wind = 1 Me = 0

SquackDaddy · Oct 23, 2010

Sitting at my computer surfing a few minutes ago with the window open enjoying the nice breeze.......CRACK.......my tree out front starts making cracking noises. I threw on some shoes and walked outside to find a good size branch splitting off and hanging up on a lower branch AND MY NEIGHBOR'S MAIN POWER FEED LINE!! Too dangerous for me to tackle, so I called PGE. I wonder how long it will take them to come all the way out to St. Paul and take a look. I'm pretty handy around the house, doing everything from remodeling, siding, sheetrock/painting, plumbing, roofing etc. but I WILL NOT mess with anything near the main power feed.

marty8587 · Oct 23, 2010

I don't blame you. Leave to the people who get paid to do it and have the insurance to do it.

The B · Oct 23, 2010

for what it's worth, it's just an insulated 220 line.. it wont arch through trees. if it was me, and there was a question about how long it'd take PGE to get out, AND i thought there was a chance that it would take out the powerlines, i'd have no reservations about taking a chainsaw/appropriate tool to the broken end of the limb and letting it fall off the line on it's own.

i'm a construction contractor- i find myself bubbleguming with 220 lines from time to time. they're not even close to "high voltage," and are way scarier than they need to be. caution, yes- but extreme fear, no.

Celtic Armory · Oct 23, 2010

bkb0000 said:
for what it's worth, it's just an insulated 220 line.. it wont arch through trees. if it was me, and there was a question about how long it'd take PGE to get out, AND i thought there was a chance that it would take out the powerlines, i'd have no reservations about taking a chainsaw/appropriate tool to the broken end of the limb and letting it fall off the line on it's own.

i'm a construction contractor- i find myself bubbleguming with 220 lines from time to time. they're not even close to "high voltage," and are way scarier than they need to be. caution, yes- but extreme fear, no.

+1

When my branches are getting onto the power lines, I just trim the smaller branches off the limb to lighten it up before cutting close to the lines, this will ensure you don't have a lot of weight suddenly dropping on the line itself. Then I trim the limb further back. Power lines are cabled at the pole and at the service main so that it isn't ripped out by force on the cable itself. And so long as you don't try and cut the cable, you should be safe.

SquackDaddy · Oct 23, 2010

PGE showed up a few hours ago and trimmed away the part of the branch contacting the power lines. They suggested that I remove the tree to prevent this from happening in the future. (the tree is diseased, and I was considering removing it anyway) With a hip due to be replaced within the near future, I'm not looking forward to undertaking this task. I guess I'd better sharpen up a few chains for my chainsaw! Does anyone know someone who is willing to remove a tree and keep the wood as payment? LOL I believe it is an ash tree.