Tree question or what to do about a tree

Zach's Grandpa

Old Mossy Horns
So Duke Power has Asplundh trimming back the lines where I live. Two huge magnolia trees ruined with one side shaved off, but that's another topic.

There is a huge pine, much bigger around than a fifty gallon barrel, that is sitting right on the highway less than twenty feet from the pavement. No ditch between pavement and my yard. The Asplundh guy trimmed every limb off of it all the way to the top on the yard side and left every limb on the road side. It doesn't take a genius to see that the next ice storm or wind will take that tree down right across both lanes of the highway. I told the Asplundh guy that and his response was, "Then the state will clean it up".

My concern is that if that tree fell on a vehicle it could easily kill the occupants. I know there are some folks on here who work with tree cutting and some who work with state agencies. Who should I contact at the state level to get this taken care of, I don't care about saving the tree but it is now a hazard?
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
This is my wheelhouse. The state won’t preemptively come take it. They could stay busy year round taking trees down that MAY hit a vehicle. I’ll also tell you this, most property/people hit by a falling tree fall under an act of God.

How big is the road you live on? Main highway? Secondary? ROW widths vary from road to road and aren’t always a “from centerline” or “edge of pavement” measurement.

Also, most agencies at the state level and utilities view the trees as “your trees, your problem, until they become our problem, then we will do the bare minimum to get rid of the problem”

The odds of a tree falling on a PASSING car are astronomically low regardless of the size of highway and the threat the tree presents. Parked cars are a different story. It’s cheaper for them to take the risk of it falling on a car (then it’s likely an act of god and the driver’s insurance pays for everything) and have a crew of relatively unskilled labor clean it up, than it is to preemptively take down most any tree that MAY fall.

I deal with this exact scenario many times a week, often many times a day.
 

Zach's Grandpa

Old Mossy Horns
What is your suggestion to do with magnolia trees? Both are approximately forty feet tall. About half way from top down was pruned off one side. I’m thinking maybe cut the top out down to where it has all sides.
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
I’d either leave them alone and let the power company deal with them, or have them completely removed. Cutting the top off (topping) will do nothing but damage the truck in that it doesn’t compartmentalize the cut properly, and will create problems, probably albeit after your life time, if I’m being honest. It won’t do anything to benefit the trees or their stability.
 

Soilman

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
ZG, your mileage may differ, but a magnolia is one of the trees I will absolutely NOT have in my yard. I rented a house many years ago that had 2 big magnolia trees in them. The land lord agreed to cut the rent if I would take care of the yard. No problem, I thought, "I have a riding lawnmower". Except I didn't know about magnolias. The shed leaves constantly, but twice a year, VERY badly. One of those times they drop those "grenades" also. I can't tell you how many truck loads of magnolia leaves I hauled off. When I left there, I swore I'd never have one in my yard.
When we moved to Tar Heel a few years ago, there WAS a small magnolia planted in the yard. Not planning on breaking that swear!
 

Wildlifer

Old Mossy Horns
Are any of the trees actually inside the power line right of way? When I worked for Duke there were instances I would send a crew to take down trees if possible to clear the ROW and prevent future trimming.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
ZG, your mileage may differ, but a magnolia is one of the trees I will absolutely NOT have in my yard. I rented a house many years ago that had 2 big magnolia trees in them. The land lord agreed to cut the rent if I would take care of the yard. No problem, I thought, "I have a riding lawnmower". Except I didn't know about magnolias. The shed leaves constantly, but twice a year, VERY badly. One of those times they drop those "grenades" also. I can't tell you how many truck loads of magnolia leaves I hauled off. When I left there, I swore I'd never have one in my yard.
When we moved to Tar Heel a few years ago, there WAS a small magnolia planted in the yard. Not planning on breaking that swear!
Don't forget the roots on top of the ground also.
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
Are any of the trees actually inside the power line right of way? When I worked for Duke there were instances I would send a crew to take down trees if possible to clear the ROW and prevent future trimming.

More so on distribution lines than transmission lines, and then a lot of times it depends on how many poles are beyond said potential hazard tree. Even then, it’s usually an act of Congress.
 

Wildlifer

Old Mossy Horns
More so on distribution lines than transmission lines, and then a lot of times it depends on how many poles are beyond said potential hazard tree. Even then, it’s usually an act of Congress.
I sent my demand crew on those types of jobs all the time. If the property owner agreed to take the wood we would clean up the brush. 3 phase was a little easier than a single phase line to prioritize. We would take down hazard trees outside the ROW as well.
anything inside a transmission line row that wasn’t low growing was taken out. Those guys had it easy. I worked on the distribution side where everyone either wanted free tree work or no tree work done.
 

Zach's Grandpa

Old Mossy Horns
Thanks for all the response. Right now my yard is a damn mess, from a beautiful mature tree filled front yard to what looks like a tornado cut a path all the way across it. They haven't cleaned up the brush yet so I'll have to mow around it I guess. There are about a dozen crepe myrtles on one side of the driveway with now half of them pruned to half the size of the others. Two twenty feet tall dogwoods topped down to ten feet, three huge pines completely skinned on one side, and two huge magnolias skinned on one side. This is historic Highway 150, what used to be the main stage road from Richmond to Atlanta. In fact when I was a kid the old folks still called it the Stage Road.
 

Bailey Boat

Twelve Pointer
I have a 60' Magnolia in my front yard and I also have a standing order with God for any left over lighting strikes to be directed to THAT tree.....
 
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