What is the point of chippers?

[scbk]

I shouldn't say too much, standing behind a (small) chipper pays a (small) part of the mortgage, but there's occasions when it feels like verging on a waste of time.

 

An old saying I always think of is "He who pays the piper, choses the tune" 

 

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

3 hours ago, Squaredy said:

Glad to be of service!  And well done for questioning yourself.

? 

 

There is a limit to my personal reflection...

 

[Forester2024]

You're right TS, people do chip unnecessarily. You'll see that no one can really explain why, and when you ask why you tend to get attacked. I think it's because of our unconscious mind. Like why should a credit card approach the Golden Ratio, or structures have right angles? You can say it's easier to make things with right angles and straight lines but I don't think that's the reason why we use them. It's a rationalisation, like chipping wood on the verge as it's a 'fire risk' lol.

 

However I couldn't think of a better example. We are just evolved to find straight lines and right angles pleasing and satisfying. People want the wood chipped because it's satisfying and 'complete' and 'tidy'. We also have an instinct to get at people who question dogma - it helped us to survive and reproduce in the past, if everyone was complying with the leadership.

 

People don't tend to like to leave nature alone, they won't wait for a natural wood to grow for instance, they want to plant trees, all the same age, in rows and columns etc.

[Stere]

Obsessive Tidiness Disorder or: How we can learn to stop worrying and love nature’s messiness

WWW.DOUGLASBOYES.CO.UK

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Why do we do it? It consumes countless hours of our lives. It must cost millions. Every hedge neatly trimmed, every verge...

 

[Squaredy]

5 minutes ago, Stere said:

Obsessive Tidiness Disorder or: How we can learn to stop worrying and love nature’s messiness

WWW.DOUGLASBOYES.CO.UK

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Why do we do it? It consumes countless hours of our lives. It must cost millions. Every hedge neatly trimmed, every verge...

 

You have a good point there.  The main ring road in my home city gets the verges and central reservation cut regularly throughout the summer and not only does it cost an arm an a leg it can only be done Sunday mornings as the road is simply too busy at any other time.  As I drive past it and see the gangs of men with strimmers and more gangs of men with traffic cones I do wonder that we haven't come up with a less costly way.

 

I sometimes wonder if they could simply reduce the cutting to just one a year.  Vast cost saving and maybe benefit due to wild flowers taking hold?  It certainly wouldn't be dangerous in my view.  Maybe a few bits would need to be trimmed more often to keep lines of sight clear, but for the most part it has no impact on safety - unless I am missing something.

[Stere]

They have got slightly better in some places in the last few yrs mowing less.

 

The dual carriage way here they now  leave some bits  long &  cut and   bail the grass on  the wider verges where the flyovers are.

 

 

 

 

The job strimming along miles after mile  round each individual steel central divider post must be abit soul destroying.

 

 

 

Edited February 9 by Stere

[Steven P]

If only there was some sort of mower thing that could be swung out the back of a tractor, say 1/2m to 1m over the grass verge and cut a strip at 30mph. Leave the bit in the middle for the wildlife

[Mick Dempsey]

On my recent trip back to Sussex I was struck (as I am on every visit) by how shabby and unkempt the verges and hedges are along the roads in comparison to here in France.

Litter and shit everywhere, trees growing right up the the edge of the road, only the lorries striking them seems to keep them back.

I think more cutting and trimming is needed not less.

[GarethM]

Verge trimming is more a necessity, especially for visibility. The real problem is poor design that forces the usage of strimmers.

 

Take most roundabouts, junctions etc.

Posts and barriers and level changes everywhere without enough space, in the old days the council could mow them in minutes, now it's hours and half a van of staffm

[Stere]

Litters a good  point. I expect untidy verges do encourage people to litter  & flytip more.

 

 

 

Makes a real mess when a verge of  long grass is then cut, and  all the accumulated  litter is shredded into little bits.

 

 

Edited February 9 by Stere