Cleaning up from Ike...

[dbhost]

Well, I have spent the majority of the last 8 hours manhandling a Remmington 16" 2.3HP chainsaw and realized something very important.

#1. My chainsaw is pitiful.
#2. Clearing felled debris is hard work.
#3. I still have a LONG way to go.
#4. Cleaning felled debris is hard work, or have I mentioned that?
#5. There is an amazing amount of debris two trees can produce! My oak, and the Beech tree that was in the bayou (now completely down) produced an AMAZING amount of debris. The pile on the curb measures 24' x 7' x 8', and i am only 3/4" of the way done with those. I have a chinaberry and a badly damaged elm that need to be cleared out still...

Not to mention, I need to get on my roof, and replace the blown out shingles...
AND fix the fence, again... I am going with a T-post and poultry wire solution for the time being. No way in Houston in Summer am I going to try to buy fence pickets PT 4x4s, and concrete this soon after a hurricane...

I am also thoroughly amazed at how tired I am now, as I recall, this sort of work was nothing when I was a teenager... My how time flies when you are having fun right?

[Uncle Cracker]

It would be nice if you could reclaim some of the wood, and turn it into something of a useful memento...

[dbhost]

It would be nice if you could reclaim some of the wood, and turn it into something of a useful memento...

I am sooo ahead of you. The oak dropped with some very interesting crotches. I chainsawed across at an angle on one of the pieces, and this tree has some crazy good grain to it...

There are some pretty good burls going on this thing that make me really wish I had a lathe. I also have some good 12" diameter or greater 36" long or so pieces to be turned into lumber on the bandsaw...

[TB Roye]

Cut the burls off and go to www.Penturners.org and sell them to someone there. There are a bunch of pen turners in Texas that would be glad to take them off you hands and probably would be willing to make a bowl, pens and anything else you would like turned. Glad your house is ok and all (?) you have to do is cut up trees, fix the fence and replace shingles on the roof. Becarefull up on the roof.

Tom

[Pappy]

A couple of days ago you weren't sure you would have a house to go home to. At least things are improving!

[dbhost]

Yeah, I know. Especially with so much destruction around my home. I have power, and water, and the house is in relatively good shape all things considered... I think someone is looking out for me...

[goslin23]

Yeah, I know. Especially with so much destruction around my home. I have power, and water, and the house is in relatively good shape all things considered... I think someone is looking out for me...

I'm glad things are okay.

My niece in north central Ohio got more damage than I did down here in the Richmond/Katy area. As Ike was passing through the winds picked up and a tree from the neighbors yard fell on her shed and gazebo, which was just replaced after a snow storm collapsed the last one. She was about 3 feet away putting stuff in the shed at the time. Thank God she's okay.

Ike was a mean S.O.B.

[dbhost]

I'm gonna grab some rope, and one of those clip things like on a dog leash, to give my dog a bit of a run in the back yard... I am WAY too tired to finish clearing the back yard today, and I want to bring my dog home...

I am taking the opportunity to take the shrubbery and trees I hate out of the yard though. There are some trees in the Bayou that are incroaching on my property that I have to trim back as well...

I sure wish I had an ATV so I could rope up & bundle the pile of limbs, and drag them to the curb instead of the old manual method...

This whole experience has proved to me that I need a gas chain saw instead of the WAY underpowered electric chainsaw I have had for years...

I borrowed a neighbors old McCulloch 18" bar saw and it made an 8" diameter - 20' tall chinaberry tree disappear into manageable chunks in less than a minute... I gotta get me a gasser for sure now...

[shoottx]

The pictures from Ike

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/200...l_life_of.html

[Richard in Smithville]

The pictures from Ike

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/200...l_life_of.html

Some really amazing and disturbing images. Never having experienced that severerity of devestation, it's hard to even imagine going back to something like that. I'm just thankful that I lve in an area where the biggest threats are the heavy snowfalls. That is something us Canadians are used to dealing with. For everyone who was in the path and affected by Ike, my thoughts and prayers are there for you.

[dbhost]

Seeing those pics is along the lines of what I have seen first hand. I am thankful beyond words that my home, and the homes of most of my friends and family were spared too much damage.

Unofficial weather recording stations in League City measured sustained winds between 125-130MPH during the hurricane not too far from my house. The recording station stopped recording when it lost power...

The debris in the yard is mostly cleaned up. I had tree limb debris 6 feet tall, 3 feet wide and 8 feet deep. The chipper truck took it this morning.

I saved all the pieces big enough to be worthy of either woodworking, or fireplace usage...

I have an interesting Beech burl that I am have fairly high hopes for. I know beech isn't exactly know for grain, but this thing looks like it was spalting on the live tree... And since it took my fence out, I figure it is fair to make it provide me with SOME use...

[JR]

Man, that was a heck of storm. Glad you guys are doing well.

JR

[dlminehart]

My brother and his son are insurance adjustors just starting the process of getting people compensated in southern Texas. I spoke to him only a couple days ago. He was staying in a motel 120 miles north of Houston, the closest place that had motel, electricity, and gas. He was having to drive 2 hours each way to visit homeowners making claims. He said that cars had been abandoned on the freeway north of Houston as people were caught by the advancing hurricane, with trees and signs blocking their escape routes. He saw a bulldozer clearing the freeway, pushing not only the signs and trees but 2 otherwise perfectly good Lexus cars into rubble piles along the shoulder. He managed to get room reservations at a hotel in downtown Houston for the next few days. Says that the fact that power lines are underground downtown means that service was less disrupted there, and gas stations there can pump gas. The cost of staying there, however, eats up much of his commission on preparing the returns.

[Wood_workur]

Nothing feel on our street from the storm, but I'm sure a few of the trees are now more ready to fall on me.

I sure wish I had an ATV so I could rope up & bundle the pile of limbs, and drag them to the curb instead of the old manual method...

You have a dog, right? My beagle can pull all 160 lbs of me around on my bike, so I think your dog could pull that for you.

[dbhost]

And old laborador. He used to be able to pull..

I am gonna need a new dog in a couple of years I think...