How'd it go today?

Felt like the Tree Whisperer for the first half of the day. Gave a hands-on fruit tree pruning and training lesson to a homeowner couple. Raised a tree a foot, pruned the adventitious roots all over the rootstock, staked, bermed, leave the mulching to them.

Second half, run of the mill orchard pruning, and loading wood, cleaning up stump grinding action. New Greenteeth were hungry on cherry, which I heard a long time ago is a harder stump to grind.
 

ronnie.jpg
 
I think I need a few days off. Saturday my chip truck died on the way to the job. Ended up having it towed to my mechanic, who is closed on Mondays so he's just getting to look at it sometime today.

So yesterday I worked on equipment, mostly my small bucket truck. The front end pulls since about 6 months ago when I got stuck and had a Bobcat pull me out of a back yard. While he was pulling me backwards, my left front tire caught the end of a retaining wall and jerked the steering wheel out of my hands. Since then it has been off, and the tires are wearing bad. So I swapped one of the rear tires with the left front. I also dropped the transmission pan to change the fluid and filters. In the afternoon I took it to get the alignment done. Drove it over 50 miles no issues.

Today I go out to hook up to the trailer. Lost reverse and the wrench light flashes. And it also slips in Drive when you give it throttle. After an hour with my code reader and Google, I gave up and called a tow truck to take it in.

Oh, and my help called in this morning as well, said he had a migraine so bad his teeth hurt. So I was on my way out to work alone. Maybe I just need to go back to bed and try again tomorrow.
 
Get a massage. Chill out a day. It will be there tomorrow.

That might be my MO, just from a long run of work, tho I'm a workaholic.

How long since you had a real day off?
 
I've had tons of days off over the winter, but work has been pretty steady for the last month. Not used to having to keep an employee busy but I seem to be adapting fairly well, till this week.

Just called the tow company again. Been almost 2 hours and they still haven't found a driver who can tow it. The big truck driver is off today and the boss is not feeling well.
 
Take a break. Life's too short to be stressed over funky shit that WILL happen occasionally.

Frig it. Tomorrow will be better.
 
That just about says it all...
I finished my really big Liquidambar reduction on Monday, all climbing and 95% handsaw work...it's now Wednesday and I'm starting to feel more normal...I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that being 'older' really does mean that I'm not as young as I once was...and can't thrash a job and rebound bright eyed and bushy tailed the very next morning. The ute is in with the mechanic...it developed a 'whine' that my hubby and the mechanic reckon is the alternator bearings, so only estimating visits today.

Pace is becoming a big word in my vocabulary now.
 
I tried for a massage, but couldn't get in to my new place until a week from Friday. May pursue elsewhere in the meantime.

It does so much good.

Like changing oil for a machine.
 
Yup, stopped in for a massage this afternoon, got her to work a bit more on my forearms and hands, as well as the usual back and hips... feeling much better now.
 
We pruned 24 linden trees in an alley today, finished logging Red Oaks yesterday and start logging Doug fir tomorrow.
So had just one day for it.
Went well. Those trees had been hacked badly years back, so when I first saw them, I didn't think we could turn them around, but they actually came out nice.
good feeling.

I thought the 400 kubic meters of doug fir we start on tomorrow was going to be the last job of the season, but today I got a call from a forest where we never worked before.
Guy said he'd had us recommended and would like us to fall a shipment of mature beech for him.
What do you know!
Some one out there likes us, I guess:)
 
Referrals are the most effective advertising you can get, always.

Got my chipper truck back yesterday, a bad ICP sensor was the culprit. And got a call this afternoon on my small bucket truck, seems I bought the wrong transmission filter and it came off. Mechanic found it when he dropped the pan. He got that fixed so I can pick it up in the morning. Blew another hydraulic hose on the big bucket truck today. I was working a block from the house and found a suitable replacement in my box of spare parts and hoses so no expense other than 2 gallons of fluid. Hopefully all my trucks will be working for a while. Had enough repairs for now.

Today I sold a job for next week removing 6 big oaks on a lakefront property. They are knocking down the house and rebuilding so I get to drop a tree on the house! That makes me really happy. Looking forward to it. :dance:
 
I always felt strange the few times I got to do that kinda stuff.

The sturdiness of some structures surprised me!
 
Towed my chipper into the backyard, squeezing with inches around their fire ring. Started wrecking some good sized maples under 100', surrounding a taller doug-fir, well over 100'. Put on a show rigging leading down, laying the butts mostly right onto the tray. Maple is my chipper's favorite food. Kids watching from the second story windows, coming out on the second story deck when we were chipping and doing some mini-loader rodeo. The whole back yard has been shaded out, and covered in maple leaves. No turf, at all. No worries about skidding. Its loosing the compacted soil, even. Its a backyard renovation. Maybe hook up my hydroseeding neighbor. Mulch and firewood all stays. Probably haul out just a bit of non-chippables, but will be able to take the trailer right in the backyard, barely.

Breaking out the GRCS tomorrow for the first time. Great high rigging point with the doug-fir, right in the middle. Just have to work through it with my employee, who was brainfarting a lot today, distracted by personal things.
 
Did a milling job today. Finished up last cut hitting a screw and the 066 stopped working. Cylinder was loose, muffler was loose, all that was fixed but still doesn't run. :(

Damn thing was starting to make me money. :(
 
19" People hype things up way too much. Another big one coming Monday. Not a big deal, just a nuisance. Ground has zero frost, and it's above freezing during the day, so it should leave fast.
 
I hate snow!!!

Had a good day of climbing. A lot of fun even. Get back to the shop and find out there is video and audio serveliance all of the sudden. Video is one thing but audio pisses me off. I flick off the camera in our room every chance I get. Now that I know there is audio, I?m gonna add a remark or two. Just plain out agitated about it. Might start giving my daily progress to him on the camera instead of a phone call.
 
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