I was clearing a fence line in preparation for a new woven wire/treated post fence today which is Sunday. It was going better than I planned until I pushed over a big hackberry. There is a major powerline that hangs between two poles (the pole near the barn in the first picture was the pole I saw swaying) on each side of a holler (that is what they call natural drainage courses here in KY). I knew about the line and first thing this morning as I sized up the project, I took note of the line. I surveyed it from a number of angles and was sure that the falling trees could not reach it. When the big hackberry root ball started coming up, I moved my blade to the bottom of the raising root ball and gave it a little help. I then got back to avoid the raising root system. As I was backing away, I saw the pole on the far side of the holler swaying about 2 feet or so! I did not need anymore evidense to know my morning calculations were wrong. I moved away quickly and observed that the lower power line was snagged in a branch at the top of the tree. The line was pulled down but was not broken. It knocked out the power to everyone on Crockett Lane. I called Fleming-Mason Electric and they were there in about 20 minutes. They sawed the limbs off and I was able to snag the limb where the wire was tangled and pull it from the power line. They had the electric back on in 15 minutes. Here are the pictures. First the tree standing - note the power pole in the background just above the limb that sticks out to the right). The tree down after the wire was detached. You can see the two lines in the background in the bottom picture. The D6K XL is a nice machine. I have it leased for a week and am very imressed.
Sure looks like good dirt you live in.
It is good soil. Mostly clay based but it has good texture and supports vegetation very well. Grows very good pasture too.
where about in ol kentucky are you. That dirt looks like nothing where we are?? You must be on the other side of the state..
if that was UK you'd have the environmental protesters out there moaning about the "mindless destruction of the world" whats the plan for the ground once its all cleared out?
Deereman, I have seen that red clay in the great state of Georgia. In fact, I purchased a used F-350 out of Atlanta and that truck still has red clay under it. You are correct, this soil is better. I am near the Ohio River in Northern part of KY. The nearest town is Maysville which in on the Ohio River. Richard, The area being cleared is a property line. The other property owner (I own 80 acres on the side where I am pushing the tree) and I are sharing the cost of putting in a new fence. The one that was there before I pushed it out is probably 80 years old. The trees had to be removed. It is bad economics to put in a new fence under old trees. The limbs break in storms and come down on the fence so even though you have a new fence you are still constantly repairing it.
My uncle has a place right below marion, Ky. Bout 5 Hours west of you. When its wet you get stuck way to easy and only in a couple of inches of stuff. When its dry you can barely get a shovel and pic in it??
That sounds like clay. The worse clay soil I have seen is in western Montana. They call it gumbo. Nothing moves out there when it is wet but it is wet only a couple times a year. The deepest topsoil I have ever seen is the glacial deposits in North Dakota. It can be several feet thick and I mean topsoil not clay.
It must have blowed up there from the great dust bowl!! lol
Oh **** , oups any one got the phone number for the power company ! Ya Hi we have a small problem out hear and we will need a service crew , Yes its a emergency............ My beer is getting warm!
Did you have to pay?
450G, I was not charged. Fleming-Mason is a cooperative electric company and I have been told they do not charge for such mishaps. However, most publicly owned companies will charge as much as $2 K for this type of event!
Our local electric cooperative charges a ridiculous amount for any thing like that; but I have learned if you don't pay, nothing happens.
I had a similar situation a few years back. In my case power line only went to a street light. When service guy showed up he said "oh man we've spliced this line dozens of times, I keep telling them we need to replace it but they wont". Well I guess opportunity was knocking so I got to buy them a new line. Power company was MidAmerican, I do sleep better at night knowing I helped Warren Buffet's bottom line just a little bit.