The Official Work Pictures Thread

Sean, have you officially given up on hiring employees? Straight solo?
 
7E564492-AA81-47BC-B8D6-D5E9D9F51534.jpeg 5AA7D855-1A9A-49BE-96CE-B7C42FFD06A2.jpeg EC6C2547-CC63-402C-AAD9-B89678092EC5.jpeg Forgot to get a picture of the actual tree but we will call this a nice little limb walk. I was tied into to separate trees to take some end weight from this arching white oak. It was around 60’ from stump to finished tips and only about 30’ high. Made four one inch cuts plus dead wood and it raised up about 8’. This was number 9 out of 10 white oaks I pruned this week on the property. Most were pretty good sized but only a bit of dead wood and end weight on the horizontal limbs. A few times I had two climbing systems plus my ridiculously long lanyard in play. I’m a bit sore and a bit tired
 
Gettin out there! Thank goodness for SRT

Killing needle-cast P. sylvestris in a pretty wide open field today. Twisty-turny trees, and flexible limbs made for difficult chipping. Had to basically skin out every leader.

Should be my last day of work for a while, I'm hitting the road this weekend. planing to take a month or so, and see some country!

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@cory

My gf works sometimes, but is often busy.

I've been doing family-related stuff a lot for the last couple months, and not working much.


In the summer, I'm hoping to take off (2) 3-week periods, and my GF will be much less employed when school is out, able to work more. Weird schedule.



The machines never complain about unpaid time off, or working when I want.

Iron is paid off, albeit old aside from the loader that's got 400+ hours. The pick up that I use in every job is medium age, 2006, 110k.

I machine-feed the chipper as much as possible. (Duh)



I'd like to train my smart, 120# GF in more technical aspects, and to become decent on the mini, and also be able to hire a limited-responsibility laborer with a strong back, who I don't have to depend on.


Too many problems with people who aren't actually into tree work.
If they're into tree work, too likely that they will quickly leave to start their own sapling tree service. I saw a guy on FB who worked for me for a minute, worked for another guy for a bit, and is now in his own.


WC is easy to deal with, here.
Insurance is easy to get.

Plenty of climbing work here that a bucket truck can't help, so it's possible to stay Plenty busy without iron.


All around, I see people making things way more work, way more dangerous and stressful than needed. My biggest risk to my safety has always been employees.





I've gotten relatively good at planning/prep, efficient solo rigging and landing of pieces, or hanging several pieces

The 2511t is almost easy to forget about, so climbing back up a clean spar (skipped the solo-wraptor complications) with the 2511t and a 261 was not a problem.





Magic Cuts save so much work on spars when people typically like groundies involved, and avoid so many problems, like the rope hauling and management, and ropes getting trapped under a log, or pile driven into the ground by the log, guys falling in the forest while pulling, as I saw the other day, as another tree company worked next door.



I documented the MC on this job to share, when I get a minute. John inquired.







Not my ideal set up, but where I am, with a 8, turning 9 y.o. this month.
 
"Boring" as planned.

Funny, a fir that height would typically be stripped and topped on one tank, shut down and started up frequently.
Lots of little twigs and small branches...lots of revving up, drinking up the gas.

Chunking down gets it ripping hot...keeps the exhaust clean from deposits.
...a problem I used to have on top-handles.
The dealer mechanic said it wasn't getting hot enough, long enough.
 
Nothing special other than the weather. It was pretty nice out.

Small Oak reshape and cut back from the power lines. Mostly silky and secateurs work.

Forgot the before picture. Looks a bit thinner on the LHS as the power company butchered it about 7 years ago. I just tried to tidy it up a bit, remove deadwood, stubbs and a bit of a reshape.

FA4C8354-18BA-40B1-8CC0-EDA1B6229AD3.jpeg 2BB9412B-1E51-4165-9AD1-FD4B97F53441.jpeg
 
Beautiful reduction! Excellent symmetry.

How challenging was all that work out at the tips?
 
Why thank you Sir.

It was a bit tricky due to no decent anchor points in the centre, plenty of half decent but no decent ones.

I set a single line on a large ish crotch towards the back and the thread through 2 separate 2 inch forks near the centre. They moved pretty close together. I figured if one went, I had the other and if that went I wouldn’t be far off the floor LOL.

To get to the tips I have long arms and a lanyard. It was a bit tricky but I hate using along armed pruners in a tree unless I have to, so over the years I just climb to where I need and then ‘go-go gadget arms!’
 
You and me both mate. I used to get loads of reductions in the UK. Maybe I should have frigged a few more up and they wouldn’t have kept booking me in to do them.

I really enjoy crane work and large dismantles. Reductions used to be a chore for me but now I don’t get too many of them I might as well try and do a good job.

Thankfully I get quite a few cut backs from buildings Etc but very seldom a whole tree reduction.
 
Nice!

Yes, that's why I was wondering. The finished product looks awesome regardless but I spied no good central crotch. Thanks for the detailed info

I'm guessing you have another set of eyes on the ground to give you some heads up and perspective?
 
If I did that tree Rich, the homeowner would say "WTF'd you do to my tree?!?! It looks like it got hit with bowling ball size hail!". Big splintered limbs where my fat ass broke them off trying to get to the tips, misshapen form, me probably hanging upside down, tangled in my rope... :^D

I can't even imagine getting out there. I see some jobs you guys do, and I think "Yea, maybe as long as time isn't an issue, and perhaps a bit more practice", but I couldn't even touch that tree without a lift or something, and it would probably still end up with a stupid form.
 
Btw, PC, great picture.

I've never had the pleasure (:O) of doing treework with a jib.
 
Nice!

Yes, that's why I was wondering. The finished product looks awesome regardless but I spied no good central crotch. Thanks for the detailed info

I'm guessing you have another set of eyes on the ground to give you some heads up and perspective?

Occasionally I ask the Groundy. Most of the time I just look through the crown and roughly find a decent shape and then drop crotch a bit then maybe snip the ends if they are leggy. I just try and visualise the centre of the tree and if I had moved a metre away just start to prune it following the natural pattern and aim for somewhere I would do in the next part of the canopy. Then just rinse and repeat. Some time it looks like a dogs dinner from with the canopy. It over the years I have got some faith and it usually surprises me when I get down. ;)
 
very good description of the process. Although I always get a look from all angles from the ground before calling it done because it's not unusual for it to look a bit nasty up there and yet it looks good from the ground.
 
Lotta work ... Nice wood to do some saw testing in fur shure ... Frank500i ???
 
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