# Denver death



## mpatch (Aug 26, 2010)

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_15896236


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## urbanlumberinc (Aug 28, 2010)

http://neighbors.denverpost.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=15925958&p=1572661#p1572661

I knew Adam well and considered him a friend. I know some of you guys would like to know what happened in order to learn from this tragedy so I'll share the facts as I know them. 

Adam was working on a fairly simple frontyard removal of a 50-60 foot tall spruce. He was working out of a Saturn Teco5 bucket which he'd used hundreds if not thousands of times before without incident. He was nearly done taking the spruce down when the bolts connecting the upper boom to the pivot sheared off, sending the boom crashing down. I'm not 100 percent certain if he went down with the bucket or was thrown out, but what is known is that he fell 30-40 feet and landed headfirst on the pavement, killing him instantly. 

Adam had learned the trade working previously for Swingle and had started his own company, "Adams Tree Service" a few years ago. He was a very knowledgeable and professional arborist and always provided excellent service to his customers. 

Adam was also a great guy and a friend to all that knew him. He had a wicked sense of humor and could coax a laugh out of just about anyone. He was also a dedicated family man, and leaves behind a loving wife, 2 year old son and twin daughters. As many of you can probably imagine, his family and friends are devastated by this terrible accident. I'm not sure if Adam had any life insurance, but I'll venture a guess that he didn't. If you have the means to help his family out, please make a donation to the memorial fund mentioned in the article linked above. If money's tight, please take the time to say a little prayer for Adam and his family, I know they'd appreciate it.


I, for one, will always miss the Friday afternoons at the lot, sharing jokes and stories over a few cold beers, Adam's laugh and his huge smile. I can't begin to tell you the number of people that have been affected by this terrible tragedy - the void he leaves behind is huge. 

I'm not sure that there's anything that could have been done to prevent this tragedy, but if there's a lesson to be learned from this I think it's to live each day like it could be your last. Adam always did. 

I hope that by sharing this some of you will stop and take the time to double check your gear before your next job. I don't know that it would have changed the events that led to Adam's untimely death on Wednesday, but it might just prevent another. If you have people that depend on you, bite the bullet and get some life insurance, I'm going to first thing Monday. And lastly, be sure to let the one's you love and care about know it, there's no guarantee you'll get another opportunity.

Thanks guys,

-Scott


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## ducaticorse (Aug 29, 2010)

Dang, that certainly reinforces a fear of mine. The truck tipping, or the boom collapsing all together. God bless the fam.


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## tree md (Aug 29, 2010)

So sorry to hear about this. I really hate reading about bad things like that happening to really good family guys like Adam. It could have as easily been me. 

Very sorry for the loss of your friend.


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## pdqdl (Aug 30, 2010)

The newspaper article states that he fell out when the boom broke.

It likely would have made no difference, but it sounds like he didn't have on a fall harness. It might have turned a fatality into just a nasty injury.


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## TimberJack_7 (Aug 30, 2010)

Hey guys, I know that it is not a fun topic to talk about but since we are in this line of work, it doesn't hurt to buy enough life insurance to put yourself in the ground should that day ever come. Buy a cheap term insurance policy if you don't have a lot of money or if you are doing well consider a whole life policy that builds cash value. 

I have a term policy for myself that cost me less that $50/month. That means if I eat it one day, my wife will have a good chunk of money to stick me in the ground, pay off our house and any other debt that might be out there and then have enough left over to invest for when she is older. Since we have four kids I don't want her and them to be in the poor house if something happens to me. Losing you dad is bad enough but if you are financially secure it does make life a little better.

RIP, Adam.


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## Darin (Aug 31, 2010)

It appears the fall protection wouldn't have helped based on a comment from somebody close to the situation. 
http://neighbors.denverpost.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=15925958&p=1572661

This sounds like it was preventable with a little maintenance.


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## tree md (Aug 31, 2010)

That name is very familiar. If I'm not mistaken, I think Adam was a member here.


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## gwiley (Sep 1, 2010)

Term life insurance is cheap. If you have dependents, get it. I have used select quote a few times in the past few decades. $50/month can get you a pretty big check depending on your age and health. The younger you are the better a deal it is - buy it for a long enough term to see your kids grown.


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## Shaun Bowler (Sep 2, 2010)

*Horrible Accident*

Can anyone tell me where to see-via internet a Teco Saturn %.
Also the place on the boom where the failure occured?


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## alanarbor (Sep 3, 2010)

This tragic event puts right out front the respect and care we must take with our life support equipment.

Aerial lifts must be inspected daily by their operators, and that does not mean just "look it over" there are very detailed checklists which vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Regular maitenance schedules and replacement of certain parts at specific intervals are out there for every lift manufacturer.

Mechanical and Dielectric testing is essential on a regular basis.

Many arborists abuse the hell out of aerial lifts, and that's a fact. Who knows what small stresses happened over the years that finally culminated in this catostrophic failure. 

One thing is for sure, I would not buy a second hand aerial lift without having run through inspection by an original equipment authorized technician. 

So......Maintain it, or die.


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## Darin (Sep 3, 2010)

Adam was working as a sub contractor, this poses a pretty good question. How is he a sub when he is using another companies machinery? OSHA, Workers comp and GL will have fun trying to figure this out.


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## pdqdl (Sep 3, 2010)

In this case, "sub" probably didn't stand for "subcontractor". 

I'm betting that "sub" stands for "substitute cash payments for denying the tax liability and workers comp".


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## BlueRidgeMark (Sep 3, 2010)

TimberJack_7 said:


> Buy a cheap term insurance policy if you don't have a lot of money or



That's good advice! 




TimberJack_7 said:


> if you are doing well consider a whole life policy that builds cash value.





That's *TERRIBLE *advice! Do the math! If you buy term, and put the rest of the money you'd have spend on whole life in your MATTRESS, you get a better return on your investment!

Whole life is the worst rip-off in the financial world!


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## TimberJack_7 (Sep 3, 2010)

BlueRidgeMark said:


> That's good advice!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Why do you say that whole life is the worst rip off in the financial world? If you put your money in your matress and your house burns down, then what? Just asking, not trying to start another bashing type forum or pissing contest like there has been a lot of lately.

I personally think that the worst ripoffs in the financial world are the pyramid schemes or the ones run by fellows such as Bernie Madoff.....


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## gwiley (Sep 7, 2010)

TimberJack_7 said:


> Why do you say that whole life is the worst rip off in the financial world? If you put your money in your matress and your house burns down, then what? Just asking, not trying to start another bashing type forum or pissing contest like there has been a lot of lately.
> 
> I personally think that the worst ripoffs in the financial world are the pyramid schemes or the ones run by fellows such as Bernie Madoff.....



Whole life is an attempt to be both an investment vehicle AND insurance. When you consider $$/thousand for life insurance, term life is simply an incredible value. If you take the difference between term life and whole life for the same size policy and invest it yourself (pick a simple index fund that tracks the nasdaq or S&P 500) you will be way ahead of the game.

"Worst ripoff" is a little strong but whole life is a very bad value as insurance and a ridiculously bad value as an investment.


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## TimberJack_7 (Sep 7, 2010)

gwiley said:


> Whole life is an attempt to be both an investment vehicle AND insurance. When you consider $$/thousand for life insurance, term life is simply an incredible value. If you take the difference between term life and whole life for the same size policy and invest it yourself (pick a simple index fund that tracks the nasdaq or S&P 500) you will be way ahead of the game.
> 
> "Worst ripoff" is a little strong but whole life is a very bad value as insurance and a ridiculously bad value as an investment.



Yeah the percentage returns aren't the greatest but the nice thing about having a whole life policy is that you build cash value. If nothing ever happens to you then after X amount of years you can take the cash that you have put into it and do whatever you want to with it. I am a little rusty on the specifics of whole life vs term life. Me personally I have a term life since I my income is not all that much. I think another thing with the whole life is that health is not as big a deal as with the term life....again I am rusty on this stuff.

I think it all goes back to applying to what stage of life your in......


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## Darin (Sep 7, 2010)

Most can make more $$$ by investing the extra $$$ they would spend purchasing whole life. I know I could. Life insurance is CHEAP!!! Whole life is a waste in my opinion.
Darin


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