c/arborists

Wasp nest inside a hollow oak caught me off guard, 40 feet up

I was doing a crown reduction on a big oak near Portland last Thursday and my climbing saw punched right through thin bark into a hidden wasp nest. Whole swarm came out in seconds, I had to rappel down fast with one hand. Anyone else found nests in seemingly solid wood and have a go-to way to check before cutting deeper?

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jamie940•4d ago

Climbing spike slip on a red oak in Nashville had me shook

I was about 40 feet up doing a deadwood removal when my right spur popped out of the bark and I swung hard into the trunk, scraped my forearm pretty good. I cinched my lanyard tighter, slowed down my pace, and finished the top half without another slip. Anyone else have a spike slide moment that made you change how you place your feet?

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corablack•9d ago

Hit 200 dead ash removals this month, is that a grind or a red flag?

I mean, we cleared 200 stumps and full removals just in October around Lancaster, which felt like a huge milestone for a two person crew. But idk, part of me wonders if we're pushing too hard and burning out the saws and ourselves, has anyone else hit a number like that and second guessed it?

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daniel140•18d ago

The 20 ton bucket truck that nearly flipped on a wet slope in Tacoma

Last Tuesday I took a job clearing a big maple on a grade that looked fine from the road. Got the outriggers set, but the ground gave way on the passenger side and the whole rig tilted hard before I could bring the boom down. Lucky my foreman spotted it from the truck and yelled for me to drop everything. Learned the hard way to probe the soil with a rod before setting up, even on ground that looks solid. Anyone else had a close call with soft ground or hidden roots?

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phoenix246•18d ago

Vent: The orchard ladder setup that nearly got me fired last week

I showed up to a commercial orchard job in Yakima with my usual 12 foot extension and the owner laughed. He pointed at their permanent orchard ladders and said I was going to damage the scaffold branches, same thing I've heard clients gripe about for years. The reality is my fancy telescoping unit digs into the bark and knocks off fruiting spurs, plus it's slower when you're moving 40 trees an hour. I spent a full day using their three legged stands and suddenly all the trip hazards and branch rubbing complaints made sense. Why are we still hauling these bulky A frames when the production guys have already figured out the better tool, and has anyone else had a client force them to switch mid season? I'd rather eat crow than lose that contract over a ladder I was too stubborn to swap.

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jakejones•18d ago

Rant: The homeowner who corrected my pruning cuts changed my whole approach

Had a client in Boise last spring watch me make a flush cut on a maple branch and she just goes, 'my last arborist left a collar, why didnt you?' I basically choked on my coffee. I had been doing flush cuts for like 7 years because that's how my first boss taught me, never questioned it. She pulled up a forestry PDF on her phone and showed me the decay pocket forming on the trunk. I went back and recut two other trees on her property that same weekend, leaving proper collars, and they looked way healthier by fall. Now I refuse to make a flush cut unless its a dead stub, and I tell every new guy on my crew the same thing. Has anyone else had a customer teach them something that basic and felt like a total hack afterwards?

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linda114•19d ago

The old bucket truck finally gave out at 23 years

Last Tuesday it just quit mid-lift over by the 40 foot oak on Maple Street. We got the guy down safe with the manual crank but that was a solid hour of work. Three years ago I would have patched that hydraulic line again, but parts are getting hard to find now. I am looking at a used 2015 model with 12,000 hours on it for 28 grand. Any of you run a truck past 20 years or is it time to let it go?

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olivia_moore•20d ago

That $300 tree transplant I should have skipped

Back in 2021 I paid a crew to move a 12 foot maple across my yard in Columbus, figuring it would save the tree from the fence work. It dropped every leaf by August and the guy said it was just shock, then it never leafed out again this spring. Has anyone else thrown cash at a transplant that was doomed from the start, or is there a size where it's just not worth it?

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robin628•21d ago

The $300 wedge and mallet combo that split my best oak, or did it?

I dropped $300 on that fancy splitting wedge and mallet set last fall, figured it would cut my time in half on the big rounds. First storm cleanup in Tulsa, it bounced off a knot and I nearly cussed the thing into the chipper, but on the straight grain it flew like a dream. Am I the only one who thinks these pricey tools only pay off if you catch the wood right, or did I just get a dud?

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fiona_west21•25d ago

That Friday in Flagstaff when the elm split clean down the middle

We had a 60 foot elm that looked fine from the street, but I climbed up and saw a dark vertical crack running through the co-dominant stems, so I called the crew to set up rigging lines before the afternoon wind hit. By 3pm the whole crown peeled apart like a zipper and dropped a 4 foot section right onto the sidewalk where a school bus had just passed, and my ground guy yelled "that was close" as the dust settled. Any of you had a tree fail that fast after you spotted a warning sign but still didn't fully shut down the job?

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dakotab93•26d ago

Weekend job turned into a squirrel revenge story in Oak Park

Last Saturday I got called to trim a big white oak in Oak Park, Illinois. Client said squirrels were "acting weird" near the roof line, she wanted dead branches gone before they fell. I climbed up there and found a stash of like 40 black walnuts stuffed in a hollow crotch, plus a chewed up irrigation line. Turns out the previous arborist had patched a hole with foam and the squirrels tore it out to build a nest, now they're dropping nuts on her patio every morning. I spent 3 hours clearing the hollow and installing a proper screen, but I still find walnuts in my truck bed every day this week. Anyone else deal with squirrel hoards turning a simple trim into a full cleanup?

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kimr74•26d ago

My groundie grabbed the winch line while the drum was still turning

Up in eastern Oregon last month, we were pulling a leaning ponderosa back with the skid steer and my groundie stepped in to grab the strap as it slackened. Before I could yell, the drum caught and the line yanked him forward about 4 feet. He dropped it quick and no one got hurt, but I realized I never showed him the rule about waiting until the drum fully stops. Now I make every new hand practice the hand-signal for 'line clear' with the engine off before we even start. Has anyone else had a close call that made you change your crew's setup routine?

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linda114•26d ago

Old school hand saw came back out after my chainsaw died in a maple

My saw threw its chain mid-crown reduction last Tuesday out near Salem, so I grabbed my 1950s crosscut from the truck. Took me twice as long but the cuts were so much cleaner and I didnt fight the kickback at all. Anyone else keep a handsaw in the truck for backup or just me?

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jana309•27d ago

Bought a $300 ground saw blade, it paid for itself in one stump job

That monster oak root system in Elmhurst was wrecking my old blades, so I finally splurged on a carbide tipped one for my 661. It chewed through 3 massive stumps and still cuts sharp, has anyone else found those worth the upfront cost vs cheaper replacements?

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emma_flores•27d ago

Tracked 1,000 hours of climbing this season. Is that a win or a warning?

Honestly I hit the 1,000 hour mark on my climbing log last week, mostly from storm work up in Spokane. That's a lot of time in the tree, but I keep going back and forth on what it actually means. On one hand I feel sharper than ever, no close calls and my cuts are clean. On the other hand my knees ache every morning and my kid asked why I'm always tired. Is hitting a big hour milestone something you guys celebrate or do you see it as a red flag to slow down? Would love to hear how other climbers measure a good season, not just by hours but by something else?

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wesley_jones•28d ago

My mulching approach flipped after watching a crew work a sycamore in Austin

Watched a three-man crew spend 40 minutes just on the root flares with air spades last Tuesday, and seeing how much less stress the tree showed made me ditch my old habit of cutting flush to the trunk for good, anyone else been converted by watching a demo like that?

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sean_cooper58•1mo ago

The root flare depth thing I had backwards for a decade

I dug up a 12 year old maple last month that we planted when I first started doing tree work. It was buried a good 6 inches too deep, and the trunk was all rotten at the soil line. I always thought a deep hole meant stable roots, but after reading a bulletin from the Michigan State extension, it clicked. Turns out planting too deep suffocates the flare and invites decay, and it took that rotting maple for me to really believe it. Now I check the flare on every install and refuse to backfill over it. Anyone else find out about this the hard way, or did you catch it before the tree paid the price?

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wood.faith•1mo ago

Rant: That $1,200 tree puller sounded great until the ground froze

Bought a hydraulic puller last fall to speed up stump removal jobs in Vermont. First two weeks it was a dream, then the frost hit and it just spun in the mud, wasted a full Saturday on one maple. Anyone else had luck with a different setup for winter work, or should I just go back to the winch and patience?

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the_thea•1mo ago

My uncle's pruning advice about 'ugly knots' backfired hard

Last month my uncle swore that cutting every crossing branch on my maple would make it healthier, so I spent a weekend stripping out about 15 small limbs near the crotch. Three days later the whole top half started drooping and a local arborist said I'd removed too much live wood at once, leaving the tree stressed and unbalanced. Has anyone else gotten well-meaning but aggressive pruning tips from family that ended up costing you more in cleanup?

2 comments

anderson.piper•1mo ago

That $60 rope wrench clone finally gave up on a 90 footer today

Bought a knockoff rope wrench off eBay back in March for 60 bucks, figured it'd be a fun experiment. Worked great for a few months, but today I was up in a tall red oak doing a removal and the cam just slipped, no warning. I had a backup hitch cord so no disaster, but my heart definitely skipped a beat. Has anyone else had a budget tool fail at the worst moment, or am I just cheap?

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dakotab93•1mo ago

Chainsaw chaps took a hit last Tuesday, glad I wore em

I always figured those chaps were just bs safety theater till a hung branch dropped a 14 inch section straight onto my thigh last week on a job in Tacoma. The saw ripped through the outer layer but stopped dead before my leg, not even a scratch underneath. Cost me 80 bucks for a new pair but that's nothing compared to a hospital trip. Anyone else had a close call that made you swap your gear game?

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finley_gonzalez49•1mo ago

Climbing spikes vs. rope access, switched after 15 years and my maples thank me

I used to do everything with spikes. Even removals, sure, but also for trimming big live oaks over in Austin. Boss at the time said it was faster, and honestly it was. But the wounds on the trunks, the bark damage, they add up. A guy I subbed for back in 2019 made me try SRT rope access on a live pecan, and I felt like an idiot for not learning it sooner. The control you get, the lack of gashes, it's just cleaner work. My knees also don't hate me as much at the end of the week. Anyone else made the switch late in the game and feel like they wasted a decade on spikes for live trimming?

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paul_taylor21•1mo ago

That oak split on me Sunday, check your crotch unions

Pulled a 40 foot oak limb down near Austin and the crotch was 70% decayed inside, looked fine from the outside. Brought it down with a rope but it peeled a 6 foot strip off the trunk before I could stop it. Anyone else finding hidden rot in mature oaks this season?

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grays13•1mo ago

Hot take: pole saw vs handsaw for deadwood removal on mature oaks

I did a big deadwood removal job on a 60 foot red oak in Portland last week. Started with my 12 foot Silky pole saw because I thought it would save time, but branches kept getting hung up and the reach was awkward. Swapped to climbing with a manual handsaw and finished in half the time with way cleaner cuts. The pole saw is gathering dust now unless the ground is flat and clear. Anybody else find pole saws overrated for production work?

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sean_cooper58•1mo ago

Stick with a silky saw over a husky handsaw for pruning

I was using a Husqvarna handsaw for a year on my pruning jobs in Portland and always felt like I was fighting the cuts. Last month I grabbed a Silky Zubat on a whim and tried it on a big maple removal. The difference was night and day - it cut through 6 inch limbs in half the strokes with way less binding. Anyone else notice a big gap between these two brands for hand saws?

2 comments