide to fall they often kick around in crazy ways.

 

[MrPhlegm]

In reply to:

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[NickDanger]

You mean high heels, suspenders and a bra?

 

[GHOST HORN]

in houston if u call 311 they will send somebody to see who is responsible and let you know. most larger cities have a similiar number.

 

[washparkhorn]

Nick - I use the chain saw in the living room every January as well. I thought I was the only one.

When you go backcountry camping in a wilderness area, like Yellowstone, your biggest consideration in setting up your tent should be whether there are any "snags" or dead trees standing only because they are leaning against another tree's branches. Dead fall is more likely to kill or maim you than any wild critter in the wilderness. And you don't want to be the guy who has to saw off your arm with your swiss army knife because it is wedged under a tree.

As for the power line problem, I would get a tree company to trim the tree. The city/utility companies don't know what in the hell they are doing and will butcher your tree.

 

[NickDanger]

Those Aspens rot out at the bottom. We had to "fell" a bunch of them around the cabin we were staying in to keep them from falling on us. We used a winch and spun the cable around them to roll them out of their snags from a long distance. It worked quite well.

 

[Campus Loop(y)]

The city. Unless they know about it, they wait till your neighborhood come into rotation. Being East it takes time. Were you in Hype Park, they would do it yesterday. This is changing though. Give them a call.

But....the people they get to do it don't do a good job. When the worked on the one in my front yard, they left a mess. There were tons of little branches laying in the yard and bark everywhere. It sucked. I made note of the company and will never use them or recommend them. They got the contract work on my yard from the city, that is all they will get.