crashing trees

[jasons]

Has any one ever had a tree come crashing down near them when they are out in the woods. its one thing that gives me the creeps when camping out .I all ways make sure that there are no iffy looking trees over my head. One time I had to brake camp and whent home . and the next day I whent back to find that a tree had come down next to were I was sleeping . just let this be a word of warning set your camp up wisely and have a look at the weather report.has any one had a similar experience

 

[Bisamratte]

I was walking in the woods about a month ago, it was quite windy and as I was walking along I heard something fall behind me. I turned around and there was a branch laying across the path about 10 meters away that spooked me a bit and I went home as fast as I could

 

[Don Redondo]

In 30 years of woodland work, management and arboricultural work, often inspecting potentially hazardous trees in extreme conditions I have never been involved or seen a tree suddly let go, neither have I ever witnessed summer branch drop or anything else of that nature....

by all means be aware of your suroundings especially if you are in a wood in a storm , but when you consider how many trees there are in the UK, how many are in close contact with us people, how few come crashing down and how miniscule the amount of failures that actually cause damge let alone injury... then you really should'nt be worried......

 

[Boosh]

I've lived in the New Forest all my life and it was only the other day did i hear one come down for the first time when i did'nt expect it.

I was out overnight camped up next to a river, a gorgeous spot it was, but i was woken at about 1am by the cracking sound of a huge tree falling down. It was a very eery sound, although it was a little way off, it was made more eerier because i could'nt see it, just hear it and there was the silence of the night that magnified it.

I like to get out overnight as often as i can, however it's really a good idea to think twice in the windy weather.

Boosh.

 

[malente]

Somewhere I read/ heard that the #1 cause for deaths in the Amazon is falling trees I don't know if that is true but I think it could well be.

I was hit by branches etc. numerous times, although on reflection most instances occured when it was a bit windy.


Cheers
Mike

 

[billycan]

Out in the woods in the high winds the other week (3rd to 7th) , lying there peacfully asleep in my group buy hammock!!! and all of a sudden woke up to hear this huge creak of a falling tree and then a massive crash just beyond where i was...

 

[bushtank]

When i was a lad me and some mates went apple scrumping i climbed up to the top of the biggest tree.i reached out and grabbed at the apples. i then heard a thud kind of noise i looked down at my mates and had a go at them thinking that one had lobbed a apple at me. then i heard it again along with that branch snapping noise i crashed down to earth clinging on like a sloth. didnt get hurt and got loads of apples

 

[w00dsmoke]

I just got home from work after a backshift and I drove up the lane to the cottage in the estate. I got in and went straight to bed as it was a mental windy night and woke up half an hour later as half a beech tree came down across the wee lane I had just driven up. Believe me this was no small tree.

I agree with Don Rendondo, for all the years I've worked felling and out and about, I've rarely come across anything like that. I've seen plenty standing dead trees fall with bits come flying off in gales but nothing serious.

 

[dwardo]

I just got home from work after a backshift and I drove up the lane to the cottage in the estate. I got in and went straight to bed as it was a mental windy night and woke up half an hour later as half a beech tree came down across the wee lane I had just driven up. Believe me this was no small tree.

I agree with Don Rendondo, for all the years I've worked felling and out and about, I've rarely come across anything like that. I've seen plenty standing dead trees fall with bits come flying off in gales but nothing serious.

Lot of people say stay clear of campin under beech trees as they tend to loose limbs (large ones at that) wihout any notice even without wind

I would take more notice but the odds are huge and its my favourite place to camp

 

[billycan]

Oh and i once saw lightining blow appart a large Wellingtonia half way up, spreading debris over an area several acres big.

 

[sandsnakes]

I had a experience of a frightening kind when out in the woods, but the crashing turned out to be Jason going for a **** in the dark after a few beers!

Sandsnakes

 

[jasons]

 

[Toddy]

We've had three trees come down along the side fence of the garden in the past month. Only the Ash was really old, the other two were young wych elms (I think) but both had become covered with dense, heavy, Ivy and I think that's what the winds caught during the gales.
Silver birch seems to lose lots of little branches, but oaks and beeches drop big ones

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[BorderReiver]

I'm staying out of my local wood tomorrow morning.

As the soil is shallow and damp there are several trees lying about which have been uprooted in the past.Quite a few oak trees among them.Tomorrow's gale may topple a few more.

 

[Tadpole]

My wife was walking with my daughter in our local park the summer just gone, and a branch fell about eight feet away from them. Where it joined the main trunk was about nine inches thick, it was ten or fifteen foot long. All the trees in the park are suffering from the summer drought.
Sadly this year the council plan to chop down all the Poplar trees, it seems about ten years ago, in an effort not to get lumbered ( ) with the cost of cleaning the sap from cars that park under them, most of the trees were pollarded{spelling}unfortunately It seems that Poplar trees are prone to getting infected, and most are now dead or dying. Some of these trees are over a hundred years old. I hope to benefit from this sad destruction and get a few long straight branches. (Is poplar a good wood for a bow stave)

 

[jasons]

there will be a few crashing trees today and weely bins

 

[gregorach]

Never had a tree come down near me, but I do remember hearing one come down in Australia. Funny thing was, there was no wind at all. We were out doing a spot of night canoing - full moon, no wind, water like glass, almost total silence apart from the occasional paddle splash - and out of the blue we heard a big tree come down in the forest. Wierd...

 

[Tengu]

A few years back I had a small tree come down in front of me when driving in a storm.

not enough to crush the car or anything but I went home.

 

[dommyracer]

We've had about 10 reports of trees (or parts of trees) down today - and that's just on the Highways that Transport for London looks after....

(to give you an idea, we look after about 5% of the Streets in London)


When I worked in Exeter, a large tree came down in the grounds of the pub, on top of Mini belonging to a lady that lived in a house that was on the property.

She'd left her house, driven her car about 20 metres down the path, and then realised she'd forgotten something in the house - she went back in to get it and when she came out the car had been flattened by the tree.

 

[leon-b]

one of our fences has just fallen down in the wind
leon