I had this big red oak in my backyard in Portland that I kept meaning to trim back. About three years ago I noticed a crack in the main crotch where two big limbs split off, but I figured it would hold. Last month we had a moderate wind storm and that whole section came down, punched a hole in my garage roof and took out a gutter. Cost me $4,200 to fix the roof and remove the rest of the tree. Has anyone else had a tree fail way sooner than you thought it would?
I had a scary moment about two weeks ago up in a big cottonwood near Salem. I was doing a spar removal and noticed my static climbing line was getting this shiny, almost melted look right where it ran through my friction hitch. I'm using a standard 11mm line and a blakes hitch, nothing fancy, and I thought I was tending it properly. But when I came down and checked the rope, it had that glazed feel in a spot about a foot long. I ended up swapping to a backup line for the rest of the job and I'm wondering if my hitch cord is too tight or if I'm just not letting it release enough when I descend. Has anyone else seen this kind of glazing happen fast on a newer rope?
I spent 6 months swapping between rubber pads on my spikes for delicate removals and it just made them dull faster. Got a tip from an old-timer in Portland to just grind the gaffs sharper before every job and the bark tear is basically the same. Anyone else ditch the rubber and just sharpen more often?
I had to choose between renting a stump grinder or a Bobcat with a stump bucket for about 20 stumps behind an old house. Went with the grinder because I figured it'd be faster on the tight access. Turned out to be the right call, finished in 6 hours versus probably 10 with the Bobcat. Has anyone else ran into this kind of choice and regretted one side?
I know everyone says skip the pruning paint on cuts, but I had this client in Boise with a massive old oak that had a 10 inch limb taken off. I went ahead and used the lead-based paint stuff on it because the tree was already stressed from drought, and six weeks later that cut is healing cleaner than any unpainted one I've done this year. I get that it's not the standard advice anymore, but has anyone else had luck with paint on really big, tricky wounds in specific cases?
I had to take down this massive limb over a garage and grabbed my Silky Sugoi out of habit. It cut through that 14 inch branch like butter, no joke maybe 30 seconds. Then my buddy handed me his Corona Razor Tooth for the next cut and I swear it bogged down halfway through and I had to fight it. Same tree, both sharp, but the difference in effort was night and day. I mean maybe it's just me but I feel like the Silky's teeth just stay aggressive longer. Anyone else notice a big gap between budget and premium saws on heavier wood?
I was up in this old red oak near Raleigh, setting my line for a deadwood removal, and the bark just peeled right off under my gaffs... nearly slid 12 feet before I caught a limb. How do you guys judge bark integrity before committing to a climb?
We were taking down this massive 80 foot oak that had some rot near the top. The cable just gave out when we had about a 1,500 pound section hanging from the crane. Landed right on the homeowner's driveway and cracked the concrete about 3 feet. My foreman told me right after that we should've checked the cable more careful that morning. Has anyone else had something similar go wrong on a job and how did you handle the fallout?
I had to pick between a DR Pro gas chipper and a cheaper electric model from Harbor Freight for clearing brush on a 3 acre lot in Portland. Went with the electric because it was quieter, but it bogs down on anything thicker than 2 inches. Now I'm wondering if I should have just saved up for the gas one. Any of you guys run electric chippers for regular jobs?
An arborist from the Parks Department said my pruning cuts were too flush to the trunk and showed me how leaving the branch collar intact prevents decay, and now I’ve changed our crew’s whole cutting method on every job-has anyone else had to correct their training on that?
Honestly, I was trimming a big row of privet on Tuesday and this retiree walks over and starts watching me. He says I'm stripping all the inside growth out and that's why they get so sparse after a few years. Tbh I always just wacked everything back to the same shape and called it good. He showed me on his little hedge how he leaves the inner branches longer and just does the tips. Ngl it makes sense but my boss is gonna laugh if I come in trying that on our commercial accounts. Anyone else ever get schooled by a random guy walking his dog?
I was at a job site in Portland last Wednesday removing a dead branch from a red oak and noticed this huge section of decay running right down the trunk. Turned out someone made a flush cut on a 4 inch limb about 5 years ago, and that stub collar never sealed. The rot traveled almost 2 feet down into the main stem. It really hit me that a 30 second mistake can ruin a tree for decades. How do you guys handle educating homeowners who think a clean flush cut looks better?
Used to think I was helping by taking off dead limbs before summer storms, but my mentor in Austin showed me how oak wilt spreads through fresh cuts from April to June. Anybody else have to unlearn a bad habit that took way too long to catch?
I figured it would be a quick grind job. But the roots had wrapped around an old sprinkler line and a concrete footer from a fence that was removed years ago. Had to stop twice to dig out rocks and reroute the sprinkler. Has anyone else hit hidden concrete or irrigation that added hours to a stump removal?
Last summer we had a 5 day stretch where the heat index hit 108 every single day. On day 2, I had a guy go down from heat exhaustion while we were chipping a big oak in a backyard with no shade. We got him inside and cooled off, but by day 4 I had to send two more home early because they were getting dizzy. If you work in the South, what do you do when the humidity is that brutal and you've got deadlines?
I always figured I'd switch careers eventually but seeing that number on a random Tuesday morning made me realize this is my thing now, anyone else track their work that way?
I was reading through some old UC IPM notes last night, trying to figure out why a client's oaks have been declining in Redding. Turns out, oak root fungus can stay alive in dead stumps for up to 50 years or more. I always knew it was persistent, but that number surprised me. Got me wondering how many times I've planted new trees right where we ground out old ones. Has anyone else dealt with this in their own jobs?
Bought a cheap pole pruner off Amazon for about $200 thinking I was smart saving money. First week it worked fine trimming some small branches around Denver. By week three the rope started jamming and the cutting head got loose so the blade wouldn't line up right. Had to go buy a real fiberglass pole from the local supply shop anyway. Anyone else get burned by those budget aluminum poles?
After 15 years using the same hickory-handled spikes my grandfather gave me, I rented a pair of those aluminum adjustable gaffs for a job in Austin last month. They felt weird at first but I didn't slip once on a wet live oak that would have made me fall twice with the old ones. Has anyone else made the swap and felt like they lost some kind of connection to the tree?
I was really skeptical when I picked up a $15 pair of Fiskars pruners at the hardware store in Pittsburgh last spring. My Felco 2s had been my go-to for years and I figured anything that cheap had to be junk. But I grabbed them as a backup after I snapped my blade on a thick oak branch during a storm cleanup. Well two months in and I reach for the Fiskars every single day now. They're lighter on my wrist and the bypass cut stays sharp way longer than I expected. I even used them on a massive mulberry tree last week and they went through 2 inch limbs without a hitch. Has anyone else found a budget tool that surprised them?
I've been climbing for about 4 years now, always did a conventional notch on my felling cuts. Last fall, a guy I respect a lot watched me drop a 30 inch oak and told me my notch was way too shallow, maybe 1/4 of the way through. He said I was leaving too much hinge wood and risking a barber chair on leaners. I switched to a 1/3 depth open-faced notch after that, and honestly my trees have been landing way more predictable. Has anyone else had to rework their basic technique after getting called out on it?
Our crew budget only covered one big purchase, so I went with the chipper after seeing how much time we wasted hauling brush to the dump. Three jobs in and I'm second-guessing myself because every single client wants a stump ground down. Anyone else had to make that call and what did you pick?
Had a microburst come through near Cleveland. Took out 7 mature oaks on one property alone. I spent 4 straight days just on cleanup, no new bids or estimates. Lost a solid 3 grand in potential work because I couldn't get to other clients. Anyone else have a single weather event mess up their entire month?
I used to spend all day hauling that heavy root feeder around the big oaks in my client's yards in Richmond. My shoulders would be killing me by noon. A old timer at the supply house told me to just drill a half-inch hole about 12 inches deep every few feet around the drip line and pour the fertilizer mix straight in. I thought he was pulling my leg but I tried it on a row of stubborn maples last spring. It worked way better than I expected and took half the time. The trees perked up faster than the ones I did with the regular probe too. Has anyone else ditched the fancy tools for something this simple and had it work out?