# Seriously now



## treemandan (Apr 25, 2009)

Does no one listen? 

Why does it seem so many guys out there feel it "OK" to let non- crew members roam around the freaking jobsite!
Today again, the lady sitting on the stoop right under a crusty old oak, stuff is breaking and falling, the dog gets one in the dome cap this time. Dionk. How is that gonna read? 
So now the tally reads:
4 Ho's
a handful of lucky groundies
and 1 dam black lab.

I don't know, these jobs aren't mine, this really don't happen to much on my jobs. It's one of my priorities to have the zones marked off and keep people out. To many close calls I can't beleive.
One guy was dreaming in the street and a car got past him , I saw the butt of what I was cutting headed right for the windshield. And some retards suddenly stop in the street zone and start ripping off the hanging exhaust while we were screaming TIMBER M and F'er. we couldn't do nothing but watch.
The last example is what known as a freak occurence but when guys leisurely chat with the HO around the the jobsite I just think its not good. Keep the innocent out for chrissake.


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## Raymond (Apr 25, 2009)

Doing a parking lot job years ago. I had cones around our area but this little old lady pulled right between them, being careful not to hit my cones but ran over my 009 climbing saw. 

Must of been something she's done before. She pulled her check book out and didn't hesitate to write the check for a new one.


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## treeclimber101 (Apr 25, 2009)

treemandan said:


> Does no one listen?
> 
> Why does it seem so many guys out there feel it "OK" to let non- crew members roam around the freaking jobsite!
> Today again, the lady sitting on the stoop right under a crusty old oak, stuff is breaking and falling, the dog gets one in the dome cap this time. Dionk. How is that gonna read?
> ...


Did the dog go to the hospital with a knot or is he pushing daises..


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## treeclimber101 (Apr 26, 2009)

Last week we were working in Old City Philadelphia and I unhooked the chipper to empty the truck and some idiot parked in front of it , we had to pull it sideways with the mini and hook it back up , I thought it would be funny to fire up the chipper and finish chipping all the brush right on the hood of this Maxima but I chickened out... A younger me might have done it.


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## treemandan (Apr 27, 2009)

treeclimber101 said:


> Last week we were working in Old City Philadelphia and I unhooked the chipper to empty the truck and some idiot parked in front of it , we had to pull it sideways with the mini and hook it back up , I thought it would be funny to fire up the chipper and finish chipping all the brush right on the hood of this Maxima but I chickened out... A younger me might have done it.



Ahh Philly jobs, in that section of the city you have to wait for yoga class to end before you can fire the chipper.
Was a trash job or working for the city parks?


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## treeclimber101 (Apr 27, 2009)

treemandan said:


> Ahh Philly jobs, in that section of the city you have to wait for yoga class to end before you can fire the chipper.
> Was a trash job or working for the city parks?


Nah right at Penns landing where the pedestrian walkway crosses ninety five, boo koo bucks down there ,2,000 doesn't even get a raised eyebrow.. lol


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## JONSEREDFAN6069 (Apr 27, 2009)

treemandan said:


> Does no one listen?
> 
> Today again, the lady sitting on the stoop right under a crusty old oak, stuff is breaking and falling, the dog gets one in the dome cap this time. Dionk. How is that gonna read?
> So now the tally reads:
> ...



when you said 4 ho's i thought you were working in a bad part of town. took me a bit to figure out home owner. lol. is the dog ok?


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## TimberFaller660 (Apr 27, 2009)

JONSEREDFAN6069 said:


> when you said 4 ho's i thought you were working in a bad part of town. took me a bit to figure out home owner. lol. is the dog ok?



me too. i need to get my mind out of the gutter


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## superfire (Apr 28, 2009)

*your right*

had to help a buddy drop a 42" dbh pondo snag. he had no experience with rotten snags. i did the falling half of the job. biggest problem we had was the HO two boys would not listen. finally had enough and threatened said the kids with having to clean up and split all the wood with a 1 pound hatch:hmm3grin2orange: they sat out of harms way through the two hours it took to fall this SOB of a snag snag

:chainsawguy:


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## masiman (Apr 28, 2009)

treeclimber101 said:


> .... I thought it would be funny to fire up the chipper and finish chipping all the brush right on the hood of this Maxima but I chickened out... A younger me might have done it.



I wish you were younger and had a camera


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## tree md (Apr 28, 2009)

Never hit a customer or dog but I have had some idiots come walking under me while I was working. Was removing one in real tight quarters at a condo and had the woman come out the back door and walk right under a large chunk I was lowering at the time. I was literally right over the covered patio so as soon as she stepped out she was right under me. I told her it was a hard hat area and she would have to clear out. Also had a woman walk right out under a 5k# trunk pick with a crane onetime. 

The worst is when the kids are playing around in the yards. I don't know what people are thinking to let their kids roam around the jobsite when a tree is coming down. It's nerve wracking enough without having to guess were the kids are when you hear them prattling around. Had one where I had asked the HO to keep the kids inside but I could still hear them through the screened in porch I was working over and they were watching me through. Makes for a long day when you have to worry about kids under you before you make every cut.


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## treeclimber101 (Apr 28, 2009)

tree md said:


> Never hit a customer or dog but I have had some idiots come walking under me while I was working. Was removing one in real tight quarters at a condo and had the woman come out the back door and walk right under a large chunk I was lowering at the time. I was literally right over the covered patio so as soon as she stepped out she was right under me. I told her it was a hard hat area and she would have to clear out. Also had a woman walk right out under a 5k# trunk pick with a crane onetime.
> 
> The worst is when the kids are playing around in the yards. I don't know what people are thinking to let their kids roam around the jobsite when a tree is coming down. It's nerve wracking enough without having to guess were the kids are when you hear them prattling around. Had one where I had asked the HO to keep the kids inside but I could still hear them through the screened in porch I was working over and they were watching me through. Makes for a long day when you have to worry about kids under you before you make every cut.


You know this isn't a funny story but related to children in the yard, we had a child step on the saw and cut his foot real bad , he stepped on the saw while it was in the grass sitting up , he got 20 stitches in his insole real dirty cut I felt horrible what a learning lesson that was ....


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## Rickytree (Apr 28, 2009)

Had my groundie go next door and tell them I would be trimming the tree in the back(cuz it was on the fence line) Got up in the tree and hand bombing branches down. Cut the little stub off and it's a evergreen so it has thick top canopy. The stub is doing the plinko thing and it hits the ground with a thud! Suddenly I hear a baby start crying. The lady next door has her baby in the backyard on the grass as she is bar b quing. 

I did hit a customer once. He still phones me for trimming. It totally was the ground guys fault. ONCE THE SAW IS RUNNING, GET OUTTA THE WAY!!


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## treeclimber101 (Apr 28, 2009)

Rickytree said:


> Had my groundie go next door and tell them I would be trimming the tree in the back(cuz it was on the fence line) Got up in the tree and hand bombing branches down. Cut the little stub off and it's a evergreen so it has thick top canopy. The stub is doing the plinko thing and it hits the ground with a thud! Suddenly I hear a baby start crying. The lady next door has her baby in the backyard on the grass as she is bar b quing.
> 
> I did hit a customer once. He still phones me for trimming. It totally was the ground guys fault. ONCE THE SAW IS RUNNING, GET OUTTA THE WAY!!


So you hit a baby with a stub real nice, lol .
Kid must of been pretty tough I got hit with a dead hanger and cried like a little girl because my wittle head hurted me...


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## Rickytree (Apr 28, 2009)

treeclimber101 said:


> So you hit a baby with a stub real nice, lol .
> Kid must of been pretty tough I got hit with a dead hanger and cried like a little girl because my wittle head hurted me...



Didn't hit the kid just scared it I guess. I got pretty vocal over the whole thing and I think the mother got exactly how I felt over the incident. The older gent that I do work for got hit, and started to bleed alittle too. He got over it and the groundie has been gone for awhile.


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## treeclimber101 (Apr 28, 2009)

Rickytree said:


> Didn't hit the kid just scared it I guess. I got pretty vocal over the whole thing and I think the mother got exactly how I felt over the incident. The older gent that I do work for got hit, and started to bleed alittle too. He got over it and the groundie has been gone for awhile.


Oh I thought the Thud was a hit .....


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## Tree Pig (Apr 29, 2009)

I chew skoal most of the time when Im working. One or two big wads to the head usually keeps them from getting under your work area anymore.

Now I know how a dive bombing bird feels.


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## Farmer Ferd (Apr 30, 2009)

Never hit anyone, but many times I've had mail-people walk right under me. There are cones everywhere, they see the brush and the guys with hard hats yet they walk right across the lawn without a care in the world. Maybe its me but when I was a kid the mailman always walked up and down each walkway not across ever-ones front yard. Ive had it happen to many times to count from all different parts of town and from different townships.


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## tree md (Apr 30, 2009)

*Through rain, sleet and snow*



Farmer Ferd said:


> Never hit anyone, but many times I've had mail-people walk right under me. There are cones everywhere, they see the brush and the guys with hard hats yet they walk right across the lawn without a care in the world. Maybe its me but when I was a kid the mailman always walked up and down each walkway not across ever-ones front yard. Ive had it happen to many times to count from all different parts of town and from different townships.



When we got hit by a huge ice storm about a year and a half ago the only people out working while the timber was still crashing were emergency first responders, tree crews, power crews and the mail men (and women). We were clearing roads and cutting cars out of driveways so people could get out with huge limbs crashing all around us. As I was working on one driveway a mail lady walked right by me to deliver mail to the front door. She was wearing a USPS hard hat.


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## Taxmantoo (Apr 30, 2009)

Farmer Ferd said:


> Maybe its me but when I was a kid the mailman always walked up and down each walkway not across ever-ones front yard.



Lawn-cutting is a major job requirement now. Failing to cut across a lawn is a firing offense, no kidding. The Lansing Post Office actually pays supervisors to drive around looking for carriers who walk on sidewalks to write them up. How about we lay off the supervisors and hire one more carrier so the carriers have time to walk on the sidewalks?
Still, I can't believe they'd be stupid enough to cut through a hard hat zone.


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## treemandan (May 1, 2009)

taxmantoo said:


> Lawn-cutting is a major job requirement now. Failing to cut across a lawn is a firing offense, no kidding. The Lansing Post Office actually pays supervisors to drive around looking for carriers who walk on sidewalks to write them up. How about we lay off the supervisors and hire one more carrier so the carriers have time to walk on the sidewalks?
> Still, I can't believe they'd be stupid enough to cut through a hard hat zone.



Makes sense cause when they just walk through like that don't.
When I play back all these close calls in my head... ooof. I am more apt to kill another rather than myself.
When I read the incedent where a HO got sucked into the stumper I could just picture the lackadaisical manner with which the crew must have been operating. I have seen it time and again. Just working, talking to the HO, shootin the chit, everybody getting comfy then BAM something goes slamming off the side of the house, luckily it slows down down before it gets to the guy standing there thinking about something else. Then I start hollering and someone says " Relax". I don't know but something about the word relax makes me do the opposite.
The new rule is that non-crew members have to wear a road cone on the head if they are going to be standing around. We put those cones on vent caps and light post so we knows not to hit them.


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## tree md (May 1, 2009)

treemandan said:


> Makes sense cause when they just walk through like that don't.
> When I play back all these close calls in my head... ooof. I am more apt to kill another rather than myself.
> When I read the incedent where a HO got sucked into the stumper I could just picture the lackadaisical manner with which the crew must have been operating. I have seen it time and again. Just working, talking to the HO, shootin the chit, everybody getting comfy then BAM something goes slamming off the side of the house, luckily it slows down down before it gets to the guy standing there thinking about something else. Then I start hollering and someone says " Relax". I don't know but something about the word relax makes me do the opposite.
> The new rule is that non-crew members have to wear a road cone on the head if they are going to be standing around. We put those cones on vent caps and light post so we knows not to hit them.



I think about that post a lot when I grind stumps too. Had one woman tell me that she was going to rent a stumper and hire her 19 YO nephew to do the stumps on the trees I removed for her. I related that story to her and she decided to go ahead and let us do it.

I like the conehead idea...Only thing is I would be the one having to wear it most of the time if I had that rule... :hmm3grin2orange:


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## treemandan (May 1, 2009)

tree md said:


> I think about that post a lot when I grind stumps too. Had one woman tell me that she was going to rent a stumper and hire her 19 YO nephew to do the stumps on the trees I removed for her. I related that story to her and she decided to go ahead and let us do it.
> 
> I like the conehead idea...Only thing is I would be the one having to wear it most of the time if I had that rule... :hmm3grin2orange:



being a guy who rents the rg 50 from time to time the thought is crazy its so easy to get ahold of one. I was surprised they gave me one, much less the maneating morbark 18 incher, the lift alls and such. You know, just getting these things down the dam road ain't too easy.
The guys at the rental place do actually not rent the bigger stuff out to HO's. They have a rather half decent system of weeding you out if you are mickey mouse and just say the big stuff is for contractors. I asked them about it and that is what they said. Anybody can get a bobcat with attachments though and the stumpers are all pretty much as dangerous


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## Rftreeman (May 2, 2009)

treemandan said:


> Then I start hollering and someone says " Relax". I don't know but something about the word relax makes me do the opposite.


relax Dan.....


I never hit anyone that didn't deserve it......


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## B-Edwards (May 6, 2009)

Again I'm with "The Dan" on all counts. I love the cone on the head treatment. I have had many close calls with people not paying attention and when I finaly freaked I got the same relax treatment.


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## treemandan (May 6, 2009)

Rftreeman said:


> relax Dan.....
> 
> 
> I never hit anyone that didn't deserve it......



Don't call me Francis. Nah, I just relax, then they get all mad cause I'm stting in my truck, I say " didn't you just tell me to relax?" Then they call the boss who calls me and asks what the problem is and all the sudden the guy who just told me to relax is getting upset.


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## Glennak (May 9, 2009)

I was working in a school yard once and this bloke walks right through my cones and under the tree. I asked him to stay outside the cones, he replied "It's alright I'm a teacher". What hope have the kids got?
Another time I was over a footpath and a mother and daughter came along mum steps over the cones and the girl stops. I said very good keep that up and one day your mother may understand what the cones are there for.


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## capetrees (May 9, 2009)

Don't forget the homeowners favorite line, "what can I do to help?" I just want to tell them go the f away but they still have to write the check. I usually give them the dragging duty or lugging the logs up the hill. That puts them off real quick.


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## Beast12 (May 9, 2009)

Glennak said:


> Another time I was over a footpath and a mother and daughter came along mum steps over the cones and the girl stops. I said very good keep that up and one day your mother may understand what the cones are there for.



I find most children (13 and under) go around the cones the safe way. Adults are the worst for just walking through.

-Matt


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## treeclimber101 (May 10, 2009)

treemandan said:


> Don't call me Francis. Nah, I just relax, then they get all mad cause I'm stting in my truck, I say " didn't you just tell me to relax?" Then they call the boss who calls me and asks what the problem is and all the sudden the guy who just told me to relax is getting upset.


Wow dan sounds like your a real tree diva, but thats typical of a climber ,lol


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## treemandan (May 10, 2009)

treeclimber101 said:


> Wow dan sounds like your a real tree diva, but thats typical of a climber ,lol



Yeah, its pretty bad. If I were them I wouldn't put up with it.


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## John Paul Sanborn (May 22, 2009)

Beast12 said:


> I find most children (13 and under) go around the cones the safe way. Adults are the worst for just walking through.
> 
> -Matt



Ducking under ropes and CAUTION tape...



> I don't know, these jobs aren't mine, this really don't happen to much on my jobs.



I just stop working when a non crew memeber enters my "danger" zone. Sometimes I'll call down and ask if they are "stupid or something".

Heck, I get paid by the hour 



> I said very good keep that up and one day your mother may understand what the cones are there for.



Bravo!



> Don't forget the homeowners favorite line, "what can I do to help?"



"Sorry, my insurance would drop me if I got caught allowing a non employee to help."


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## treemandan (May 22, 2009)

Well I guess alot of people would really go for broke, not me. no sense. The actions we take are derived not from just any BS but from sound judgement and awareness ( well maybe some are winging it)- never take for granted what appears to be normal. Its best to keep the widest safety margin you can muster, the work involved in doing so will save you in the end.
Roads, Homeowners, kids and pets. I recall being sent to deadwood these oaks right in front of a community pool in broad daylight. Well everbody got busy and all( chipper running limbs falling) but I was walking round thinking like maybe the people walking by in swim suits wasn't a good idea.
I finally got to the bottom of it and we broke camp and rolled. I don't really know why a crew would be sent there that time to prune trees.


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## Bigus Termitius (May 22, 2009)

Orange snow fence.

I am resigned to start using orange snow fence.


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## treemandan (May 22, 2009)

One reason I blew my top was cause these guys were so lax. How they acted invited this kind- o- malarky. 
I say " serious now" now because I think of signs I used to see " do not bother operator". 
That is what should be on the shirts, for one it answers a bunch of stupid questions don't it? I should say rather than answers but squashes stupid questions which at the wrong time have proven quite undesirable to me in my endeavours beleive you me, no joke. 
I hate to hit a foul but when it comes its not just me swinging the bat all the time. A guy up there like that has to much to do. Sometimes I do get quite curt- no changing that.


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## treeoperations (May 23, 2009)

i recently did a job where we parked a 200 ton crane in the intersection of 4 roads the crane spread its legs and lifted its self up to level out and it blocked everything, each road into the intersection was able to be got into from other roads and we blocked no ones drive way, i hired 4 extra guys to stop people driving through under the crane but the poor guys were totally ignored the cones got driven over and people insisted on driving through, when i seen the first lot of cars i let rip at the guys, i normally climb but i thought i better stay on the ground and just keep my eyes peeled and i was glad i did cause i could see that no matter what the guys did they couldnt stop these idiots, it got to the point of using the digger that was handling material from the crane to chase people out of the drop zone, people in flash cars dont like it when you drive at them in a digger that resembles a tank with a arm of death on it haha. but no matter what we did we couldnt stop these idiots, we parked trucks in the roads and they just drove on the foot paths. it just goes to show you that people no longer have common sense.

by the way its not wise threating people with a digger, the police really dont like it haha.


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## John Paul Sanborn (May 23, 2009)

treeoperations said:


> i recently did a job where we parked a 200 ton crane in the intersection...



When you are going this far, then honest to god barricades are what is needed. In my area you need permitting to close a rode like this, and you can get a cop there too if you have chronic safety problems. I was on one where they parked an old cruiser with lights on, that worked pretty well.

As for crew safety culture, it can be a trying thing as a sub. As i said above, i will stop what i am doing as soon as I see a nonworker in the drop-zone. I train the crews to yell "STOP!" if they see anything, and some of them make it fun by all coursing in to embarrass the violator.


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## outofmytree (May 24, 2009)

I love hearing that other people encounter the same kind of brainless members of the public that I do. I reckon Darwin got it wrong ya know. If evolution is how we developed and primitive man was that stupid all our great great great's would have been lion tucker!

Had a post storm clean up to do at a large bakery. 200 plus employess so we go on Saturday to avoid them. The maintenance guys had stacked the branches out of the way and all we had to do was chip em. I tell my offsider "put out both signs and all 16 cones". He looks at me like I'm nuts but he doesn't know what I know. We crank up the chipper and are about to start feeding when I see what I expected to see. I tap my offsider on the arm, he looks around and there is a brainless cleaner walking right through our work zone with some cardboard boxes to crush. I wave her off and tell her to walk around. She looks at me and says "What? All the way around?". It was a journey of perhaps an extra 30 metres.......

Mind you, this is the same cleaning crew that wanted to cut up the branches with a circular saw and put them into the "cardboard only" recycling bin.....


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## xxl (Jun 21, 2009)

Heck one ho let the 3-4yearold walk right around when i was using my 026 bucking a tree we just droped like it was nothing. We politely asked them to watch the kid but nope its not the kids fault they dont know oh that saw can kill me.


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## TheKid (Jun 23, 2009)

ok, i can't resist. early on in my career, we were chipping debris from the curbside, across the sidewalk into the ho front yard into a plywood barrier. sidewalk was coned on either side and up walks a woman pushing a baby in a stroller, around the cones and almost through the path of chips!!!unbelievable! we, of course stopped, and just shook our heads...


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## John Paul Sanborn (Jun 24, 2009)

At the LawnCare branch I manged for I always got the labor that did not show the potential to work a spray route; one day I was in "the city" removing large some volunteers from around an apartment. My "helper" had drafted the neighborhood kids to help stuff the chipper . His reasoning was that they were just standing around watching...

I heard later on that when he would go out on an airation crew he would pay his partner to drop him off at his "crib" for a nap; while the "partner" would do all the work". One hard charger actually wanted to "work" with him, because the "help" he usually got just slowed him down . They lived near by one another, so they would commute together, eventually the slacker would pay the hard worker to punch his card on the days they knew they were on the same route. Then pick him up at the end of the day to turn the work in.


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