For like 2 years I'd grind stumps down to ground level thinking that was best, but last month I buried a 6 inch chunk of oak and it took out $80 worth of teeth on my grinder. Now I leave them about 4 inches above grade and come back with a chainsaw instead - has anyone else dealt with surprise rocks or metal doing the same damage?
Ngl I used to think spikes were fine for any takedown, even on healthy trees. But last month at a job in Portland I watched a guy strip the bark off a mature oak just getting up to the first branch. The homeowner called us out on it and I had to admit he was right. Has anyone else had to switch up their climbing style after a customer called them out?
I was out on a job last week in Portland near Mt. Tabor and the homeowner wanted me to leave the stumps because the last guy told her they'd just rot away naturally. I've seen this take way too often on here and I gotta call it out. Those stumps are gonna be sitting there for 10+ years looking ugly and tripping people up, plus they attract carpenter ants and termites that can spread to healthy trees nearby. I get that grinding adds a couple hundred bucks to the bill, but acting like it's a waste of money is bad advice. Nature doesn't break down a 3 foot wide oak stump in any reasonable timeframe. Has anyone else dealt with clients who refuse stump removal and then call you back 3 years later complaining about the mess?
It was a brand new 1/2 inch Yale, got a splice caught on a branch stub and it popped like a cheap shoelace, anyone else had bad luck with that brand lately?
I'd been doing conventional notches for 5 years until a retired climber watched me fell a maple in Portland and told me my hinge wood was way too thick. He pulled out a sharpie to draw the right Humboldt cut on the bark, and now my trees land exactly where I want them. Has anyone else had a simple trick from a veteran totally change their felling game?
I've been using those $15 hardware store pruning saws for like 8 years on my route in Cincinnati, always figured a fancy saw was unnecessary. Last month I grabbed a Silky Zubat on a whim because my elbow was killing me after a big hackberry removal. The difference is insane, it cuts through 6 inch limbs in like 10 seconds with almost no effort. Has anyone else made the switch and felt dumb for waiting so long?
I had a big red oak with a split crotch that needed cutting last July. I cut it in summer and risked oak wilt, but waiting 5 months could have let it tear out more bark. What would you pick, and how did your gamble turn out?
I finally tried a battery powered reciprocating saw on a 14 inch oak limb last week and it cut my trimming time by more than half, has anyone else been stubborn about switching tools only to find out the new way actually works better?
Back in January I set a goal to just be more careful on the sketchy jobs. Yesterday I counted up my ticket stubs and realized I had done 50 big removals so far this year. That means 50 times climbing into dead oaks or taking down storm damaged maples right next to houses. The number surprised me because I usually just grind through the season without tracking anything. Has anyone else tracked a milestone like that and found it changed how they approach the next job?
Spent last Thursday on a 60 foot cottonwood that was threatening a garage. Homeowner was super nervous but I had my lines set perfect and dropped every limb clean into the driveway. Got the whole thing down in about 5 hours which is way faster than I expected. The owner actually came out and tipped me an extra 50 bucks which never happens in this neighborhood. Felt good to have a quiet day with no close calls or broken branches. Anyone else have a job lately that just went way smoother than you thought it would?
I always thought I was careful with every cut, but after my 400th or so I started getting sloppy with the angle on my final cuts. Counted up at the end and realized I had to go back and recut nearly 30 of them. Has anyone else noticed their quality drop after a certain number of cuts in a shift?
I showed up to quote a big silver maple in a backyard near Portland. It had some dead branches high up and the owner was convinced it needed to come down. But when I walked the yard I noticed the trunk looked solid and the leaves were healthy. I told her honestly that a good prune would probably buy her another 10 years. She looked at me funny and asked if I was sure because the other guy said it was a hazard. I spent 20 minutes showing her where the wood was still sound and where the real issues were. She ended up going with just the prune job and sent me a photo of the tree leafing out perfectly this spring. Has anyone else had a client push back on your honest opinion like that?
I was driving through a neighborhood near Austin last Wednesday and saw a crew topping a big 60 foot oak tree. They cut all the top branches off flat, like a haircut gone wrong. That tree is going to be a hazard in a few years with all those weak sprouts coming back. I know some homeowners ask for this because they are scared of limbs falling, but it really hurts the tree long term. It stresses the tree out and makes it grow back in a way that breaks easier in storms. I have seen so many trees die or split after being topped like that. Has anyone else had luck convincing a homeowner to just do a proper crown reduction instead?
I was grabbing a load of hardwood mulch last Tuesday and this older arborist told the guy behind the counter he prunes all his oaks in early April. Said he's never seen oak wilt in 30 years of doing it. I always thought you had to wait until full dormancy in winter. Has anyone else heard of this approach or seen it work out ok?
He was pruning oaks in Charlotte last Tuesday and the base slid on wet grass while his chainsaw was running, has anyone else rigged a secondary tie-off for their ladder when working on damp ground?
I was chatting with this old school climber named Jerry at a gear swap in Denver last Saturday. He told me he never uses bushings on his friction hitches because they can hide rope wear and make you complacent about checking your gear. It hit different because I've been running bushings for like 5 years and never thought about the downside. Anyone else ditch bushings for bare rope on their climb kit?
I was grabbing some rope at Valley Supply last Tuesday and heard this guy bragging about torching a big oak limb with a chainsaw, saying it would be fine after a hard trim. He was talking about cutting back like 60% of the crown on an old tree near a house. Has anyone else run into folks who think aggressive pruning on mature trees is no big deal, or am I overreacting?
I was checking out a new neighborhood going up near Greenville and noticed they planted maybe 40 maple trees along the main road. Every single one had the root flare buried under at least 4 inches of soil and mulch. I talked to one of the landscapers on site and he said the builder just told them to make it look nice and level. Has anyone else run into this problem with new construction work and how do you even start a conversation about it without sounding like you're lecturing them?
Picked up a $12 folding saw at a hardware chain thinking I was saving money, but it bound up on the second branch and snapped the blade right off. Anyone else had luck with those budget brand saws or should I just stick to what I know?
Walked through a new housing complex near Austin yesterday and counted 12 maples planted with soil piled up the trunk like a volcano. People do this because they think it looks neat. But you're basically strangling the tree before it gets a chance. I dug down on one of them and the bark was already rotting after just 6 months. Got any tricks for convincing landscapers to stop this?
I was up in a big old oak last Tuesday doing a crown raise at a church in Medford, just minding my own business. This fat gray squirrel came flying out of a hollow branch above me and dropped a half-eaten apple right on my hard hat. It bounced off and hit the ground with this wet thud, and I swear I heard the homeowner laugh from her kitchen window. Now I always check for squirrel stashes before I climb, has anyone else had food dropped on them by a critter mid-job?
A guy I met at a job site in Austin told me not to prune oaks between February and June, said the sap beetles would spread oak wilt like crazy. I figured he was being dramatic and trimmed a few branches off a red oak in early April anyway. Three months later that tree is dropping leaves and two neighbors have sick oaks too, county extension confirmed it's oak wilt. Has anyone else dealt with this spreading through a whole block after one bad cut?
I went with the padded one for my Saturday pruning jobs and my hips are thanking me after 4 hours up a live oak. Has anyone else noticed how much difference butt padding makes when you're hanging for a while?