A bit of blow today. I was up in that new guest room rebuild-remodel of our house figuring out the electrical plan, when I heard/ felt a big gust. Went to that big new window, to check out our aging giant maple tree. Just as I got there, I saw the branch come down right at me. I instinctively ducked. Crunch!!! Ouch; my brand new roof! Fortunately, it looks like there’s very little damage. Went to get my trusty old Stihl chainsaw to trim off the branches so I can roll it off the roof…chainsaw won’t start, and I don’t have time to do a carb rebuild right now. So I’m sharing my little story while I await the call from the chainsaw shop. It could have been much worse, like going through the newish kitchen roof with five skylights. Now to get this off of there…and the wind is still ripping. Hope the rest of the old tree hangs in there.
Update: trimmed off all the branches, and gave it a big push, and down it went. Looks like only a very minor ding on the roof edge molding. All’s well…
We’re ten years into remodeling our 95 y.o. foursquare farmhouse… It’s always something…
Glad you and the roof are none the worse for the wear!
es
How’s that for Mercury Retrograde……
Ouch! Glad it wasn’t too bad. Never underestimate the value of a backup saw. I keep an old Stihl for when the Husky is indisposed. (Sometimes my own damned fault–I’ve gotten the big saw stuck when trying to turn a trunk into something small enough to lift with the tractor/loader.) I also make sure the 2-stroke mix uses non-oxygenated gasoline. Makes for much less varnish trouble.
Just got the big branch down. Ironically, after years of using E10 (no ethanol-free pump gas here), I finally bought 5 gallons of E0 (?) from a small solvent-racing fuel vendor. That’s what was in the saw. The shop says that they had a number of folks bring in saws and such, because they were using this outfit’s gas, and supposedly it was stale, creating more problems than using fresh E10! Can’t win.
I have spent most of my adult life in construction, and the wind is never your friend when trying to build something. Down here in Ultra Violet Land (Sunny SoCal) we only have two seasons, Sun and Wind. When the Santa Ana winds are rolling, chaos reigns supreme. The weather girls are on “Wind Watch”, as they swing their big guns across the map looking for trouble spots. Most of our region is on fire, and a trip along I-15 looks like a war zone scattered with huge semi’s and mall crawler 4×4’s with WAY too much lift laying on their sides.
Even with some hard wind now and then, Eugene looks real good to me. Looks like you dodged a bullet this time. Carry on.
Try a fuel depot or a marina. Ranchers use E0 a lot for small engines, and our depot sells that and all the other stuff. Got nitro? The marina on Klamath Lake says they sell E0. A lot of outboards don’t like E10, as I learned on my Honda 2HP. As a note, old (pre 1954?) cars in Oregon can legally pump E0, so some of the hotrodders may know sources.
Some outfit sells mix in sealed quarts, and I heard they were trying to market to Home Desperate and Lowes. I mix a gallon (usually) and use it in the weed/brush wacker as well as the saws. I’ll drain the tank when I’ll be done for a while and run the engine til it dies. On engines with a gas cutoff (most of the 4-strokes), I’ll do that every run.
I’ve had luck with E0 bought in the Fall and kept in full 5 gallon cans. Come Spring, the trucks get the older gas. The 2WD Ranger gets E0 before hibernation (barring occasional runs to charge the battery).
That tree was very kind to you, with all of those newly-installed windows calling out “hit me hit me hit me!”
Your saw problem reminds me of my own chainsaw issues. In my case, it is what happens when you only use a chainsaw infrequently. The first time I needed one, I called my Dad. His health was failing and he didn’t need his anymore, so he gave it to me. After about 3 hours of solid work, I got it started. Manufactured by McCollough, branded by Montgomery Wards. This tells you all you need to know about its age and my Dad’s tool purchasing habits.
So, I use the saw. Put it away when I am too tired to run the fuel out of it. 3 years later when I need the chainsaw again, same problem. Surprise. This time, the recoil starter broke during the attempted starting ordeal. Now I just borrow one.
No rest for the wicked!
I suspect we’re lucky here – the windstorms of November and December took out 90% of the weak stuff – the rest of the season we’ve just gotten fir and alder tips every time it’s windy.
You got lucky Paul free firewood and little damage.
was windy up here too (Van. Isle.). 100 kph gusts, lots of trees down, power outages etc. I often wonder why trees still come down, what with all the winds we get during the winter. I suppose new candidates “ripen” for each season 🙂
Interesting how maples often sport a very lush growth of lichen and moss on the bark here in the PNW.
alistair
We’re getting the wind tonight down in Klamath County. 75mph gusts forecast in the usual problem areas NE of us. Maybe 40-50 for us. Tomorrow morning I get to look for down trees and widowmakers before the dogs can run. A nice little walk, I hope. I don’t need the firewood, or the work.
I had a similar incident in summer 2008. We had a huge wind/rain storm come through, and a tree branch nailed my roof. My condo is on the top floor, and the tree hit my deck dead-center, destroyed it, then smashed my roof. It was severe enough to crack the plaster inside. Oh, and the power was knocked out too. I couldn’t even leave, because the garages are a separate building and there is no entry door, just the electric garage door. Luckily the patio door was OK. I couldn’t believe the glass didn’t crack.
Fortunately the association was responsible for the exterior and insurance covered everything.
My parent’s house wasn’t so fortunate. During a storm in summer 1965, we had a large limb of a huge maple tree in our backyard crack off, landing on our roof and tearing away the power lines from the house as well. Damage wasn’t bad, and mom and dad got a new roof and nice new modern braided power lines to the house.
A year later, I was sitting on the back porch with our new puppy during a storm(!) and another limb snapped off due to wind, falling between our house and our neighbor, landing squarely on top of one of the old-style solid iron fence posts!
You should have seen us kids – I was the oldest at 15, the youngest – maybe 8, all wielding hatchets and dad’s two-man saw and we all went to work. By the time dad got home, we had the entire yard cleaned up, branches bundles and one proud father!
The tree was removed a short time later…end of that problem.
Dad was driving the 1960 Chevy Impala sports sedan I would be learning to drive in the next year.
Excellent story…I really got a chuckle out of it.
You see, I recall using a saw when I was no more than 10 or so. There were a dozen or more trees surrounding the house I grew up in, and from my early teens teens I would join my four older siblings to clear fallen branches after storms.
Today, parents would likely be locked up for allowing kids to use sharp objects…
Paul, I’m glad that you guys were safe, and that the damage was minimal.
I was the only child – the other 5 kids were friends! Obviously their folks had no worries about using sharp object, either. I still have dad’s two-man saw…
Glad to hear you’re ok Paul!
Ditto, glad you’re alright Paul.
Today I gotta get both the weedwacker and chain saw running, hopefully w/o a lot of drama. Plus check on when the roofers might proceed on my house…we worked a deal with the next-door neighbor – who also needs a new roof – where we both get a discount if the roofers do both my house and theirs at the same time.
2012 is “finish the house” year for us. We added a second floor here ten years ago but were unable to finish then…we’re better off for waiting.
And after the house…comes our ’68 C-10 and ’57 Handyman to which I’ve so often referred here.
No, really. Didn’t hurt to wait there either…Gen III/IV drivetrains have become plentiful the past few years.
Paul, I see you’re starting to “branch out” !! Marina gas has no ethanol, like others here commented. In Hawaii, the Aloha brand carries “classic unleaded” which is ethanol free. It’s also priced the same as premium. These Aloha gas stations that carries this type of gasoline, coincidentally are to/from certain marina/boat launch ramps. My neighbor learned about E10 in his boat motor the hard way.
Really feel your pain. I lived in my aunt’s ranch house for 3 years after she died. Although winds in Western PA aren’t normally a problem, her house was located on the highest point in a suburban housing plan. When she and my uncle moved there in 1962, there wasn’t a tree on the 75×200 foot lot. My aunt cultivated that lot to look like a park through the years, however, as she grew older, that park became overgrown with 30 foot trees, etc.
When I moved in, I had a tree service cut down and trim several trees. Cost several thousand dollars. There were 19 trees still on the property. On a very windy day in December, I heard a loud tearing and creaking sound. I rushed out front to see a large aluminum awning fall on my then new Cadillac Deville. I became almost hysterical as I tried to gently remove the awning in the fierce wind. Somehow, the adrenelin was pumping and I got the awning off the roof of the car. Surveying the damage, which I thought would be severe, the only damage done was a minor scratch on the drivers’ side windshield trim. Really no damage.
After that day, everytime the wind blew, I was apprehensive that one of the remaining trees would crash into the roof. The roof lost a couple of shingles here and there. It was remarkable that winds were always higher in her neighborhood than in town where my family lived 2 miles away. I can recall my mother always on the phone with my aunt during storms.
I sold the house in 2009.