- Location
- Home of the New Jersey Devils
This disturbing story was sent to me from Trevor.
another innocent death
Struck-By
- Thread starter Mark Chisholm
- Start date
- Location
- Watchung, NJ
I tried to post that article myself but to no avail. Thanks Mark. This girl was the daughter of one of my customers. A very sad thing for all in the community, probably something that shouldn't have happened. They said the limb was rotted. There's only stump grindings covered with flowers now so I can't tell. That tree was completely taken away in record time after that happened.
Remember this though. Every tree you look at or climb for a customer should be thoroughly inspected and any structural imperfections or instabilities shall be either taken care of or notified to the treeowner. Its a moral obligation as an arborist. Let them make the decision on remedial action. At least you let them know about it.
This is the second struck by in our area this year and it has really changed the way I look at trees for customers. When in doubt, cut it out, has been an adopted motto of mine as of lately. I hate to tell someone to cut a tree down, but I really would not like to get that call from Mrs. Customer saying the tree failed and killed her child after I said the tree was OK.
Be careful.
Remember this though. Every tree you look at or climb for a customer should be thoroughly inspected and any structural imperfections or instabilities shall be either taken care of or notified to the treeowner. Its a moral obligation as an arborist. Let them make the decision on remedial action. At least you let them know about it.
This is the second struck by in our area this year and it has really changed the way I look at trees for customers. When in doubt, cut it out, has been an adopted motto of mine as of lately. I hate to tell someone to cut a tree down, but I really would not like to get that call from Mrs. Customer saying the tree failed and killed her child after I said the tree was OK.
Be careful.
Riggs
Participating member
- Location
- Bryn Mawr , Pa.
That is a terrible story . On Saturday , I did a crane job with a 40 ton crane on a dead oak in Cheastnut hill Phila.. , basic crane job . Tight spot , two and a half hours . Right next to the removal was a Stone dead American Beech(90 ft.) over a Playground . We took that down for free . The school didn't have it in the budget, the Dead Beech over the playground.
Why were the kids aloud to sit under the tree when it was windy ? I'd sue someone , anyone , wouldn't you ?
Why were the kids aloud to sit under the tree when it was windy ? I'd sue someone , anyone , wouldn't you ?
- Location
- Austin, USA/Munich, DE soon
You have a moral obligation to advise customers of defects or potential future defects. What scares me is that if arborists are held responsible for a tree failure, there will be polices like SOME cities in the EU, resulting in a "when in doubt, remove it" policy.
There are no givens in this industry. A defect can just be a character mark, a sicky oak may hang on for 100+years, and the oldest, healthiest tree may die tommorrow.
Anthing that lives and breathes can stop at any time.
There are no givens in this industry. A defect can just be a character mark, a sicky oak may hang on for 100+years, and the oldest, healthiest tree may die tommorrow.
Anthing that lives and breathes can stop at any time.
What do you do when they refuse to remove a dangerous tree? I removed 14 trees for a buisness and told them three more should be removed (struck by lightning) because the trees overhang the parking lot and are split at the base.They said the trees have leaves they stay. You could roll a bowling ball through the split in the trees at ground level.The trees are a hazzard and need to come down but they refuse to let me remove them for no charge. I considered the trees to be that much of a hazzard, I offered to take them down at no charge.
- Location
- Canon City ,CO
It all gets so complicated. I see lots of trees with small hollows/minor decay that weather the storms for decades. (I try to explain to customers that a cylinder aproaches the strength of a solid bar and a hollow knothole doesn't NECESSARILY mean that the tree is dangerous.)On the other hand we have Summer Limb Drop where apparrently healthy limbs come crashing down on a calm day! In the final analysis there is some inherent danger in living in proximity to trees, but the benefits of trees merit the REASONABLE risks. The tough part is determining when the risk becomes unreasonable.
