Lombardy Fell Incident

[sean]

But if it was unannounced the said firm might be trimming hedges all day so that's no good.

 

Sent from my SM-N910F using Arbtalk mobile app

 

That's true Ian.

[treequip]

But if it was unannounced the said firm might be trimming hedges all day so that's no good.

 

Sent from my SM-N910F using Arbtalk mobile app

 

While I don't disagree, the scheme is an auditable quality system and is about more than what the gang is doing that morning

[Arctostaphylos uva-ursi]

Having watched the video it is clear that mistakes were made and these are outlined numerous times throughout the thread. I do however feel for the cutter as I think he/she will be absolutely mortified and having a hard time reconciling his/her actions. I think they will be the first to point out any the deficiencies in the risk assessment next time round.

I am glad that this video was posted as it serves as a reminder of what can go wrong, even when "professionals" are undertaking tree felling.

[AllTreeNeeds]

Shouldn't this be in the " Stunt Fell " thread ?

Too soon lol, way too soon.

 

I'm looking forward to a full report coming out to see what happened. No point jumping to conclusions

[csservices]

Yes it happens spend an hour watching YouTube and you will have panic attacks Everytime you hear a 2 stroke strike up.

 

 

Don't need to I've worked with them, in some cases even knowing you had to work with them that day made you question wether it was better to lose a days wage to save your own sanity 😄

[Old Mill Tree Care]

That's ridiculous. I have never (perhaps nievely) even considered companies did this. I would have thought an assessor would have some method of checking employment status of the teams, how long they have worked their etc. It's like bringing someone in to sit your driving test for you! No ethics at all.

 

 

It is ridiculous, but true.

[Thesnarlingbadger]

This is another point to consider, you need experience and confidence, particularly on larger fells, what you have to watch for is cockeyness and complacency you need to look at every tree individually before felling, weight, natural lean, wind, obstructions, rot, damage, hung up branches etc, big trees still scare me but it is a rush when you get them on the deck safe.

 

 

This is a good point. Cockeyness can and will cause accidents. I have worked with a handful of people over the years who come in with a 'I can do anything better than you' attitude and granted some of these guys may be bloody good but a lot of the time they are useless big headed pain in the arses. But how do you as an employer know this? If some one comes in to your company and says "I can do big fells no problem" then as an employer you are in a position sending this guy out to do a potentially dangerous job with nothing other than someone's word.

What I am getting at is as a sub contract climber I have gone out to work for people who I tell them about my history and my capabilities and first day on the job I may be sent up a huge tree to rig down over a house. Now that's fine until someone lies about their capabilities and things go wrong and I have worked with people like this who have smashed things on the first day all because they have lied about their skill level.

The issue lies with these larger firms that don't have the boss out on site working with their employees so 9 times out of 10 they don't know how good there employees actually are. Just a thought.

[oldwoodcutter]

While on the subject of experienced fellers or otherwise, one of the first Lombardys I was asked to fell was on the edge of a housing development close by a river. I had a bad feeling about it so I asked a much older and a lot more experienced tree man to meet with me over there to cast an eye over it one Saturday morning. The first thing he did was get a hammer out of his truck and after a lot of tapping said it was rotton , he got his old spikes on and a flip line and he got up to around 10 feet before his hammer found good wood. I passed up a saw and he gobbed it out and knocked it over from that height , as cool and confident as you like. I measured it out at 130 feet, I can't remember its dbh but it was flipping big. He passed over a long while ago but I've never forgotten that rotten old pop.

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

Again, for some I agree. However, I reckon if a cutter is allowed to progress organically from smaller to larger trees (I've felled up to 5ft diameter and 135ft height) then perhaps further tickets are not required (for ground felling). That being said, I certainly don't think that they would be a waste of time.

 

However, having contracted in a lot of cutters for various jobs, I'd take an experienced cutter with few tickets over a fresh, fully ticketed operative any day.

 

To bring the thread back onto topic, I think the kind of accreditation that is coming under scrutiny here focuses more on the paperwork side of tree surgery (tickets, insurance and risk assessments) and I think that perhaps that is deemed to be more important these days than years on the saw and correct judgement.

 

While on the subject of experienced fellers or otherwise, one of the first Lombardys I was asked to fell was on the edge of a housing development close by a river. I had a bad feeling about it so I asked a much older and a lot more experienced tree man to meet with me over there to cast an eye over it one Saturday morning. The first thing he did was get a hammer out of his truck and after a lot of tapping said it was rotton , he got his old spikes on and a flip line and he got up to around 10 feet before his hammer found good wood. I passed up a saw and he gobbed it out and knocked it over from that height , as cool and confident as you like. I measured it out at 130 feet, I can't remember its dbh but it was flipping big. He passed over a long while ago but I've never forgotten that rotten old pop.

 

Very much agree Big J.

 

We have RA/MSs (and tickets) now so there's no turning the clock back. But as OWC eloquently describes, there really is no better 'system' than experience, care, supervision, and CDF.

 

Worse example I regularly see of people blindly following RA/MS (because the paperwork says it's safe / necessary it must be) is motorway traffic works.

 

RA/MS says amber beacons so the whole place is lit up like billy smarts circus - regardless of the fact it makes the environment more confusing and less safe (only my observation) for workers and motorists alike.

[Timber Man]

While on the subject of experienced fellers or otherwise, one of the first Lombardys I was asked to fell was on the edge of a housing development close by a river. I had a bad feeling about it so I asked a much older and a lot more experienced tree man to meet with me over there to cast an eye over it one Saturday morning. The first thing he did was get a hammer out of his truck and after a lot of tapping said it was rotton , he got his old spikes on and a flip line and he got up to around 10 feet before his hammer found good wood. I passed up a saw and he gobbed it out and knocked it over from that height , as cool and confident as you like. I measured it out at 130 feet, I can't remember its dbh but it was flipping big. He passed over a long while ago but I've never forgotten that rotten old pop.

 

Brilliant tale. There were still a few of those guys about when I first started, set of irons and a lump of rope for a flip line was all they seemed to have.