I hope it is not as bad as it sounds.

[chrisrosenb]

My yard is a mess from all of the

 

[whitesys]

Hi Chris,

I can relate.

We are in Noblesville (Hamilton Co) and so far, we have been lucky with mostly sleet
(That sounds kind of bad when sleet is the better option)

Dave White

 

[robtonya]

Just rain, and wind south of you here in Princeton IN. We got lucky. Although the trash we put out to the curb is already gone! Just need to drive around to find our cans.

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

I had to put the Burban in 4wd to get out of the driveway this morning.

I took a friend home who stayed last night, he was convinced that his work was going to make him drive all over today ( he works for Alco, which is a budweiser distributor) too bad I was the first one down his road.  I was worried I was going to be able to make it, I was cutting tracks in about 2' of snow the whole way there.

Drift busting sounds like a good time after the old lady gets done with my eggs, bacon and potato's. [big grin]

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

You got some ice.  Sometime last night we got about a 1/4" of ice. 

I need to go find a decent snowmobile to buy for under a grand.  That would be fun for the next couple days.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Yeah, it's really bad out there. Luckily, we have underground utilities and no mature trees nearby. But, back in Virginia we had trees fall on the house and in the yard multiple times because we got ice quite a few times over the years. The snowplow company was nice enough to demolish everyone's mailboxes this morning. That's the worst that's happened so far. Hope you all make it out safe and with no damage to your property.

 

[AlexThePalex]

You still have power lines hanging up in the air? Wow, we haven't seen those here in ages. Then those falling branches sure can be a heck of a problem.

 

[wubears71]

I'm in St. Louis, MO and the whole city had been preparing for a storm of epic proportions (according to the news).  When it was all said and done and the news was finished with 24/7 weather coverage, we received a whopping 2" of sleet/snow.  It was a major Fail.

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

Off to go used snowmobile shopping. 

 

[EcoFurniture]

You still have power lines hanging up in the air? Wow, we haven't seen those here in ages. Then those falling branches sure can be a heck of a problem.

Most North American cities still have above ground powerlines... Middle ages that's all I'm saying... I live on the West coast of Canada. Several times a year we are getting hit with crazy wind storms. Many trees around here... Some break some just drop branches. But there are always many many people without power because of above ground wires. Sometimes it even takes them days to restore the services... You would think that in a modern world (like they do in Europe for a long time already) wires would be underground.. But then, we would lose "job security" in the hydro corporations...
Just saying..

 

[tjbier]

We got about 18" in our driveway. By far the biggest snow storm I can ever remember.
Wind is blowing at a good clip too. 
I shoveled my driveway but they're is only so high I can shovel snow. [mad]

 

[Wonderwino]

Wow, Chris!  That's a lot of ice.  I don't know if I'd want to take the trees completely out, but they do look like they could use topping and pruning to make them safer around the wires.  I always like some shade on those hot summer days. [cool]

 

[AlexThePalex]

Here is another stunner. The cable system in town only has about 30 channels.  

Well, I'm stunned. What does that mean, 30 channels?  [smile]

But I'm amazed to hear you still use that system in America. I think it's been prohibited here since the 70's. Don't you get a lot of electrocutions from breaking power lines?

It's just weird for me to hear things like UL won't certify a CMS that's perfectly acceptable here in Europe and yet you got all this electric danger dangling above your heads and the US government is perfectly OK with it while it's considered a no-brainer over here to put those wires underground. 

 

[peter halle]

Chris,

I am truly sorry about the white pine.  This incident adds insult to the pain you and your family already feel.  As Alex suggested, investigate trimming and pruning - albeit never topping - to reduce the risk.  From the pictures of the front yard trees, I would guess that they are maples - maybe silver maples? 

I live in a part of the country that every now and again might have the ice storms, might have the hurricanes, two or three times a year has a tornado.

I - personally, and with the total support of my family, live in this:

[attachimg=#]

This was the site of the original farmhouse on this plot of land.  I have three huge trees within 12 feet each from the house.  I had one more 15 feet from the house.

Until 2003 - Hurricane Isabel.  Destroyed the overhead electrical grid for so many.  Many did not have power for 2.5 to 3 weeks, my brother included.

This image is of the tree that fell the other way.  The root ball is 22 feet across.  The trunk diameter at the ground was 54 inches.  This tree was alive while the American Civil War was going on.  It was only 68 feet tall, but it was wide.

[attachimg=#]

After the hurricane the area went nuts removing all tree that were in range of their homes.  I suspect - like Alex said - that they are missing the shade now.  My loss of that one tree costs me about $50 a month in the cooling season.

Hang in there guys!  Spring is just around the corner!

 

[Ken Nagrod]

Here is another stunner. The cable system in town only has about 30 channels. 

Well, I'm stunned. What does that mean, 30 channels?  [smile]

But I'm amazed to hear you still use that system in America. I think it's been prohibited here since the 70's. Don't you get a lot of electrocutions from breaking power lines?

It's just weird for me to hear things like UL won't certify a CMS that's perfectly acceptable here in Europe and yet you got all this electric danger dangling above your heads and the US government is perfectly OK with it while it's considered a no-brainer over here to put those wires underground. 

Also consider how many accidents and the resulting inuries happen due to all of the utility poles holding all that wiring.

 

[Mahogany Man]

You still have power lines hanging up in the air? Wow, we haven't seen those here in ages. Then those falling branches sure can be a heck of a problem.

Why wouldn't we still have aerial lines???
You don't think the good old USA would actually update infrastructure do you?
Just saying....

 

[Wonderwino]

Wow, Chris!  That's a lot of ice.  I don't know if I'd want to take the trees completely out, but they do look like they could use topping and pruning to make them safer around the wires.  I always like some shade on those hot summer days. [cool]

Alex, I will more than likely have them trimmed in the spring. I do not want to give up the shade.

I was looking at Kansas on Google Earth. All of those circles in the Colby area look wild from high up.

I'm about 50 miles East of Colby.  Those "circles" are center-pivot irrigation systems.  Where you see them in Western Kansas, they are most likely above the Ogalallah Aquifer, which is 150'-300' underground.  They are most often used to water corn, but also have crop rotations of wheat, milo and alfalfa. 

 

[peter halle]

Chris,

I am truly sorry about the white pine.  This incident adds insult to the pain you and your family already feel.  As Alex suggested, investigate trimming and pruning - albeit never topping - to reduce the risk.  From the pictures of the front yard trees, I would guess that they are maples - maybe silver maples? 

I live in a part of the country that every now and again might have the ice storms, might have the hurricanes, two or three times a year has a tornado.

I - personally, and with the total support of my family, live in this:

[attachimg=#]

This was the site of the original farmhouse on this plot of land.  I have three huge trees within 12 feet each from the house.  I had one more 15 feet from the house.

Until 2003 - Hurricane Isabel.  Destroyed the overhead electrical grid for so many.  Many did not have power for 2.5 to 3 weeks, my brother included.

This image is of the tree that fell the other way.  The root ball is 22 feet across.  The trunk diameter at the ground was 54 inches.  This tree was alive while the American Civil War was going on.  It was only 68 feet tall, but it was wide.

[attachimg=#]

After the hurricane the area went nuts removing all tree that were in range of their homes.  I suspect - like Alex said - that they are missing the shade now.  My loss of that one tree costs me about $50 a month in the cooling season.

Hang in there guys!  Spring is just around the corner!

Thank you Peter.

The trees in the front yard are silver maples. Around the shop are silver maple, sweet gum & some type of pine.

I would have hated to lose that big tree.
The others are some nice trees also. What kind are they?

Chris,

Silver maples - source of soft maple lumber - are notorious for doing exactly what you are experiencing.  They are fast growing though and provide shade.  I have labelled the trees in the image below, and have added one more image to show the largest which is hidden in the first image.  If the no fallen tree was still alive, the curving of the branches would be explained, whereas they all grew up together competing for the sunlight.

[attachimg=#]

[attachimg=#]

Peter