Always a good idea, or so it seems. Today was really supposed to be all about getting some stuff fabricated/built for this up-coming job in AL (that was to be the morning’s work for the day), and then (in the afternoon) I was going to hopefully finalize the construction of this “new” Yagi project I’ve been building for WA3FET.
You can imagine the surprise when I got to my Stanley storage site, and while unloading the truck, I happened to look up at the tower (I have 100-ft of Rohn 25G out there, with nothing on it). It was leaning decidedly to one side, which, of course, it wasn’t supposed to be doing! A few seconds of following the guy down toward the ground and I literally jumped a bit when I got about halfway there–there was a 100-ft pine leaning on the guys on that side. Not good, of course, especially since the tower is guyed with Phillystran. I was expecting the worst when I walked down and into the woods. But it was (in some small sense of the word) my lucky day–the tree fell and hit the guys just past the transition to EHS (steel). There was no apparent damage to the more fragile Phillystran.
So…I mixed up some fuel, fired up the chainsaw, and began the process of removing said tree. This sort of work is always dangerous, as one never knows where the damn tree (simply laying on the lines) is going to go, or how it’s going to react once you begin sawing through the lower end. I’ve had them roll down the guy lines (hopefully one can get the hell out of the way in time), or I’ve seen them swing in toward the guys, hitting the lower ones and then “bouncing back” off the top set and then falling to the ground. That’s what this big pine did, which was good, as I was working alone (of course). Once clear of the guy wires, it simply crashed down and I began the slower process of cutting it up in to movable sections for the burn pile.
It appears to have been hit by lightning (there are serious tracks along the trunk), but the major factor seems to be the damn pine beetles had weakened the core significantly. With this weekend’s high winds, it’s no wonder it came down. The whole day proved I need (once again, this is about the 5th or 6th time I’ve done this since moving there in 1995) to cut down all the brush and growth around the tower and the guy posts.
Finished cutting the pine and some brush by 4PM and called it a day. Poor Professor Breakall’s project may never get finished; I’m sure I’m not getting a very good grade this semester~!
stay tuned…
