Watched the utility guys today...

ATH · Dec 12, 2018

They pruned 2 trees on the neighbor's side of our property line. Nothing major - took about 30-45 minutes.

Couple of observations and curious how "normal" any of this is for high production utility pruning:

*Started out yesterday (rare circumstance that I was home during the day doing some billing work) ready to spike up an ash tree (I've been treating it for EAB since 2007 - and it sits directly west of my house, so while it is the neighbor's tree, I have special interest in it being well cared for!). I called the neighbor and we met out there asking if they could climb it without spikes. Guy looks at me like he's never heard of that before. Sent us down the line several houses to where his supervisor was working (spiking up a red oak...). Supervisor said yes...they'd do that without spikes. The 2 guys that were ready to start that tree left. I had half a notion they were just planning to come back and try again when we were not around.

*They came back first thing this morning - I was on my way out but hung around to watch. They did climb with no spikes (I thanked them for that when they were done...). Different climber in the ash, so explains why they bailed yesterday. They guy from yesterday was also on site to prune a Silver maple from the bucket.

*EVERY cut by both of them was one handed...every cut (except a few with the pole pruner). Neither had a handsaw with them. I'm not trying to open up the "is it ever appropriate to one hand a chainsaw" can-o-worms - but does anybody who takes safety seriously think one-handing every cut is a good idea? Isn't the argument that occasionally that is more appropriate? (I haven't found that occasion yet...but I'll accept the argument to avoid that rabbit hole here!)

*Seeing what they pruned, I would have left the chainsaw on the ground and done it all with a handsaw...nothing over 2" in diameter from the Silver maple and only 2 cuts about 4" in diameter from the Ash - everything else was smaller.

*Guy in the bucket wasn't harnessed in.

*Climber had no eye protection.

*Neither the climber or bucket operator had hearing protection.

*The guy in the bucket clearly doesn't have good saw control - lots of nicks left on tree.

*The actual pruning: They made good cuts (for the most part). They pretty much took the same branches I would have - maybe just a little less aggressive on a couple. No topping or heading cuts. etc., so besides the nicks from poor saw control, everything looks good. I also let them know I appreciated that - the previous contractors (a local guy) hacked away with clearly no knowledge about how to prune (he still tops his own trees...).

I didn't talk to them about the safety stuff. I figured I was already on their "list" for asking them to climb spikeless so I just kept my comments positive today. I'll be at the electric co-op office soon on business unrelated to tree matters, so if the forestry supervisor is in, maybe I'll share some thoughts on safety...and spikes for pruning.

Contractor was Tree Core out of MI.

Scheffa · Dec 12, 2018

Here in aus it’s standard practice to spike all trees unless requested by the owner, we of course won’t spur a specimen tree in someone’s front yard.
We are required to use 2 hands in the saw at all times and are not to use a top handle saw from a bucket, of course one handed use may sometimes happen with the climbers depending on the situation.
Safety gear, we are required to wear full PPE at all times, chainsaw pants, long sleeve natural fibre shirt, gloves, glasses, helmet, ear muffs, arm guards when climbing. Gloves must also be cut resistant.

ThatsNotMaple · Dec 15, 2018

I'll sometimes talk to the clearance crews when they are working near one of my crews. We only get the big companies for those contracts, so safety is usually on point. A newer (but large) company I'd never seen before was actually over the top with their safety protocol. They had cones set up in a wide berth around the area and no workers besides the bucket operators were allowed inside that perimeter. They were also not allowed to use top handles from the bucket, which I'd never heard of in the States.
One thing I've noticed is it seems many of the workers seem to bounce from company to company constantly. On one job site every worker I talked to had at one point worked for every Big 3 clearance company.
I don't envy those guys at all. They are constantly moving around and working around energized lines. And on top of that their work is rarely appreciated. I can't tell you how many homeowners complain about their trimming. But they also want power during winter storms. I try to tell them the alternative is risk of power outages (and the dangers of trees on lines) or no tree at all. Personally, I'll take the eyesore.

ATH · Dec 15, 2018

Yeah...I dont envy them either.

I also remind people that often times the "ugly tree" has more to do with the person who planted it under the lines. Like you said - they gotta keep the power on. Their hand was forced the day somebody planted a big tree under a line.

Scheffa · Dec 16, 2018

The abuse we can get from homeowners is quite amusing, so many times people say “no my tree won’t grow that tall, that tree hasn’t grown in years yadda yadda”
We don’t like to butcher trees, do yourself a favour and don’t use the lines as a string line for cypress rows though

flyingsquirrel25 · Dec 16, 2018

AHT a couple years ago I had the same experience. I was off for a couple days and big orange rolled up our private lane with a bucket, chip truck and a chipper. It looked like a clown car as the guys rolled out of the trucks. 9 guys!!! We live on a dead end so they used my driveway to turn around. I stepped outside and watched as the were about to back their bucket across my lawn to a Norway spruce at the corner of my property. I went screaming across the yard and they must of thought a banshee was coming for them. They stopped just before the lid to my septic tank! I asked them to not proceed any farther or it could get $hitty. They complied, looked at it for a bit and drove to the street behind me and just blazed a trail across my neighbors pristine lawn (the guy spent hundreds of hours on his lawn, super anal). Well they couldn’t reach my tree, wrecked his yard so out came the climbing gear, hooks and all. By this time I was standing in the middle of my yard watching and I walked over to the one guy that looked like he spoke English and asked they do it without spikes. They all packed up and left. I was not home when they came back but I inspected the tree for hook marks and there wasn’t tire tracks or a truck in my septic so I guessed the did it as I asked.
My neighbor on the other hand caught me outside a couple days later fuming. He had called big orange and our utility and was waiting for them to arrive for a pow wow. I apologized for the inconvenience and decided it best I wasn’t around when the shooting started. Very level headed gentleman until you f’ed with his lawn. We had put a 45 ton crane on it at one point with out so much as a dent, but I knew going in 2 layers of mats was required!

Jehinten · Dec 16, 2018

Scheffa said:
The abuse we can get from homeowners is quite amusing, so many times people say “no my tree won’t grow that tall, that tree hasn’t grown in years yadda yadda”
We don’t like to butcher trees, do yourself a favour and don’t use the lines as a string line for cypress rows though

Not quite the same thing, but I was called out to grind about a dozen stumps, every one of them was right ontop of the main natural gas line. I think someone years ago thought the recently trenched line was a good place to plant so that they wouldn't have to dig.

ATH · Dec 16, 2018

Big orange as in Asplundh...right?

Did they seem to be up on the safety stuff? That was the most notable part to me...the number of fines OSHA could have written would have been painful.

flyingsquirrel25 · Dec 17, 2018

ATH said:
Big orange as in Asplundh...right?

Did they seem to be up on the safety stuff? That was the most notable part to me...the number of fines OSHA could have written would have been painful.

I didn’t see much working as they kept failing, and I wasn’t home when they did the work. While I was here everyone had hard hats (you know this cheap variety) didn’t see eye protection or hearing protection. The driver of the bucket truck did have a harness on, but I never saw him in the bucket. The climbing gear, I certainly wouldn’t have climbed on, but that’s more of a preference as I didn’t see anything glaring. That said homeland security wrote one of the biggest fines in history to our asplundh region for hiring undocumented workers shortly after they were on my street.

ATH · Dec 17, 2018

flyingsquirrel25 said:
....That said homeland security wrote one of the biggest fines in history to our asplundh region for hiring undocumented workers shortly after they were on my street.

Hmmmm....interesting coincidence???

As for the gear they used...I didn't mention that, because safety-wise, it was fine. But I did notice they were climbing with 4-D (hip crusher) harnesses. Nothing wrong with that...but not what I'd want to wear all day. As for the climbing spikes....I'm not as in tune to what is fashionable, as I don't pull my spikes out 2 or 3 times a year because I don't do a lot of removals and usually I'm more comfortable climbing without even when I am removing...I just have an old style cheap set. Their's looked pretty similar. Again...they work. But if I were in them all day 5 days a week, I'd be looking for a fancy upgrade there too. Both a $500 harness and $500 spikes seem like a lot of money out of the pocket up front.... but about a week in, that expense is quickly absorbed in all of the other expenses and you have happier workers. But maybe that's just me.

Scheffa · Dec 17, 2018

ATH said:
Hmmmm....interesting coincidence???

As for the gear they used...I didn't mention that, because safety-wise, it was fine. But I did notice they were climbing with 4-D (hip crusher) harnesses. Nothing wrong with that...but not what I'd want to wear all day. As for the climbing spikes....I'm not as in tune to what is fashionable, as I don't pull my spikes out 2 or 3 times a year because I don't do a lot of removals and usually I'm more comfortable climbing without even when I am removing...I just have an old style cheap set. Their's looked pretty similar. Again...they work. But if I were in them all day 5 days a week, I'd be looking for a fancy upgrade there too. Both a $500 harness and $500 spikes seem like a lot of money out of the pocket up front.... but about a week in, that expense is quickly absorbed in all of the other expenses and you have happier workers. But maybe that's just me.

All depends on the company you work for, where I first started we had to supply all our own gear at our own cost on the same wages as everyone else.
Eventually we managed to get a $20 a week tool allowance, pittance in the scheme of things.
Now that I’m running my own show, I supply all the guys gear, they can climb in whatever setup they choose so long as It is safe and approved.
For me footing the cost of a new rope every now and then to ensure my guys are safe is worth the piece of mind