Ever wish you had more snow?

milkman636 · Jan 1, 2014

The hardest thing to clean up after an ice storm are the hanging tops and branches that are waiting to fall. We have a few of these hanging hazards around the kids' swing set, barn, deck, and driveway that are too high to reach. The worst is a silver maple branch hanging directly above the front corner of the barn roof, it appears to be holding on by only a few strings of sapwood and the inner bark. The three most affected trees are ones that I've selectively saved because they are mature, well shaped, and provide good shade in the summer. So I called some tree services to get prices for just dropping the immediate hazards in six trees.

After getting a couple of them out here for quotes all I can say is WOW!, there is good money in cutting trees right now. The best quote so far was $700 for one guy with a bucket and saw just to drop the branches and broken leaders, no cleanup or haul away. The outfits are local so travel isn't a cost factor either. Tress are all easily accessible and I'm certain it's less than 2 hours work, maybe closer to one hour. The cost seems to be demand driven right now. One guy told me February before they could schedule chipping and hauling if I was interested in cleanup. So I'm still pondering how to get these hangers down without doing any more damages.

aczlan · Jan 1, 2014

milkman636 said:
After getting a couple of them out here for quotes all I can say is WOW!, there is good money in cutting trees right now. The best quote so far was $700 for one guy with a bucket and saw just to drop the branches and broken leaders, no cleanup or haul away. The outfits are local so travel isn't a cost factor either. Tress are all easily accessible and I'm certain it's less than 2 hours work, maybe closer to one hour. The cost seems to be demand driven right now. One guy told me February before they could schedule chipping and hauling if I was interested in cleanup. So I'm still pondering how to get these hangers down without doing any more damages.

Around here I can rent a manlift (JLG TS350 35' Tow Behind Boom Lift) for under $200/day.

Aaron Z

milkman636 · Jan 1, 2014

aczlan said:
Around here I can rent a manlift (JLG TS350 35' Tow Behind Boom Lift) for under $200/day.

Aaron Z

I've thought about going that route, but I'm guessing I'll need 50' reach for some of them. I'll be exploring those costs tomorrow.

Oaktree · Jan 1, 2014

Rustyiron said:
We got a good 8-9" last night & have about 2' on the ground now, after some freezing rain last week.
The weatherman is hinting at a good Thurs/fri snow & something for Monday also. I'm running out of space for it.

I'm jealous. Every storm this year so far has missed us, upcoming one is only supposed to give us a couple inches too. Only a couple inches of crust on the ground now. Then again, we also missed the ice storm.

Thomas · Jan 1, 2014

"I'm jealous. Every storm this year so far has missed us"
Can't have that,I'll do snow dance and burn snow shovel after this weekend for you Oaktree.

Pete6114 · Jan 2, 2014

You guys need to get yourself one of these roof snow rakes. had mine for years.....mine comes with 3, 5 foot extensions (i think they are 5 foot) with a total of 20 feet.... although i cant reach everywhere, i can pull most of it down, without having to get on a slippery roof.
Garant Snow Shovel Roof Rake | Canadian Tire
Roof Rake & Snow Roof Rake Online Store

Thomas · Jan 2, 2014

I agree Pete,had my snow rake number years worth its weight in gold as they say.

dave1949 · Jan 2, 2014

Roof rakes are great at pulling down snow, I have one just like the first link and have used them for years.

They are worthless for breaking through a 1/2" of ice on top of the snow.

milkman636 · Jan 3, 2014

milkman636 said:
I saw a forecast saying the jet stream is going to be staying farther north than normal. It was calling for above normal January temps for most of the country.

Even though I saw it on tv and know it must be true

, I'm starting to doubt what I posted. The actual temp is -10ºF right now. The forecast has us at a high of -3ºF for next Monday.

I checked the antifreeze concentration in the Bobcat last night out of curiosity. I bought it new in Nov. 2010 and it has a sticker saying protected to -34ºF. Both my hygrometer and refractometer placed the freeze protection at -20ºF. Looks like that will be marginal for this upcoming week. I guess I'll be picking up some more antifreeze in my travels today.