Asplundh is not the only big line clearance company that seems to condone the use of climbing spikes to perform their services. The last time that the Davey crew came through our area I spoke with the foreman on the crew and asked them to not use spikes on the Coast Live oak. While I was talking with him his crew spiked up the tree needlessly. The tree is dead now what a shame. I have had to go up and cut it down myself. I now do all of my own trees that are under,over and beside the lines. What a hassle that is to do ever few years. I will not let them come on to the property except to inspect my work. The inspector came out after I cleared them the last time and told me personally that it was the best job that they had ever seen performed on any tree. I then told them that I had over twenty years of exprience working in and around overhead electrical lines and that I was also a certified Arborist. It is a crime that these individuals live in the world of double standard. Where is the law/code enforcement? I respect the difficulty in working in and around power lines but what I witness is laziness,ignorance and unskilled field workers. The trees are treated like cattle and it is unfortunate that we the people have little if no right to complain. The only way to make a change is if enough folks get involved and band together and go right to the top. People in the community need to be informed of the malpractice and make the companies responsible for their poor actions.
I have had many clients have me do their line clearance work and pay me directly because they have been educated to the facts and are upset with the companies that do the work.
I'm a certified line clearance tree trimmer and will always be one because of the inability of the other companies to train their workers better. The problem with training the workers to much is that they will leave the company. That is why the turn over ratio is close to 90 percent in most of the big companies doing line clearance across the nation. Only give the workers enough information to get the job done and nothing more. It helps keep the cost of their operation down so they can get the contract the next time around. A High turn over rate keeps the cost down but it also comes with a high price when it comes to the safety factor and the production issue.
Out here on the West coast we have our own set of challenges as I'm sure everybody does across the nation. I respect the folks out their everyday doing the work but I would also encourage all workers to take the matter in to their own hands and get better training off the job. The world of line clerance has its compronises but we should never compromise our integrity since that is all we have in life. Besides climbing with spikes on around power lines is a very dangerous situation to begin with. Not to mention that they are sharp and very injurious to the body when they poke you in the leg.
