Groundies!

[Mark_B.]

Let's give some credit to the guys who do all the work on the ground wading through brush quagmires, feeding fierce chippers and hefting painful heavy loads: The groudies.

People often talk about top climbers. Who are the groundies you work with? Often a team will only be as good as the ground crew: you're relying on them to keep the drop zone clear, not to feed your line into the chipper (OK, I suppose that's really quite basic) and to generally keep an eye on things.

A bad crew on the ground can be really bad news and have serious - or even fatal - consequences .Remembering of Pete Donzelli's terrible accident, that was part of the problem compiled by other factors.

So, I thought I'd introduce you to some of the guys who we work with:

First off there's Branko. He's from Serbia. He's big, he's incredibly strong and it took me about two months to finally get him to wear a helmet all the time on site. Strewth! He calls himself "Motobranko", we call him "hydraulic Branko".

 

[Mark_B.]

Then there's Ian, the manic groundie from New Zeland. Just back from a bike tour through Oman and Saudia Arabia. That's bike as in "push bike"... go figure! He's different , I suppose you'd say. Never a quiet moment with this feller on site.

 

[Mark_B.]

And this is the proto-groundie. It's a picture I did for a presentation on work safety. It was actually quite a challenge to come up with something that wasn't too stereotype or disrespectful but still recognisable for what it is.

I say, these guys are the backbone of our industry so let's give them the credit they deserve! /forum/images/graemlins/bud.gif

 

[tod_k]

We have many hard working super tough ground guys. A couple of years ago we were working a ground cutting job in the middle of winter, it was very cold and windy. Trini's lips were getting chapped saw I watched him stick his finger into the bar oil jug and use it for chap stick. One tough dude. I could not agree more with Mark.

 

[Mark_B.]

Yup. That's tough. /forum/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[Norm_Hall]

TK, what does that guy take when he's on the job and constipated?

 

[rborist1]

Here is an former groundie that quit about a month ago..........

 

[jimmyq]

were you throwin snowballs at him Craig?

and what is it with some of those "Slavic" imports? I worked with a guy from Poland for about a year a few years back. we called him the human forklift. wasnt huge maybe 6'2, 210 but MAN he was strong. never complained, just did whatever he was pointed at and gestured to do. great guy.

 

[Colin]

Hahaha! I love the body language!

 

[jimmyq]

I did learn a few words back then to talk to him. the usual, hello, left right, faster, slower, lunchtime kinda thing and it helped a lot, my wife is of polish descent, man those few words got me in good with her pops when I met him the first few times!

 

[pantheraba]

When I worked for an official tree company in the 70's, the main groundman was Fred, a young black kid...probably 6'1", whipcord thin and unbelievably strong. I learned groundwork from him, one of the hardest working people I ever knew. He was a "counselor" too. I had only been with them a few days when I backed the boss's new truck up and the outrigger mirror hooked something and got bent. Fred could tell I felt awful about it. When the boss finally left me alone, Fred looked around and said, real low, "Don't worry about it...that kinda Chit happens around here all the time". He was right.

He also taught me that the only way to fill a saw with gas was to overflow it..I never saw him NOT overflow a saw. The guy was a lot of fun. /forum/images/graemlins/happydance.gif

 

[flying_kiwiman]

yip, your realationship with your groundie is kinda like a second wife! What i like about my groundie is when i get tired, he climbs!

this is Wolter doing some lowering for me on a roof...

 

[flying_kiwiman]

.... hey!! get back to work you lazy groundie!!! /forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forum/images/graemlins/zzz.gif

 

[Johnroy]

[ QUOTE ]
.... hey!! get back to work you lazy groundie!!! /forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forum/images/graemlins/zzz.gif

[/ QUOTE ]do we have the same groundie?

 

[flying_kiwiman]

[/ QUOTE ]do we have the same groundie?

[/ QUOTE ]

i'm not sure? do you live in Holland? or do you mean your groundie sleeps on the job?!

 

[Mark_B.]

Keep those groundie stories coming!

 

[flying_kiwiman]

was just thinking about the tree climbing compition we did together in Belgium, Mark. I was the groundie and you were climbing, we had to lower a piece of wood ( pre-set in the tree on a lowering line)over a fence into a landing target. It was a great piace of team work (first time we ever worked together). The concept of the team work in a climbing comp was cool!! communication, timing, feeling for the situation, its really whats it's all about!

Maybe we could do something like that at the ITCC and forget about the chainsaw comp thing.... /forum/images/graemlins/aaa.gif

jelte

 

[Tom Dunlap]

I'm ALL for a teamwork/lowering station.

When I had my first day on the job when I was 12 I got my butt bit by Marv. He was still in the tree but he told us the proper way to stack brush on the trailer to make an effecient pile. Never put the brush in the center, always one pile forward one in the rear in layers. If the pile is round it's not stacked right. Fill the corners first, the center will take care of itself.

Whenever groundies are thought of as lower life forms I get upset. Give me a dedicated groundie over a prima-donna climber any day, we'll get the job done and have a good time. I had a couple of groundies that were paid more than the climbers at the time. The groundie was more skilled and important than those climbers.

 

[glens]

[ QUOTE ]
Give me a dedicated groundie over a prima-donna climber any day, we'll get the job done and have a good time.

[/ QUOTE ]
Hahaha! Who's the prima donna now?

 

[Mark_B.]

...yup Jelte, that was a bit of a cracker, eh? The belgian comp, I mean.

Just remembered a drawing I did a while back illustrating the importance of proper training... this move we tend to call "dry land water skiing". Classic.