I leave the climbing to a pro

[rarefish383]

Ok gotcha. You meant business license, in other words not a hack. i misunderstood you.

Not quite. You have to have a business license too. MD had the "MD Tree Expert" license long, long before ISA. When the ISA came along my Dad got his ISA cert, but I never did. MD eventually switched to the ISA test for the MTE. I'm pretty sure that was in 1999. When I took the MTE it was supposed to be the first test with the new ISA test, but their computer wouldn't load the exam, so I took the old exam. Landscapers and lawn guys have a business license, but they can't do tree work, along with building contractors, they have to have a MD Home Improvement License,"MHIL". When ever big storms hit the lawn guys run out and buy a new Wild Thing and say they are licensed and give their MHIL. All they can do legally is clean up debris on the ground. No climbing or removal. My Dad was born in 1923, and when he was old enough to start helping his Dad, they still had teams of Horses and a Model A dump truck. He used to ride down to Georgetown, in DC, to buy dynamite to blast stumps. He said his dad would break the sticks in smaller pieces and pack clay in the holes and blast stumps right next to foundations. Just think what the land of regulations would do with that today, Joe.

 

[rarefish383]

Hddnis, I have to agree we still have a lot of hacks in MD. Part of our state has "New Marylanders" the other part still has "Illegal Aliens". My Dad's license was #48. Now the numbers are 4 digits or more. Before Dad retired he got real sick, spent over a month in the hospital. While I was running the business, our goal was $85 per man hour, and we stayed booked 12 weeks out, that was the mid 80's. We still had Asplundh 16" chippers, Vermeer model 15 stump grinders. My cousin retired a few years ago and sold his business to his BIL. They are still averaging about $85 per man hour, but with newer, better equipment, they get work done much faster. With the influx of cheap labor, some legal, some not, the price of work, relatively speaking, has come way down. Most of our clientele were in the Potomac area, the highest of high end, people like Sugar Ray Leonard, Linda Carter, not our customers, lived there. We would never dream of putting a truck on a lawn. Now they just throw the log across the lawn or back a knuckle boom up to the trunk. Even a lot of the higher end companies do that, and they tell the customers there is no other way to do it. It's easier to bring in a load of top soil and reseed. There are always other ways, they just might be more expensive, or they take longer and cut into the profit margin. When the estimator of a big company tells the client there is no other way, and they next guys price is way higher, because he was going to do it a better way, they go with the cheaper guy thinking they are going to both do it the same way. Dad actually bought a pick truck load of burlap sheets, 8'X8', to cover the whole yard because the customer said he didn't want any saw dust on the lawn. I'm retired now, so all I do is hunt and fish and get in my wife's way, and stir up trouble on AS, Joe.

 

[rarefish383]

Hell I am all for licensing for a one time fee, I am not for having to empty my savings every time a renewal comes up, lucky for us here no need for the extra crap just tax license and insurance and you are good to go. I would like to see more people practicing responsible work ethics.

Raymond Ease
Tennessee Landscaping and Arboriculture

Ray, as I said I'm retired now, so I'm not up with all of the new rules. When I got my license it was something like $10 or $20 dollars to take the test. To qualify to take the test you had to have a 4 year degree or 8 years in the field. License renewal was like $10 a year. Now I think you have to take so many hours of class to stay current. Maybe Zale will see this and jump in, he's still current. It's not prohibitively expensive, but it may take a little more time now. I don't have a real problem with the further education part. When I was at the University of Maryland, Doctor Shigo was still a bit of a newcomer, and his studies were still a bit in question. I grew up on the studies of P.P. Perone, If I quoted from Perone's book, some one would hit me with it. Times change, studies advance, we have to keep up or get out, Joe.

 

[homemade]

Not to deflect the climbing decision, did you ask if the power company would drop the power to the ground for you? Around me the power company will drop the service for backyard trees. But this is a lot longer and they usually only do one span for free.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jere39]

Not to deflect the climbing decision, did you ask if the power company would drop the power to the ground for you? Around me the power company will drop the service for backyard trees. But this is a lot longer and they usually only do one span for free.

IN the 30+ years I've lived here the power company has made it abundantly clear they have zero responsibility for the lines to my house. In those rare instances (unfortunately 3 years in a row a couple years ago) that a tree takes out the lines and service, I have to find private electrical contractors to make the repairs. So, I am certain that I could have contracted for an independent contractor to drop the primary power, the ground, the cable, and the pair of phone lines. Then take down these trees myself, then bring the electrical contractor back to re-hang the lines. There is also no doubt the cost of removing and restoring the lines would have been greater than the cost of having the climbing crew take the trees down from the top.

 

[Raymond Eade]

Ray, as I said I'm retired now, so I'm not up with all of the new rules. When I got my license it was something like $10 or $20 dollars to take the test. To qualify to take the test you had to have a 4 year degree or 8 years in the field. License renewal was like $10 a year. Now I think you have to take so many hours of class to stay current. Maybe Zale will see this and jump in, he's still current. It's not prohibitively expensive, but it may take a little more time now. I don't have a real problem with the further education part. When I was at the University of Maryland, Doctor Shigo was still a bit of a newcomer, and his studies were still a bit in question. I grew up on the studies of P.P. Perone, If I quoted from Perone's book, some one would hit me with it. Times change, studies advance, we have to keep up or get out, Joe.

I hear ya there I am just getting started in the business, at least on my own. It can be overwhelming looking at the cost involved in the initial certs not to mention insurance and workers comp stuff. But I figure I be alright once I get the bids dialed in

Raymond Ease
Tennessee Landscaping and Arboriculture

 

[NSMaple1]

IN the 30+ years I've lived here the power company has made it abundantly clear they have zero responsibility for the lines to my house. In those rare instances (unfortunately 3 years in a row a couple years ago) that a tree takes out the lines and service, I have to find private electrical contractors to make the repairs. So, I am certain that I could have contracted for an independent contractor to drop the primary power, the ground, the cable, and the pair of phone lines. Then take down these trees myself, then bring the electrical contractor back to re-hang the lines. There is also no doubt the cost of removing and restoring the lines would have been greater than the cost of having the climbing crew take the trees down from the top.

Here, the power company has everything from the end of the mast, out. Had a limb knock down the line to a family cottage here this winter, broke at the pole. The procedure was get an electrician, he would back & forth with the power company to verify the mast & meter stuff was still solid, then they would come out & hook it back up.

 

[Jere39]

I'm sure it works that way here if your house is within one or two poles of the road and right-of-way. Once you get as far back as I am the poles, right-of-way, connections, insulators, cross-bars, wire/cable itself are all private responsibility. So, if these trees were within the first two poles from the road, I'm sure they would have accommodated. As it is, if I call, they send a supervisor out to show me the prints, and have a good laugh at my expense.

 

[Zale]

Ray, as I said I'm retired now, so I'm not up with all of the new rules. When I got my license it was something like $10 or $20 dollars to take the test. To qualify to take the test you had to have a 4 year degree or 8 years in the field. License renewal was like $10 a year. Now I think you have to take so many hours of class to stay current. Maybe Zale will see this and jump in, he's still current. It's not prohibitively expensive, but it may take a little more time now. I don't have a real problem with the further education part. When I was at the University of Maryland, Doctor Shigo was still a bit of a newcomer, and his studies were still a bit in question. I grew up on the studies of P.P. Perone, If I quoted from Perone's book, some one would hit me with it. Times change, studies advance, we have to keep up or get out, Joe.

$20.00 to renew and you need 8 ceu. over a two year period. Renewal is good for two years. Also need to show proof of insurance.

 

[Jed1124]

See, that is where you're just flat wrong.

You can still find hacks and low ballers. Licensed does nothing to protect the homeowner, it just makes work more expensive for the homeowner.

I've always lived in states that require a license, bonding, insurance and I still deal with lowball hacks, most of them have a license and insurance too, they just work cheaper and don't deliver a good product.

Bid one job where I lost the work to company that backed a bucket truck into the yard leaving ruts, knocked down a section of fence dropping limbs, and they didn't even rake up. Homeowner was bragging to his neighbor how much money he saved. The neighbor is a longtime customer of mine and said he just told him he didn't get a very good job. No amount of licensing or big brother is ever going to weed out the hacks, it's just a fact.

In matter of fact the more regulation there is the greater the reward for not following the regulations. Just look at the drug problem! Requiring a pharmacy to be licensed sure is protecting all those poor consumers from unsafe drugs.

Your own sig line with the quote from NASA agrees with my point.

I'm not a big government regulation guy by any means.
That being said we've had a state arborist license for a long time, and I'm all for it.
We still have hacks, but most of the hacks are unlicensed, not paying comp, liability, paying under the table so they can low ball bids.
I know most of the licensed arbs in my area. I like most of them, but not all of them, but I would not refer to any of them as hacks.
I still see some topped trees, but not nearly as many as when I ride into neighboring states that don't have a arborist license reqirement.

 

[Jere39]

In the off chance there is anyone interested in the continuing progress of clearing the dead Oak threatening my utility lines, I offer this update:

Yesterday after a refresher vacation at the beach I awoke to temps in the 50's and decided to saw up the tops and haul them to a more convenient place to split and stack them.

I had used my Dolmar ps 421 on the Maple limb that fell on our Church building last week and knew it had half a tank of mix and I believed the 16" bar would be sufficient for most of this cutting. I filled the bar oil and fuel in the garage (clue 1). And Scout and I strolled down the drive to the farthest tree. I sawed that tree top up handily and began sawing next farthest tree top. Eventually my chain jumped the bar. I shut down the saw and noticed (clue 2) the bar oil cap was missing:





Hmmm, don't think that ever happened to me before, and can't imagine the combination of forces required to unscrew and then pull the cap and tether out of the tank.

Next I pulled the sprocket cover to reset the chain. That's when I noticed the chain was bone dry (clue 3) as a result of running dry. When I removed the chain it was so dry and stiff there were links that wouldn't straighten out (clue 4):





Not good, I couldn't get it to track straight in the bar groove. My usual response to this kind of puzzle: lunch break. After lunch Scout and I went back to scene of the jumped chain in search of the cap. I'll include two pics from that tree as (clue 5 & 6) in case one of you have better eyes and spot it laying there among the saw dust, rounds, and poison ivy:






I couldn't find it, but guessed the saw probably ran for a while before it got so dry it spit the chain. I move back in reverse order of sawing sites till I found these rounds with significant oil spill ( clue 7):




I thought I finally was in the right area and searched thoroughly but found nothing.

Then Scout reminded me that these oiled rounds are certainly where the cap loosened, but the cap probably stayed tethered for some time before popping out and dropping.

Smart dog, we searched for a while, but soon decided it was futile.



So, back to the house and Google where I found part number 181 114 202, list price $5.62 plus about twice that much shipping.

Fortunately, my local dealer had a cap which though Dolmar (Now Makita) have different part numbers, we quickly determined the cap for a PS 5105 was the same functional part. This dealer declared the chain "end of useful life" so I replaced it, he also was concerned the oil pump was probably destroyed by running dry for any length of time. We filled it with mix and bar oil and quickly verified the pump was working fine.

Back out this morning fully expecting to find the cap now that I have replaced it. No problem, I'll have a spare.

My much smarter dog has watched me sweat, slip, slide, and grunt a bunch of these rounds up the steep incline to my ATV and cart. He'll just stay up there and observe.



Thanks for all comments, related or not. And thanks for checking out my long posts with probably too many pictures.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Lunch doesn't solve everything, but it sure helps keep things in perspective.

 

[Jere39]

Got a small pension, big enough for a cheese steak and a Yuengling about mid-day every day. I'm good

 

[Sandhill Crane]

It's summer!
Our golden retriever lays on the cool concrete of the garage floor and watches me leave for the wood lot on the quad.
That hill has a pretty good slope to it Jere39! Looks like work...and a lot of it.

 

[Jere39]

Well, the climber involved a couple months ago has finally gotten over all the negative comments posted earlier in this thread and was back today to get another dead Red Oak down from the top so as not to take out my utility lines.



Taking out a couple of the tops:



Bringing the top down on the descent:

 

[greengreer]

Where's his hardhat?

 

[Jere39]

Kind of makes a guy wonder why he posts. I don't frankly know where his hard hat was.


I am gradually getting that wood processed. But this Fall I noticed yet another Oak that had died, and was leaning toward my utility lines. Today my son visited, so with some help I decided to tackle it. But not by climbing, I was confident in both my felling direction and my static line and come-along. Combined, I bet my electric, cable, and phone lines on it.

I threw a line up into a crotch in the middle tree there. (It didn't happen on first, second, or third toss):



Then, with my son on the handle of the come-along:

• I climbed down and notched the face
• I forgot to take my hatchet down with me, so I stumbled up, got it and knocked the notch wedge out
• Son cranked some tension on the tree
• I made the back cut, drove in a pair of wedges, and inched the back cut a little farther
• Reached for hatchet and got one more tap on the felling wedge, but tree was already on the way down
• And, as usual in my videos, a small branch plunked my camera

Sorry for the 4:30 video, it would be shorter if I had taken the hatchet down the hill with me, or, if I learned how to edit with the GoPro studio software.




Merry Christmas everyone, have a healthy, and safe new year!

 

[Jere39]

Yesterday my son came back (isn't Christmas time grand) and we did some retrieves of this Oak. I cut it into about 10' sections and used the hand winch on my log arch and my ATV to pull the logs up the hill and drag them off to a better processing area.

One of our retrieves from the small end of the tree:


One of the earlier rig and crank videos at 3x speed:


I think my son might now be motivated to consider buying his Dad an electric winch for the log arch for Christmas:



Drag and un-hitch:





And, taking a break with my TimberSport Team member Scout:

 

[svk]

Nice pictures!

Send that EOL chain to @Philbert, he'll have it back into shape in no time!

 

[Jere39]

Same son, same driveway, a little more snow for easier skidding. So, I cut another tree there along the driveway today:



The winching looks very much the same as the last time. Some of these are pretty heavy, so I cut them shorter. Once this one was close enough for the choker chain, we pulled it up over the lip of the embankment with the tractor power:



Then dragged it to the same processing location where I'll work it up next week:



Although I usually process where they fall, that just wasn't smart there on the side of the embankment, so extra steps, made easier by a visit from my son.