Alright guys, let me have it.

[Booshcat]

Getting back to the original question about the site....
If you widen the cross "tee" on the logo it will look less like a big D**k
As far as the main page...you need pictures, and lots of em. You can use the pictures as buttons as well
You don't want much, if any white space.
Check out some of the site building tools like Frontpage.
Good Luck

 

[tree MDS]

Well I'll at least say that looked like some highly skilled hacking anyways. You just cant take every hack job tha comes along blake-and then to make a web site about it!! :monkey: Sorry man, tough crowd. Keep at it though you're learning, like someone said, smaller cuts man-all too big wounds. I kinda hate pruning but at least I'm good at it when I have to be. That tree to do the right way would have been a total pita but it looked like you had more to work with than you are saying there man c-mon.

 

[tree MDS]

Mmmm. I wasn't going to say anything but I could not have said it better. That was the most pitiful mess I have seen since Virgil Zatarain's dad did something unspeakable to a live oak in Fort Worth back about 1985.

Now I just know you've been licking yer chops just a waitin fer this one-I wasnt gonna say anything but, lol.

 

[memetic]

I don't understand why blake & company didn't wear spikes for the silver maple.

 

[tree MDS]

I don't understand why blake & company didn't wear spikes for the silver maple.

A real climber wouldnt need them to get even way up and out there.

 

[ropensaddle]

I love it when the know it alls chime in.
Maybe the homeowner wanted it hacked way back. The tree is alive for now and the homeowner payed the bill. If it dies, its probably not due so much to the trimming but the fact that the homeowner probably never did any maintainace over the years thus the configuration of the trunks and the fact that it was over the house, thus the trimming. Bottom line IMO, the homeowner still has a treee which, if it makes it till next year or the one after can be trimmed again to bring it back into a decent shape. Gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet.

BTW, unless they are officially labled "eye protection" nobody can tell. And as far as hearing protection, who in here can tell if he has ear plugs? I always ear plugs and I wear sunglasses too. The sidewalk supervisors of the world have no real idea what I am wearing.

opcorn:

Aughhhhhh what would we all do without the sidewalk supervisors
and armchair quarterbacks Blakes I am on the dial and spooky
of downloading a file so did not look. I have had some preservation
work that looked bad as half the tree was dead, so all you can do
is; drastic measures, if they won't take the suggestion of removing
and replanting a better suited species. I had one white oak this
summer that I hated to leave but I informed the owner of the facts
and done my best to leave all the green posible but without suitable
laterals, it is sometimes hard to work on trees of this nature and
never pays enough ime.

 

[tree MDS]

What I'm saying is dont take jobs that you dont want to do because its hacking the tree to nothing. And dont sell work that you cant do properly. It actually takes some time to learn all this crap, jmho.

 

[Blakesmaster]

Thanks to those of you that actually gave me constructive criticism. It is helpful and I will apply it in the future. We do have pole pruners and saws and I'm debating ordering the Silky Sugoi as well. The options I gave the HO on this one ( who happened to be my GF's mother, which somewhat hindered walking away ) were to remove all deadwood and sucker growth but this still leaves the height issue on a half rotten tree, take it all down, or do what we did. She chose the latter. So that's what I did. Maybe I could have worked the tips a bit more and tried to preserve more foliage but bottom line is if that tree were any taller it would be a danger to the house/garage. It might still die, and I informed the HO of this but she wanted to give it a shot so I said ok. Better it fail when small than when large, right?

 

[tree MDS]

you could have reduced it a bit more gently is what I was saying-quite a bit, lol.

 

[treeseer]

T...The options I gave the HO on this one ( who happened to be my GF's mother, which somewhat hindered walking away ) were to remove all deadwood and sucker growth but this still leaves the height issue on a half rotten tree, take it all down, or do what we did.

Other options include cabling, to hold up the rotted stem, and to cut less. "Fixing" the height issue as you did is an illusion, due to the rapid sprouting to come. Your client/future MIL?/should have the sense to see that, as I am sure you do.

The Sugoi is an okay tool, but I make 6" cuts on oak with my Zubat all the time. That plus a Huayuche could have done a proper, outside-in job on that oak. Now it is more top-heavy and, combined with the decaying wound you left, will increase the risk that oak poses to the house.

I like broccoli a lot but trees that look like trees are safer.

Good job with the pics tho and for standing up to destructive criticism about irrelevant stuff like earrings etc. Keep working and keep learning like we all are, and clients will respect your opinion more and not demand hack jobs in the future .

 

[Nailsbeats]

Other options include cabling, to hold up the rotted stem, and to cut less. "Fixing" the height issue as you did is an illusion, due to the rapid sprouting to come. Your client/future MIL?/should have the sense to see that, as I am sure you do.

The Sugoi is an okay tool, but I make 6" cuts on oak with my Zubat all the time. That plus a Huayuche could have done a proper, outside-in job on that oak. Now it is more top-heavy and, combined with the decaying wound you left, will increase the risk that oak poses to the house.

I like broccoli a lot but trees that look like trees are safer.

Good job with the pics tho and for standing up to destructive criticism about irrelevant stuff like earrings etc. Keep working and keep learning like we all are, and clients will respect your opinion more and not demand hack jobs in the future .

What are you talking about. "Destructive criticism" "irrelevent" my @ss, I am looking out for the guy who is at a threat of getting his ear ripped off. You don't wear that kind of stuff in the tree. You should know that Joe pro.

 

[capetrees]

I think Blakes latest post sums it up the best. She at least wanted to give it a try and, chopped up as it may be, it also just may live. Why not try. If it dies, then it has to come down. If it lives, all you genius' will be eating crow for quite while. I'd love to see some pics next summer to see what happens.

 

[oldirty]

dont get the sugio. the handle sucks, it grabs everything and on the odd occasion will get pulled out.

 

[treemandan]

dont get the sugio. the handle sucks, it grabs everything and on the odd occasion will get pulled out.

what is the correct pronunciation to that? sugg- ee-ohh, sue-guy-ohh, ohh I don't know?

 

[treeseer]

...If it lives, all you genius' will be eating crow for quite while. I'd love to see some pics next summer to see what happens.

It's how safe it is 5 or 10 or 20 summers from now that matters, not whether it "lives". :monkey:

I never understood earrings on men, but the worst that can happen is a tear in the earlobe. Not a job safety concern that I can see. :Eye:

Yeah the sugoi (gee i hope i passed the spelling test; such hardasp critics here ) is overkill for me; I traded mine away, but wish i had it on some jobs.

 

[ropensaddle]

It's how safe it is 5 or 10 or 20 summers from now that matters, not whether it "lives". :monkey:

I never understood earrings on men, but the worst that can happen is a tear in the earlobe. Not a job safety concern that I can see. :Eye:

Yeah the sugoi (gee i hope i passed the spelling test; such hardasp critics here ) is overkill for me; I traded mine away, but wish i had it on some jobs.

I had a guy come in with them in his ears, eyes, and nipples.
I told him out or home his choice 1 I ain't going to have a funny bunny around my as? 2 If he made contact with a powerline extra hazard and I ain't doin cpr on him. 3 I am an old school sob with an attitude about who hangs with me and it is my right to do so.

 

[memetic]

3 I am an old school sob with an attitude about who hangs with me and it is my right to do so.

What about cock rings?

 

[ropensaddle]

What about cock rings?

I suppose I will not know of that to me it is stupidity anywhere
but I am old school. If you want to be an idiot fine but don't expect
me to hire you and it is not discrimination. I should have a right to
have a representative of my company appropriate.

 

[M.D. Vaden]

Alright. Now, I know the guy that I learned pruning from ain't all he thinks he is but I have gleaned some things from him as well as a lot from this site. I understand that suckers will come out at that these re-sprouts are not strong wood. But won't continued maintenance of topping the sucker growth and shaping the tree prevent it from getting to tall on this unstable wood thereby keeping it safe? I've walked away from jobs and customers that wanted me to do this type of stuff to an oak or hickory or a hemlock but in my experience trees like silver maples and willows will come back from this type of cutting. Granted I've only been in the biz 6 years so I can't see the long term effects yet I can only go on what I have learned from others. Does anyone know of a silver maple that died from a trim job?

What time of year did you prune that in that fashion - the maple?

Because if it was late June until about early September, not enough sprouts will come up fast enough to prevent sunburn damage.

That kind of heavy top growth removal should be done in the cooler season and probably not as significantly.

What's running the slideshow - it's a nifty setup.

 

[Slvrmple72]

Blakes, The Silver job was very rough but it will survive. I have seen them totally butchered, hacked to heck, even cut to a stump and grow back to full-sized trees. You will have to do a lot of upkeep as it grows new sprouts. On the whole ppe thing... Who will foot the bill for the first eye trauma? Removals are easy, proper tree care is the tough part and oftentimes the tough sell. I hate the "remove that big limb coming out of the base of the trunk" jobs because I know it will be the death cut for the tree and I let the homeowner know it. They call me back years later and I cut down a tree with a rotted out trunk. On the whole spikeless climbing thing ... to each his own. The website is off to a good start but keep tweaking it. Sometimes you gotta work to eat ... sometimes you gotta eat your work.