This was our 2013 Jayco Flight Swift 198 RD

THIS WAS OUR 2013 JAYCO FLIGHT SWIFT 198RD, PARKED AT THE TOMBSTONE TERRITORIES RV PARK IN ARIZONA



Saturday 20 February 2021

Panic in the morning

We were just about to be finished with breakfast yesterday morning when I noticed that it felt a bit chilly in the room although Benno had cranked up the heat before sitting down. I thought it strange because the thermostat showed we were in heating mode. After placing my hand over one of the outlets on the floor I announced, “There is no air coming out of the duct!” Benno almost spilled his coffee and choked on his last piece of bread at this news. I hate to be ‘Mrs. Bad News’, especially so early in the morning, but this discovery warranted urgent action.


After closer inspection of the furnace, while still clad in his pajamas, Benno thought it wise to give our local Heating and Air Mechanic, who also installed our unit, a call. Of course we were not the only ones begging to immediately send a technician to fix a not working furnace, while the outside temps were still well below the freezing mark.  We were promised someone would show up after 1 p.m.

 


That little black round thing above the motor was the culprit

Lutch, the man, he knows everything about furnaces



Almost on the dot the owner, Luciano (Lutch) Pannunzio, came to the rescue. He tested and searched for the defect and then discovered that the pressure switch for the exhaust air of our gas furnace was defect. He managed to temporary by pass it so that the furnace could work for the time being, but he needed to drive all the way to Windsor to get us a new switch and promised he would be back late afternoon and to fix it properly so we wouldn’t be without heat for the night or the coming weekend.  

 



True to his word, he showed up later on and replaced the defective unit with the new pressure switch. In the meantime Benno had turned on the furnace and an electric heater to “Toasty Warm” in our travel trailer as a stand-by in case we would be out of luck with our home furnace.  It helped that we had a wonderful sunny day and the warm rays shining through our windows warmed the house and kept us cozy.


 

Our neighbours tree as it stood until today

Today we are spectators behind our front windows. Our neighbors across the street hired a professional crew to cut down a large Cottonwood tree behind their house, which had been a nuisance for them for a long while.


Here are some facts. Cottonwood trees are native to North America, are fast growing, and adding about 3 feet every year. Most Cottonwoods grow to about 65 feet tall. This one is 120 feet tall as per the information from the guys cutting it.

The branches tend to be weak, so lots of falling branches on windy days.

They also have aggressively, shallow growing roots that can cause problems to sewer systems, building foundations or paved areas.

Cottonwood trees can be either male or female. This one is a female tree and produces pollen in the springtime and in the summer produces seeds with cottony tufts that shed all over the place making it look like it has snowed but its a sticky mess that can drift around in the neighborhood. 

 

 











The tree cutters arrived with a boom track that turned out not to be tall enough to reach the top branches. A while later more equipment showed up. The Genie S-85 XC telescopic boom lift had a working height of 91 feet (I looked that up) and with that boom they managed to cap all the branches and the treetop. 

 

You don't want this tree hitting your house, right?



It was an all day event and by late afternoon the tree trunk came down. As it hit the ground our house shook.  I had a quick look at the felled tree and while the stump was being cut to ground level. What a massive tree.


I presume it will take a few more days to cut and transport the stem as well as all the cleanup. But that is all I'm going to document.


Hoping everyone will have a great weekend and thanks for dropping by again.

 


14 comments:

  1. My daughters partner does that specialized tree cutting in a city. Scary stuff!

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    1. A tree of that size needed to be cut down by professionals for sure. A tough job and made harder by the cold conditions. However, it was of excellent quality and must have gotten them some $$ from the mill.

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  2. Glad your furnace was a quick fix.
    Nice that the tree came down Safely. Looks like they could mill some nice boards out of the Trunk.
    I've often worked on larger Man-Lifts while building and repairing Smoke Stacks.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. After getting his hands on the replacement switch, Lutch managed to do a quick installation. However, it was an all day event. I am sure the mill liked the trunk, it was healthy, pretty straight and solid.

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  3. We've watched trees getting trimmed carefully by a skilled crew up here too.

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    1. It's the time of year to tackle these kinds of jobs but I don't envy the guys doing it. I'm glad I was behind the window.

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  4. Cotton woods are quite the nuisance. I grew up in Edmonton and every year the street would be white from the cotton balls. Eventually the city cut them all down.

    Yikes to the furnace issue. Having had a problem earlier in the winter I understand your frustration and the chill in the house. Good thinking to warm up the RV as back up. Hope your fix wasn't as expensive as ours.

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    1. I never knew about Cottonwood trees until we moved here and then wondered why anyone would put up with it.
      Having no working furnace during the winter is a disaster and this pressure switch just quit working. I guess it was good we were home when it did.

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  5. I'm so glad you were able to get things fixed up so quickly. Today's chuckle: why do furnaces always give us grief in the winter when we need them most? Ha ha, I think we all know the answer. We don't need them in the summer!
    I love watching and taking pics of tree trimmers too. :)

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    1. The breakdown of the furnace I thought was good timing in a way. Glad it happened while we were home to take care of it. Watching that big tree coming down was entertaining and the guys were so professional.

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  6. Definitely not a good way to start the day. How great that you were able to get someone out quickly and they were able to get your furnace doing what it is suppose to do in the winter, mainly keep you warm, before the end of the day. It is fascinating to watch how they are able to cut down such a large tree. Stay safe and warm.

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    1. Yep, the nightmare of any homeowner when the furnace quits in the middle of winter. I put out a thank you note for the repairman in FB and got almost a 100 likes and comments. Hope he gets some additional business this way.

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  7. You really cracked me up - I could just picture Benno's expression, lol. Bet the repair man loved working on your unit, after all, I've seen your engine room. As for the cottonwood tree, we have them all through our summer RV park out in Colo and they're messy for sure. In fact, they topped most of ours a couple of years ago because of the spindly nature of them.

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    1. Yep, I got Benno's attention that morning. Mostly though it is him that cracks jokes early in the morning and makes me smile. I was sorry to ruin his breakfast. You are not far off with the assumption of the condition of the furnace... and the repairman didn't get his hands dirty ;-)
      I'm glad those cotton things are not floating over this summer!

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