Stupid tree work mistakes you've made

[Chrissy]

Probably my most embarrassing was whilst working on a large contract maintaining some roadside trees. A larger mature Ash tree that broke into 4 stems at about 6ft up needed one of the stems removing. Plenty of room to fell so rather than getting up there I went for the lazy option and felled it from the the ground, obviously with the saw above my head. It happens, everyone does it. The problem in this case was my cuts involved a certain amount of guesswork and I was way out. As a result when the limb started to fall it barber chaired and ripped out a section of the trunk right to base level ?

 

I was lucky not to have hurt myself but my primary thought was how embarrassing leaving that wound was. Few years ago now and I still cringe whenever I see it!

 

Whats the stupidest thing you have done?

[dumper]

Becoming a arb contractor

 

[dig-dug-dan]

18 minutes ago, Chrissy said:

Probably my most embarrassing was whilst working on a large contract maintaining some roadside trees. A larger mature Ash tree that broke into 4 stems at about 6ft up needed one of the stems removing. Plenty of room to fell so rather than getting up there I went for the lazy option and felled it from the the ground, obviously with the saw above my head. It happens, everyone does it. The problem in this case was my cuts involved a certain amount of guesswork and I was way out. As a result when the limb started to fall it barber chaired and ripped out a section of the trunk right to base level ?

 

I was lucky not to have hurt myself but my primary thought was how embarrassing leaving that wound was. Few years ago now and I still cringe whenever I see it!

 

Whats the stupidest thing you have done?

Not something I did, but a mate was on a roadside contract on a dual carriageway. Pollarding some lime trees. Got near the end of the day, in a rush, decided to top the tree in one go, rather than cut all individual branches. When the top fell, its base caught the top of the crash barrier, put a dent in it and broke all the connecting bolts down its length.

They thought they got away with it until the highways engineer turned up to inspect the work, and noticed the dent, looked over the barrier to see all the tension bolts lying on the floor and a loose barrier.

Nothing was said until a bill for over 20k arrived for its replacement!

[Steve Bullman]

Just now, dig-dug-dan said:

Not something I did, but a mate was on a roadside contract on a dual carriageway. Pollarding some lime trees. Got near the end of the day, in a rush, decided to top the tree in one go, rather than cut all individual branches. When the top fell, its base caught the top of the crash barrier, put a dent in it and broke all the connecting bolts down its length.

They thought they got away with it until the highways engineer turned up to inspect the work, and noticed the dent, looked over the barrier to see all the tension bolts lying on the floor and a loose barrier.

Nothing was said until a bill for over 20k arrived for its replacement!

Wow, that sounds a bit harsh. Was on site when similar incident happened. We were felling self set Sycamore trees from the central reservation. Nothing overly large, perhaps 10-12" diameter stems. We had been flopping them over the safety barrier all day long, then one of the final trees came down, must have caught the barrier just wrong and knocked it off, as well as peeling it off the posts for 20meters either side. Bill for that came in at £2500 if I remember correctly. Thankfully it wasn't be that was responsible!!

[AHPP]

End of a long day. Main job finished. Got asked to go and do a quick one branch for another team that didn’t have any climbing kit with them. Half an hour away. Extra cash.

Obviously it was an hour away in rush hour traffic and the branch was hanging over a fence, a plastic pond and the corner of the house. Crap tie in. Tiptoed out and got it all done. Everything dropped or rigged perfectly, nothing broken, everybody happy and impressed etc. At about 18:30 I was cleaning up the last step cut (of the extra 10” diameter while-you’re-up-there branch) and tried to pin the chog to the clean face with my finger as the bar fell through. Gravity acted as normal and overcame my meagre digit and I watched in slow motion as the chog smashed a brand new plastic garden storage box. Felt like a total moron. Should have finished it with a silky but was the end of a hot day and I had a long drive to do. I always remember that particular piece of stupid plastic garden tat when I’m about to do something lazy now.

[Mick Dempsey]

I know what you mean.
I always remember the tree going through power lines and blacking out a village for hours every time I'm lining up a tricky fell.

 

[Khriss]

Took a fence panel out once .... I will get my coat .. K

Edited October 27, 2019 by Khriss
Old woman was standing behind it at the time - if that helps !

[dig-dug-dan]

3 hours ago, Steve Bullman said:

Wow, that sounds a bit harsh. Was on site when similar incident happened. We were felling self set Sycamore trees from the central reservation. Nothing overly large, perhaps 10-12" diameter stems. We had been flopping them over the safety barrier all day long, then one of the final trees came down, must have caught the barrier just wrong and knocked it off, as well as peeling it off the posts for 20meters either side. Bill for that came in at £2500 if I remember correctly. Thankfully it wasn't be that was responsible!!

I gather these particular barriers were under tension, so the replacement was a bit more of job than just bolting them back together!

[otter]

Medium beech take down, all going well, customer well impressed thenFelled beech stem (10m high) landing on a bit of gravel driveway and flicked one gravel stone 30m across garden and smashing the house window while customer watching. 

[Rough Hewn]

Watching a young climber rigging down an huge ash tree. He sent a heavy union down, it bounced out away on the branches, before swinging back into the clients tinfoil shed.
It left a perfect union shaped indentation about 4 inches deep.
The whole site just stopped with mirth for several minutes.
Looked like something straight out of a cartoon.
Fortunately the boss was a secret Jedi who beat the panel nearly flat again with a log. Client was very impressed. [emoji848][emoji6][emoji51][emoji106]