Re: another lucky wannabe-Wash, DC/Outsider's Perspective
You make a good point. I don't know the statistics Professional vs. Homeowner on a per work hour basis. It's seems likely that the Professional would have a much lower injury and accident rate. But since they tend to tackle much more difficult jobs than most sensible homeowners would, I'm not sure.
Most homeowners know when they are in over their head and don't attempt to do the work. But, it's often not a matter of "saving money" but rather just not having money or something to trade (as you did) to have the work done by a pro. What do you do when you just don't have the money to have a pro do the work? I can't answer that question other than "try to do it yourself". The homeowner noted in this thread was apparently unaware that the power company would handle the work for him, but all they probably would do is clear the limbs away from the power lines. If the house is threatened by the tree, that is his problem to deal with, and if he can't pay, what is he to do?
About three years ago, a friend of mine wanted to fell a cherry tree in his yard. He's a lawyer, very intelligent and could pay but he wanted to do it himself I guess. His chain saw was on the fritz, so he took an axe to the tree. Apparently, he either tired or became impatient. So, he placed a *splitting wedge* where he had been chopping and gave it a hard wack with a maul. The wedge flew back and hit him in the mouth--he lost some teeth and was cut pretty bad, but survived. About two years ago, that same friend, who is also an avid gardener, stumbled and fell in front of his roto-tiller. He has a big garden and no doubt has a big roto-tiller. He got chewed up badly and was out of action for some time, but survived. I consider this acccident to be the rough equivalent of a chipper accident. Either accident could have been fatal had the circumstances been just a little different.
On the pro side, during a recent short stint with a Tree Service Company, we were removing an extremely large branch. The climber rigged and cut off a large section of that branch. It swung down away from the house, then swung back into the house--it was big enough that it could not be stopped by me, but should have been dropped by the ropeman, before it hit the house--judgement call. The house was brick, so no damage was done--but it could have. Last Friday, at work site, I looked over to see the person operating the chipper. I keep checking on other workers to make sure they are OK or don't otherwise need help [ I watch out for myself too ;-) ]. Well, he or someone had just fed a fairly large 8" diameter log with a "dog-leg" into the feeding chute. He was standing to the right side as he should have been, but when the chipper started to slow, he stuck his head way around not into the chute but well in it's path. At the same time, that log popped up and slammed hard against the top of the feeding chute--missed his head by about a foot I'd estimate, which is was too close by my standards. He should have known better--he almost certainly would have been badly injured, possibly kiled by the force of the impact. He has only a month on the job, so he's not a real veteran yet. Our 1/2 hour safety meeting at the Tree Company lasted 5 minutes, and was basically material I'd already read from Jeff Jepson's book. The meeting addressed you what to look out for when planning to climb and/or fell a tree: conks, mushrooms at the base of the tree, splits in branches,.....you know the drill here. But they did not at all address what precautions should be taken to address these issues. They had time to talk about some precautions, but they didn't bother to do so. Perhaps, they wanted us to call another tree company to handle a tree with these types of problems ;-) . I saw the pros make a few minor mistakes, most likely to result in some property damage or minor injury rather than serious injury or death--loose bricks or stones on steps to access the work site. I'd point it out to the forman and place a cone over the loose material so people would go around th hazard. The cone would often be moved by someone who did not ask why it was there as they should have. Cones are placed for a reason.
One last point that will no doubt offend many--that appears to be my greatest talent as a poster here. Sadly, all the Tree Service Companies I've contacted and/or dealt with seemed to be fly-by-night, unprofessional oufits, even when they were large companies. Office managers often seem more than a little disingenuous with me and I assume with others--he either just lied or had problems giving staff bad news thinking he was saving them from discomfort. I chose not to rock the boat. But, I assume most of you are honest hard-working people. The field workers were great: helpful, supportive, worked well together, took some time to show you how to do things. When you work as hard as they do, it's not easy to angry at anything, so all got along just fine.
Hard work? Yep, but I loved it.
Pete
