Done for the season, winter setting in.

[HolmenTree]

-20 below C, -35 C wind chill this a.m. Only looks good outside through my warm garages window, can't believe all the stuff piled up from this season that needs maintenance. In this area where I'm in ice storms are very rare, so winters are pretty quite here, customers just forget about their trees until spring.

 

[treeman82]

The last couple of weeks I've had my chip truck tied up with a leaf sucker... what a mistake that was. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to doing real work in another 2 weeks or so. Been subbing lately, or just blowing the chips into the woods. Got a few jobs lined up for either right now, or into the winter. Nothing crazy, just some descent pruning jobs... short days. I'll spread them out and that will keep me occupied. Some friends of mine want to do a bit of logging, so I'll help them out a little bit. Otherwise the one company I am subbing for right now... they have 1 job that is going to take another 3 days? and after that they have a whole lot of nothing.

 

[rbtree]

A while back I had plans to fall for a local logging contractor for the winter, but now decided to stay home ,take a little break and get my equipment back up into shape. 2009 season will come soon enough.

too bad, you coulda been on your way to 3 million trees....:jawdrop:

 

[rbtree]

It was cool and wet today here in the great Pacifc North Wet.

Lucky we still have quite a fair bit of work..enough to keep us till XMAS what with the new work that filters in.

Many companies here have been laying off.....I'm getting a number of calls from people looking for work.

 

[HolmenTree]

too bad, you coulda been on your way to 3 million trees....:jawdrop:

Good one rb I'll just settle with my 2 million plus, my days of disciplined piecework production in the great Boreal Forest is now in retirement, besides not one PNW faller accepted to work along side me this winter doing a little Manitoba style logging as I posted earlier. There is probably a faller right now in the Boreal Forest of Siberia Russia working on his 3 millionth stem.I just learned to operate a computer last year and didn't have alot of idle time before that. Now I'll just settle with one urban tree at a time meeting alot of different people, shaking their hand and taking their check with the other. Life doesn't get any better then this.
:kilt:

 

[arbor pro]

My workload is still heavy enough to keep me plenty busy but my motivation level is about that of the windchill today, -2 and falling. Every year I go from full throttle during fall pruning to complete lack of motivation when the cold sets in. I wish I could find a happy medium but it seems to be all or nothing with my attitude towards tree work - always been that way.

 

[HolmenTree]

My workload is still heavy enough to keep me plenty busy but my motivation level is about that of the windchill today, -2 and falling. Every year I go from full throttle during fall pruning to complete lack of motivation when the cold sets in. I wish I could find a happy medium but it seems to be all or nothing with my attitude towards tree work - always been that way.

I have the same motivation problem in the dropping temperatures. It is sure nice in the fall with no leaves but like last week when I was rigging down a 70 ft poplar my lightweight gloves couldn't keep my fingers from turning into icecubes,damn painfull. I even footlocked up the tree hoping to get myself good and warmed up, that north wind is brutal up there.

 

[Arbortec01]

We've still got a steady flow of business- mostly oak trimming that had to wait till after a few hard freezes-oak wilt is bad around here. Yesterday we were well below freezing, and we had wind gusts 30-40 mph. It was not a fun day to climb, After lunch it was getting so gusty I had to quite climbing for the day. My face and fingers were frozen stiff anyways. Does anyone have good recommendations for gloves that will keep you somewhat warm, but that you can still get a good enough group on a rope to climb?
There work is still coming in pretty steady, so I am guessing well be at through the end of December (if conditions allow)...
Also, not sure if anyone else has encountered this. We got down to about 5 degrees here in Iowa last night, and when I went to dump yesterday's chips the bottom half of the load was one big frozen chip cube, and it wouldnt dump out, I had to get up in the box and hack away at it with a shovel, not fun, any better ideas how to avoid this other than dumping at the end of every day?

 

[squad143]

squad be carefull with that last job,real careful. From experience and also being told through the grapevine if your going get injured its always those freebie jobs for friends and multiplied x10 if its the last one of the year. Work safe and take care.

Thanks for your concern Holmen. Just returned from Thunder Bay last night at 3 a.m. Hit a good snowstorm just north of Barrie. Going to look at the job again later this week. I can always put it off till next spring if the timing is not right.