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Moved into a new house back in January and it has some lovely mature trees growing in the back garden. Unfortunately one 20ft holly tree is so mature it’s growing through the overhead power lines.
Is this something that the electrical network operator (Western Power Distribution where I am) take care of themselves or as the property owner is it down to me to get someone in to trim or remove the tree?
The added complication is that this tree sits on the boundary of three different houses and some farmland so I’ve no idea who legally owns it. There are also three or four adjacent trees that I certainly don’t own which will also need trimming in a year or two. I’m nervous that if I start asking questions now I’m going to be hit with a big bill for getting them all sorted.
Don't try and do this yourself. There's the risk to you, and to the network.
All the power companies have vegetation management departments. You can certainly report it but they usually find where they are when things start tripping out.
How many wires and are they in a horizontal, or vertical configuration?
Are there any signs on the nearest pole? There might be a name and/or number which will help them locate exactly which feeder you are talking about.
DNO. It won't cost you, they have the duty of veg management
Exactly what has been said above. Get in touch with WPD and they will send their tree cutting team round, or contractors, to have a look at the trees and carry out the work.
This will not cost you a penny.
Do not attempt to do the work yourself.
I work within the SSE Tree Cutting department btw.
You'd be amazed at just how much growth there can be and things still work. At this time of year you can see a lot of foliage burning back as it brushes up against the conductors.
You've got to love this forum. Quite an obscure request that would have most folk scratching their heads but within minutes you get comments from at least two people from within that industry.
Four wires arranged vertically. They look insulated but I’m still going nowhere near them with a bow saw!
It looks like they just feed my house and two other properties.
I’ll give Western Power Distribution a call and go from there.
Four wires arranged vertically. They look insulated but I’m still going nowhere near them with a bow saw!
Sounds like low voltage. Still high enough voltage to kill you though.
Low voltage network then. Unlikely to be covered, hence the separation of the 3 phases and neutral (bottom wire).
You still don't want to go near it, but rest assured, the amount of clearance needed is quite small. The biggest concern would be larger branches that might be able to touch two or more wires at once and would likely blow a fuse.
They might even choose to replace the problem span with Ariel Bunched Conductor which is covered and all bunched together. It would look like one cable from ground level (if you didn't know what you were looking at).
WPD are coming over in two days to have a look.
Got to love STW!
If you're in mid or East Devon it'll be subcontracted to Hi-line by WPD.
They'll do a 'functional' job 🤨 in my case they cut a section out if the tree's canopy that kept it at the legal distance from the wires. No attempt to be sympathetic.
I had to get a tree surgeon friend around to neaten up their handiwork, and he said it's par for the course.
One hour in and I’m too late.
One hour in and I’m too late
Me too, something I could help with and the job's been sorted. If you're lucky you'll get a decent tree surgeon who likes to leave a good job (pun intended). Open four wire might have a covering but won't be classed as insulated so don't throw old bike chains over it.
Just how many DNO/DSO employees are on here?
They’ll do a ‘functional’ job 🤨 in my case they cut a section out if the tree’s canopy that kept it at the legal distance from the wires. No attempt to be sympathetic.
I had to get a tree surgeon friend around to neaten up their handiwork, and he said it’s par for the course.
Not so with my teams. They do a cracking job and quite often receive compliments from our customers.
I worked in veg man for a few years before moving into jointing. If trees were in a garden we would always do our best to shape or he sympathetic with cuts. Just specify you want a neat job when they come. Be prepared for a longer wait if it requires and outage though.
You’ve got to love this forum. Quite an obscure request that would have most folk scratching their heads but within minutes you get comments from at least two people from within that industry.
I had this epiphany a few years back when someone was asking about balloon rides as a gift for their missus. Someone popped up replying, "well, speaking as a balloon pilot..." and my initial reaction of "cool, we have a balloon pilot" was immediately supplanted with "of course we have a balloon pilot, this is STW, I'd be more surprised if we didn't."
🤣
It's funny because it's true.
Wouldn’t mind getting on to veg maintenance for WPD
Its a big problem with Overhead Comms cables,O/R do look to charge, for the work if the ownership of the tree can be located/proved,especialy when the cable has been damaged.Albiet not a risk of death/shock, getting an arborist in to trim around cables can be tricky.Get a couple a year where the cables have been damaged by over zealous tree prunning,Can make people very popular with neighbours when this happens.
Not so with my teams. They do a cracking job and quite often receive compliments from our customers.
Cool, can I have your team next time then? Cos the guys who did it last time were crap 😄
I had this epiphany a few years back when someone was asking about balloon rides as a gift for their missus. Someone popped up replying, “well, speaking as a balloon pilot…” and my initial reaction of “cool, we have a balloon pilot” was immediately supplanted with “of course we have a balloon pilot, this is STW, I’d be more surprised if we didn’t.”
do you know cougar, thats exactly what i thought of as soon as beamers said he was with the electricity board tree cutting dept, i can remember you posting that at the time 😀
Not so with my teams. They do a cracking job and quite often receive compliments from our customers.
Cool, can I have your team next time then? Cos the guys who did it last time were crap 😄
I think you might be outside of my Highland and North Caledonia patch unfortunately.
While we are on the subject and have some experts in, we have a row of spruce that has been allowed to grow way too tall for the location. They are nice but I'd rather they were slightly further away. These massively oversail the power line that runs accross the garden (and the property). I'm a bit concerned that one day one will come down of its own accord taking out the line and the roof. We've had an tree surgeon round who says they are fine for a while but will need to come down one day. If one did fall would the power company come after me? TBH I'd rather the power line wasn't there especially as I wasn't even allowed to connect to it and had to go underground, but given that it is there is it up to me to keep it safe? If some veg maintenance guys came round could they be convinced to take the whole trees down? I will replace them with something more size appropriate.
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Its a big problem with Overhead Comms cables
We have this problem. 20 years ago our neighbours decided they didn't want a pole in their garden and our drop wire was relocated to a pole on the other side of the road and through a tree. Eventually the tree wore the cable to the point where our broadband showed a fault. Apparently there are two pairs of wires so Openreach switched us to the other pair, but we were without connection for 10 days. I worry that the other pair will go and we'll be cut off again. The tree is on Council land but they won't do anything, tried Openreach via the ISP, nothing... Do we have to wait until it fails again before anything will be done, or if not, who do we ask?
are you 100% sure that’s a power cable and not a BT line?
It is both. Power line at the top, BT half way up, both on the same pole
Appears to be covered conductor so it's very unlikely to cause a problem for the power company until it goes over.
If one did fall would the power company come after me?
Nope - it the responsibility of the network operator to keep the trees clear of their network. Give them a call and they will send a tree cutting surveyor round to take a look. If work needs doing to maintain the clearance they will carry it out for free. If that's the case you might be able to persuade them to remove the trees completely as they won't have to come back again in a few years's time to cut the trees again.
This place is like buses!
I've been on to WPD this morning about a tree touching the feed into our house. Doesn't look too bad from the window and there are no branches bearing weight onto the line but if there are any strong winds or storms it could cause some problems.
After a 10min conversation with the nice lady at general enquiries, a survey team are on their way out next Wednesday to asses the situation.
I worry that the other pair will go and we’ll be cut off again. The tree is on Council land but they won’t do anything, tried Openreach via the ISP, nothing… Do we have to wait until it fails again before anything will be done, or if not, who do we ask?
Openreach directly are going to give zero shits about a complaint of "we don't have a backup DSL line." The reason ADSL is so cheap is precisely because there's no service guarantee or SLA.
BT will likely only care if there's a voice fault on the line. A report of "intermittent crackling" on the line might get them to replace the cable run but doesn't resolve the tree issue. I've no idea whether they'd send out anyone to deal with the tree or indeed whether they legally can on a tree neither you nor they own.
Council then would seem to be your best bet. Or the local papers.
Cougar, a CP doesn't care whether its a voice or broadband fault. A fault is a fault. The testing process is automated now so regardless of the fault reported, the engineer will bring the line up to spec to close the job, and if any shortcuts are taken they risk a repeat fault which does not make for a good call with the boss if they exceed a certain limit.
If you are on the right contract BT (the CP, not Openreach) will send out a mobile data modem as soon as you report an broadband fault, they sent one to my father in law despite it being a major outage, he was reconnected within 4 hours.
Of course if you want a guaranteed repair time you need to pay for a business product, still doesn't guarantee we can fix it within 5 hours if its major damage but at least we'll be onsite in force doing our best, and compensation gets paid and Ofcom monitors our performance.
Greybeard, if you know for a fact that the fault was a tree rub on the overhead line, and the engineer swapped pairs rather than replacing the span, you should raise a complaint. Switching pairs is only a temporary fix as the insulation is damaged. However, if the engineer said it was a possible tree rub but subsequently proved the fault to the pole top or elsewhere, the overhead span may be perfectly fine and the repair is satisfactory.
That's good to hear, things must have changed because that's not been my experience historically though I've not dealt with this stuff for a while.
Greybeard, if you know for a fact that the fault was a tree rub on the overhead line, and the engineer swapped pairs rather than replacing the span, you should raise a complaint. Switching pairs is only a temporary fix as the insulation is damaged.
Thanks, that's useful to know. He definitely said it was tree rub, but it was years ago so I think it's too late for a complaint. I did feel it wasn't a permanent fix, however it was all I could get at the time. We had a business line and were told there was no guarantee of service even then. I had a mate who did tree surgery and he removed the worst branch, but trees grow, we're back to square one and he can't help.
Cougar, I wouldn't expect a backup for a line that's in good order, but I have a damaged line with the source of the damage still present. They chose to re-route the wire through the tree. It seems unreasonable to have to wait for the inevitable fault. The business is closed and we have a residential line now - if it took 10 days to fix a business line I don't like to think how long it will take. I don't quite understand where BT fit in, I know they own Openreach but my contract is with TalkTalk.
BT own the wires, which are maintained by Openreach and rented by your provider.
Report the line as been noisy.(cp’s are great at doing this on Adsl/vdsl lines to avoid bb specific task payments)and when the Engineer turns up tell him the history,It is a lazy repair and I would’ve replaced the dropwire, with dropwire 12 heavier gauge for tree routing.Would only swap a pair to give service tempary.But dont expect your d/w to be re-routed, unless its for saftey or easier to do.