Drella

I'm sure everyone already knows this but for the sake of reminding my dumb ass,, never get a fixed D belt! And I've nothing but great things to say about the good ole' Back Jack.... What can I say? I guess I'm old fashioned....

In a perfect world, yes.. But remember, we're all in a line of work that doesn't require much college to enter. In fact, even a dummy like me can do it with only a highschool diploma.. They're called accidents because they're just that,, an accident. We've all had things on our minds where our complete attention is not on what we are doing 100%. I've been doing the tree thing for so long I could do it blindfolded. Though I'm also one who can multi-task quite well and I always have my act wired tight.. But I'm one in a million baby.... I've been on many jobs where I've had to train a newbie from a day-labor resource almost everyother day. And let me tell you, alot of those guys are only interested in getting enough $$$ to buy beer at the end of the day... So just where do you think the're attention is going to be? On you? Maybe for a minute, then it's back on the divorse, the child support payments, the probation officer, the apartment they're about to loose because of their circumstances,, just too many things to mention that can rob our minds of attention....

I've got another good one; It was a friday, I just turned 21, I had plans to get spun out after work. The day turned out rainy and it was just my boss and I. After most the day in the shopp, he decided we could use the window of sunshine and head over to a job where we could get in and out fast enough to beat the rain again. We pulled up and just behind the client's home was their backyard and immediately the woods. At just the edge of the woods was a giant, leaning tulip poplar,, kind of shaped like a upside down "J" -- or a "7" for the rest of you who can't pick up what I'm putting down.. Well, the boss is standing there staring at it and I'm just waiting for him to say; "grab your gear." (I used to hate when he said that.) Just then he grabbed the throw-line and decided it was too hazzardous to climb, so he set the line high with the top, tied off a workline- and we both were going to pull the rope with all we got before attempting to remove it by climbing. Afterall,, all we had to do was get it down and let the woods use it as fodder. So here we both are pulling this 90' tree, letting it rock,, then pulling again when it's about to return with the swaying movement. Now we are both laughing at how silly we look dug in with one foot forward, almost on top of each other, pulling with everything we've got and the tree seems solid as stone. Just then the tree goes CRACK! and we both fall on top of one another, as the whole top comes straight at us both. Now we're both scurrying like rats to get the hell out of the way as the rope is the first to come coiling down on top of us. We both just escape with about 10' of room from the tree as the wind from the top sends leaves and debris flying past us. Neither one of really made it back to our feet until after the top came crashing down we were pushing so hard to get out of there... Needless to say I lived and was still able to go home that night to celebrate my birthday -with copious amounts of trendy chemical amusements aids... I've got a few more in the memory banks,, but I was hoping others would share there's too. I haven't even got to the one where I lost the nails on three of my fingers on my right hand,,or blew out my miniscus joint in my knee doing a silly little sweetgum removal....

Confucious says; "Dumb man climb tree to get cherry, wise man spread limbs." Confucious says; "Panties not best thing on earth, but next to it." Confucious says; "Crowded elevator always smell different to midget."

Not to sound naggy but, you may want to consider retiring about 10' off your work line. That's the all too common point of failure. I've had two embarrassing experiences with the same issue. One was false-crotching a giant Austrian Pine,, luckily no one was injured. And the other a mammoth Shag-Bark Hickory, same M.O. with the rope. Both times it had snapped at that exact same spot, right where yours is about to....

Haaaaa,, no worries. Actually, he was bad! Badass!

fixed....

After years of RedWings and a short stint with Wesco, I've decided that the most comfortable of boots just happen to be made for either mountaineering or big wall climbing. I know most of you will jeer at the lack of standard protection offered with such a boot. But, I will say that though it may not meet the OSHA benchmark, it does provide the perfect mix of balance and safeguard against the general "chain nick." Here are my "Boreal Big Wall" boots for climbing. Though there's not much of a heel- 1/4" -- it does have a very grippy sole and tall rubber rand along the boot's entire outer edge.. And these are my boots "LaSportiva," for doing removals. They have a thick plastic shank in the sole, makes for long days in spurs more tolerable.. Even though there quite insulated and mainly used for cold weather, I've not yet felt as if my feet where too hot. And that's a lot to be said when standing in them all day in 90 degree plus heat... When I need to help with ground clean-up, I switch to my climbing shoes...

Too right mate...

Wow! I had no clue what those where "lancashire heelers"- until I looked them up... Growing up, my good friend had one. I always thought it was a mutt of sorts, until now. You're spot on with the intelligence level with those. They're very crafty animals.. Sorry, that's about the best word I can come up with describing their nature.. You of all should know what I mean.....

^^^Exactly. But hense the fine line of doing whatever Joe homeowner suggests -or- rejecting their idea and dropping a client. Of course that's if -and only if, they are adamant on destroying the tree. From my background and training, I would be forced to withdrawl myself from such practices. I also have a tendency to feel strongly responsible for the aesthetics' of my work. Even long after I'm gone from the job. But,, 9 times out of 10- Joe homeowner doesn't know what a good prune job is. That's why more of us have to be diligent in communicating proper technique, rather than bending to the whim of the illinformed customer and the almighty $$$....

Interesting,, What more- is the fact that being in this industry, you have a tendency to look up, before you sit and relax under a nice shady spot. So many folks don't think as much as to do the same-- and why should they,, it's not in their habit to do so. Just as when I'm moving through a city-scape, I pay no more extra attention to my surroundings, than that of what anyone normally would. But, put an architect in my spot, and he's noticing all sorts of code infractions and subtle structure nuances that would skirt the normal eye....

Has anyone seen these works of art? I used to run into them on occasion in N.E. Ohio- but nothing here yet in the South. Sorry no photo's of my finds. Though I was intrigued by this practice, I was still just a dumb kid making good money and could care less about taking photo's of ornamented trees.

Yep,, 1976 was a really big snow in the States. I remember my sister and I going out early in the morning and shoveling folks driveways for an entire day and coming home with around $70 each... Now if it snows hard, just wait a day and it'll turn to slush and rain-- then snow again, only to repeat the cycle all over again.. I hate Ohio...

Jako! I so want your cattle dog! I don't think anyone really has a clear understanding what an intelligent dog is, until they've had a Queensland Blue Heeler...

"Your linky no worky.." Seems that this happens alot. In fact, a park tree,, next to my home, had a branch that struck an older woman whilst picnicing with family. She left her body almost instantly from what I remember... I think that when it's your time to go, nothing is going to protect you and death is coming in every face imaginable.

Oh the beloved ladder! When it's 100 degrees and 90% humidity out, I sometimes would rather work as much as the drip-line as possible from the ladder. I'm talking about a 12' orchard ladder that be set up nearly anywhere.. And when I stand 10' up on it, with my nearly 8' reach- with a 12' pole-saw,, there's not much left on these smaller Fla. trees when I'm finished.. And it sure makes getting that drink of ice cold Gatorade nicer- when done with both feet on the ground.....

Nice. I used to love trout fishing in the BlueRidge National Forest.. And those football sized Pennsylvania browns! Spin casting was the only way I go. When hiking through the woods and throwing in a hole as you move up-stream, a flyrod proves useless in those conditions... Oh yeah,, 1-64TH oz. lure weight 4' custom rod! Man, those were some good times...

So what's the practice when trying to remove the 40 or so branches now lodged into the ground like giant yard darts? Do ya' pull them out,, or just cut them flush to the ground, then kick a little dirt over it....

And without trying to add insult to injury, the tree now looks to be about 2/3 defoliated.

Well, here’s mine.. Doing a large Cherry take down next to the street,, there was three of us on the crew—me, my boss and a ground man. I’m doing the removal and I’m all finished with limbing, so all the brush was about to be chipped—while I remained in the tree, chunking it down in 24” sections. The tree was approxiametly 40” in diameter and extremely heavy, of course,, being a Cherry and all.. As I finished cutting each piece, I’d snap my saw back to my saddle, look in all directions to check for my co-workers position, then push each chunk off so it would land as close to the base of the tree as possible. At this point, I was about 50’ up. Well, they wouldn’t call them accidents if they didn’t happen the way that they do, “by complete surprise.” Now the chipper is fired up and brush, by the arm-loads- are being sent through the hopper. Between me cutting and the chipping, not a sound could be heard –not unless I whistled, or they happened to look up to see how far I’ve come on my cut. As I finished my cut, I put my saw away, looked for my bro’s, then pushed off the 200lb. monster. Then, out of nowhere, my ground man decided to waltz between the tree and some stacked brush,, right underneath where I’m dropping the wood. It went sailing straight down and he was walking right towards it. I hadn’t had time to whistle, all I could do is watch in horror as this could be a terrible accident in the making. John, "the ground man about to be splattered," had a pitch-fork over his shoulder, walking it to the chipper. My heart was in my throat and for once, this accident was happening at lightning speed. Just as he got directly under my tree, the chunk landing square on the pitch-fork hanging over his right shoulder, sending it flying in the air, as the wood continued it’s journey to the ground. John immediately fell to the ground on his knees, grabbing his shoulder,, now in excruciating pain. That was the first time that I yelled at a co-worker for being such an idiot, but yet, happy at the same time that he was still alive. That was just one of my close calls…

Yikes! Can't really see your cuts except the very top center. And from my chair, I still don't know if that's a correct thing to do... I still can't understand why someone would want this done to a tree.. Ornamentals, yes. But not trees. Does this even keep it reduced for very long? Does it then merit weakened branching after it grows a few years? BTW: this is not an attack against your workmanship,, only the practice of reducing larger trees...

We've all had them. Hopefully, they have been nothing more than just that,, a close call. Tell em' if you got em'....

[ame=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=752632017081872069&q=they+said+it+was+chance+debate&ei=5Oh_SOjTJIXw4QKAjZmhCw&hl=en]Hare Krsna![/ame] Now that's the most intelligent thing I've heard all day.