# Driving bucket truck in the yard.



## Darin (Oct 19, 2007)

I bought another property and a friend of mine is going to take down a big cottonwood in the backyard. He mentioned only since you are a friend would he put planks down and drive to the backyard. (he mentioned this cause he is going to take the big daddy down for free). He wants to save himself time since it is a free job I am sure.
Most companies out here in Colorado won't even bring it up.
Do any of you bring it up when making an estimate?
Good bad experiences? I know if it was a wet climate out here I would think he was crazy but it is not.


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## Bigus Termitius (Oct 19, 2007)

We find ourselves driving in backyards all the time, but mostly front yards for that matter. Our rule is, if it is dry and our heels do not sink, then we are in business. Otherwise, if we can't reach it from the road, we climb or hotstick it.

If you know anything about turf, then you can pry out slight to moderate ruts out like you would a dimple on a golf course green. People tend to panic out of ignorance, so we tend to error on the side of caution.


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## Darin (Oct 19, 2007)

yeah, I think that is why we don't see many guys here do it. People just don't see it....so to them it isn't an acceptable practice.


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## BostonBull (Oct 19, 2007)

Any time we are driving over ground that is soft, including thin driveways, we put down Alturna-mats. We give the customer the choice if it isnt too soggy though, ruts or no ruts. If it is more than a straight shot with 6 mats there is usually a price difference too.

Those mats are great!!! We drop huge chunks into them, and drive both of our 96,000 GVW cranes over them with no problems.


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## John464 (Oct 19, 2007)

If the grass is nice we lay mats down. Some lawns are hard enough that it wont disturb the grass(which is usually weeds). We never give the customer the choice. We simply don't cause ruts because the neighbors see it and there goes your "image". If there is a sprinkler system we never take the bucket truck on the lawn. We use the spider lift for that.

Darin, Im suprised you arent doing the tree yourself. Always assumed you were an arborist since you own this site.


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## John Paul Sanborn (Oct 19, 2007)

Sheets of 3/4 inch exterior plywood works great, and will last for a couple months. Get 8 sheets and pair them up, then leapfrog them across the yard as he move towards the tree.

If it is a monster cottonwood, you may want a loader to move the bigwood, so a path to the tree may not be a big deal anyways.


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## 9th year rookie (Oct 19, 2007)

*the elephant in the room....*

What about compaction?
Tree root systems, etc.


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## juststumps (Oct 19, 2007)

i put the truck on lawns a the time... most grass is dead out here,, soil like concrete.... if it's a little soft,, i use 3/4 ply ripped in half,, throw it under the wheels... got to move it a lot,, front to back... can get 10 8x2 pieces in the ladder box on the dump body.....

who the hell decided it was a good idea to put a ladder box on a bucket truck ????

i do carry a ladder tied to the crash cage,,, a 24 ft ladder doesn't fit in the box... but the plywood does!!!


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## juststumps (Oct 19, 2007)

9th year rookie said:


> What about compaction?
> Tree root systems, etc.



what about it??


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## BostonBull (Oct 20, 2007)

Soil compaction isnt a huge problem if your driving the trucks OUTSIDE of the drip zone. You shouldne ever drive near the trunk of a tree, if it canbe avoided. And if it cant the customer should be made fully aware before th job of soil compaction, and then upsold on a deep root fert....


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## 00chris85 (Oct 20, 2007)

besides with the compaction from bucket truck will be very minimal because the truck normally gets put in one spot to do the tree and maybe has 2 one ft compaction spots from the back tires, then plus your pads, we normally throw down wood anyway.


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## Thillmaine (Oct 20, 2007)

*Compaction*

Typically if the cust has questions about compaction you can sell them on a climbing removal...but..Obvisouly the price if going to be different. If you need lots of re sets to finish the tree, then sell them on air spading and radial trenching or vertical mulching... I think usually threy will be ok with the compaction versus the price of all those services...I wish we could fit our bucket son some of the yards we work in. At the same time i thinkt he customer would be freaked if you drive a huge truck on their precious lawn. People are usually more concerned about their lawn then their trees from my experience..


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## John Paul Sanborn (Oct 20, 2007)

IMO compaction is not a big deal if you do not horse the truck around all over to get the best position.

Soil injection fert does not help compaction much, though it may fracture the soil some.

There is no man made effort that can truly remediate compaction because it is on the microscopic level. Particle to particle. We have to wait for the worms (and other macrobiota) to crawl in and out to get the job done. All we can do is help them out.


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