We have this old but healthy ash tree in our front yard. Unfortunately, the roots are ripping out the electrical and cable/phone boxes so the electric company needs to take it down. One the one hand, I'm sad to see it go. It's a decent tree and provides loads of shade in the summer. OTOH, it sheds a ton of small branches every time it gets windy, so it's a pain picking up all that crap after a storm. There will be no more of that after today. But at least I don't have to pay for the removal.

With it being an Ash it's only a matter of time anyway. The EAB is starting to move to other species now too, sadly. My area has virtually none left. Sorry for your tree loss! Looked like it was maybe around 40-50 years old?

That's a good looking tree / I would be sad to see it go...

Sad that you lose the shade.

Tree roots and underground utilities never mix well.

Our03z4 wrote

With it being an Ash it's only a matter of time anyway. The EAB is starting to move to other species now too, sadly. My area has virtually none left. Sorry for your tree loss! Looked like it was maybe around 40-50 years old?

Yeah, my neighbor lost his ash trees to those pests. I'm amazed they didn't infest this tree. I'd assume 40 years old or more. Since the house was built in 1994, it appears the electric company intentionally sited their box next to a tree, which was dumb.

dtox9 wrote

That's a good looking tree / I would be sad to see it go...

Me, too.

I know that feeling all too well. We lost 4 beautiful pine trees during the previous drought. Pine-bark beetles. I watched them die, then paid large, only to watch them get cut down. Almost like losing a pet.

We replaced the 4 pines with 3 California Coastal Redwoods. They seem to be doing much better than the pines during dry spells.

As a guy who had to cut trees from around utility lines,
There is no win from either side of this. There are so many people who purposely plant trees, bushes, etc right under/over existing utility lines ... knowing full well that we'll be back once they reach a danger point and either butcher/trim them or remove them. They have no say as to weather the tree stays or goes. It's our/utility company discretion. The reasoning for this is that the cost of loosing power to that line costs more than dealing with treehugger jones. If they now have to deal with 50 angry customers due to food going bad or lack of internet ... risk reward.

The up side here is that if you have a tree near a line and want it removed, you can call your local utility company and generally have it removed for free.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Sometimes, it's better to cut it down before it does more damage. This old tree went down when Micheal came through a few years ago and it pulled down the cable line in the middle of the night.

tcphoto wrote

Sometimes, it's better to cut it down before it does more damage. This old tree went down when Micheal came through a few years ago and it pulled down the cable line in the middle of the night.

That's one thing the e-company was worried about. If the tree went over it would either crush the transformer or the root ball would rip it out of the ground. It was only a matter of time before the EAB beetles got to it anyway. I just paid a tree guy $100 to trim some of the dead branches about two weeks ago. He was here to remove another tree, so he trimmed the ash tree for short money.

M_Six wrote

Yeah, my neighbor lost his ash trees to those pests. I'm amazed they didn't infest this tree. I'd assume 40 years old or more. Since the house was built in 1994, it appears the electric company intentionally sited their box next to a tree, which was dumb.



Me, too.

Haha, you want to see dumb I will take a pick of the fire hydrant installed 2’ from a 70’ hemlock at the end of my driveway………oh and the hemlock is leaning but the city says it’s fine. There is a 10’ easement that it’s on so their responsibility.

Sad to see a beautiful tree being lost, and the benefit of the shade is immense.

My neighbor just had a tree taken down that was coming through their floor into their living room.
Its not a mobile home...I just had no idea a tree root could do such a thing.

We lost our ash trees to that damned boring pest. Had 5 trees taken down last winter. Good firewood.

We lost this big guy to a lightning strike several years ago. I think it was a hickory. In the last picture you can see the size of the trunk relative to the human who is sawing it into 20-inch pieces. I then had the great fun and joy of splitting those down to a size I could move off the hillside and into a splitter.

wdb wrote

We lost our ash trees to that damned boring pest. Had 5 trees taken down last winter. Good firewood.

We lost this big guy to a lightning strike several years ago. I think it was a hickory. In the last picture you can see the size of the trunk relative to the human who is sawing it into 20-inch pieces. I then had the great fun and joy of splitting those down to a size I could move off the hillside and into a splitter.

Awesome pics. That last one really puts things into perspective.

I wanted to come back when this big old Cottonwood starts dying and take it down.
Trunk measured over 18 feet around. That translates to something like 120 years old.

That sucks. Reminds me of someone who moved into a new neighborhood and the first thing he did was intentionally pay to remove this big tree in the front yard (no idea why, I'd love to have a tree in similar circumstances). Well, the neighbors ratted him out and the govt told him either replant a new tree or pay the fine (he did the latter). Talk about making a 'great' first impression w the neighbors lol.

Esteban wrote

Awesome pics. That last one really puts things into perspective.

The high temp that day was 20 degrees, and it was the day of the cutting crew's Christmas party. The job was bigger than they expected and they ended up freezing their butts for an extra couple of hours. I think the crew still mumble under their breaths when they pass the house!

Almost gone. It'll be weird walking out there in the summer and seeing so much open sky.

There was a rathole house next door to us that just got torn down. The woman who bought it lives on the other side of that former house from us. She said she was going to leave some of the trees standing, but today there is a crew there cutting down six huge pine trees. I can understand her wanting to get rid of them as they shed a shit ton of needles on her driveway. But it's still sad seeing those 6 trees and mine all going away in one day.

Because it would take a few minutes to blow them off the driveway?

So long big fella.

I'm not a tree hugger, but it sucks seeing a perfectly-fine living thing ended due to no fault of its own.