It s a groundie thang, you don t wanna understand

[treevet]

I know we d all like to think of our lower altitude pals as brush chipping technicians and rope holding engineers but in reality, at times you gotta fill a spot w a warm body and evaluate later. Years ago I had a gm that I later found lived under a bridge by the Delaware River. One day he painted his boots from top to bottom w tree paint (a paint pot w a brush and thick tar in it). Man he thought they looked like a million dollars. His cohort Stanley,who I hired w him was a former pizza maker, They often broke out in fist fights I had to brake up as Stanley found his wife under the bridge and the other dude admitted having her years back. Stanley drove a huge landshark tbird w a big plastic t v antanae but never owned a t v. I fired them catching them smoking a dube behind the mansion on a huge horse farm that was my main source at that time.

 

[DonnyO]

I don't know what to make of the story, except that it is pretty f'n HILARIOUS!

 

[Mtnman4ever]

I thank mthe goundy who thought smoking a butt was more important than watching me andthe ropes .
ah well heis now saying would you like fires with that !

But Isure wishi could have awy of attaching hius income to pay my mewdical bill increased insurance and lost jobs !
Notall ar bad most wantot learn and od . I hada young Hispanic woman on work relase from a jail I took on her brohre was the real crimanl but .. icanot say lege stuff
All 110 LBs of her was running a 395 with 50 inch bar no problesn dropin tress we took truns oswe did not become exuasted . i still call her for help she is great ! hassaw and is early !
So not all are idtiots .

Iwould watch them ona few smaller jobs and se how the go and spend time working with them so you have a soild crew that works well anscan do almost any job
Mntman

 

[CRN Tree]

I was my fathers ground man and know he is mine we've had our moments but have learned a lot form him. So I guess I can't knock him too bad. I've hired some others on occasion that have met the warm body criteria

 

[Mtnman4ever]

I was my fathers ground man and know he is mine we've had our moments but have learned a lot form him. So I guess I can't knock him too bad. I've hired some others on occasion that have met the warm body criteria

You might want to re think that warmbody critrea Um my typos ar aresult of that just my thoughts

. I want them alter and at least ready to work if anly to pull a rope or lmove logs ect . I f all Ineed i soem one ot move stuff i try to find a peron who needs the wrok and can use a fewdas extra cash .
I avoid theday laobor gruopnow and just post a add or a reliable person who works with people to get them on the right track

 

[treevet]

One day you re gonna name your next kid after them, the next day you re gonna knock their teeth down their throat.

 

[treesquirrel]

The one and only ground man that I have working with me, not for me mind you, is a man I trust with my life. I hope to never have to replace him as I know this will be an impossible task.

He is so dependable and hard working I've been known to split the profits from some jobs with him 50/50 even though I own all the equipment and do the climbing. Instead of finding reasons to be idle while waiting on me to drop the nest limb or chunk he will find something productive that he can do. Or he gives me $hit about being too slow.

Finding great people to work with that you trust is soooo difficult these days.

I thank God for the man every job we do togather.

 

[tree md]

I have been blessed to have some very good ground men. 2 of them brought food to my bed for a month after I got hurt and couldn't get out of bed. I drug one of them half way up a tree onetime when I forgot to tell him to get a wrap and he still didn't let go of the rope.

Of couse I have had some bad ones too. Had one chase me around the truck in a customers front yard with a hammer because I only paid him a half days wage (he showed up after lunch drunk and I told him to come back at the end of the day to draw his pay).

Worst case I know of is when one of my mentors was killed by his ground hands. Both were new and neither spoke English. They took the rigging off of a log and let the cable from the boom truck swing back into a power line. Killed my old boss who was operating the crane instantly and killed his longtime friend as well when he tried to open the door to the boom truck to shut it down.

 

[treevet]

I have been blessed to have some very good ground men. 2 of them brought food to my bed for a month after I got hurt and couldn't get out of bed. I drug one of them half way up a tree onetime when I forgot to tell him to get a wrap and he still didn't let go of the rope.

Of couse I have had some bad ones too. Had one chase me around the truck in a customers front yard with a hammer because I only paid him a half days wage (he showed up after lunch drunk and I told him to come back at the end of the day to draw his pay).

Worst case I know of is when one of my mentors was killed by his ground hands. Both were new and neither spoke English. They took the rigging off of a log and let the cable from the boom truck swing back into a power line. Killed my old boss who was operating the crane instantly and killed his longtime friend as well when he tried to open the door to the boom truck to shut it down.

Man, that is a sad story. Why was the boom so far from the piece when they disconnected it?

 

[tree md]

Not sure what the deal was, I wasn't there. I think there was a gulley involved or something where they had to swing the cable. I heard that my old boss was screaming at them to not take the choker off but they couldn't understand what he was saying. Just goes to show that there needs to be good communication on the job. I have used hands that don't speak English but their duties are limited to loading the truck.

 

[Timberhauler]

I have had my share of some interesting ground guys.It also seems like everyone coming to me looking for a job does not have a DL either..But the crew I have now is great.The guy I have with me most of the time is one of the best at roping I've ever seen.I can hardly feel the tree move with every cut when he is lowering..He also comes up with some really good rigging ideas.He's a decent climber,but he'd rather be on the ground...You just can't teach someone to do what he can..

 

[treevet]

You know what tree md if there is any good part to that story it s that your old boss had a best friend that was his gm and not only would he think about risking his life for him he was a hero enough to actually do it. LTimberhauler You gotta treat a gm like that like gold. He can climb and prob would in a pinch. He could help w overload. Also if nec he could attempt an aerial rescue. Most impt is that lowering finesse. You always got a big take down that you are at the mercy of the gm. You are tied into what you are lowering off and it is subject to breaking if they don t give a little run and a gradual stop. Most of them like to fish and I tell them you got a big pay lake cat on the line for the500$ pool money. You got a small spinning set up and you are the drag to not break the line and lose him and the bucks (the bucks being my life). Sad part is you treat them like gold, quite often, and they don t appreciate it and they re gone or try their own thing when they are that good.

 

[tree md]

Yes it was a very sad situation Treevet. These weren't young guys, they were both in their 60's. They had started out together and had worked together for over 40 years. The cable had welded to the powerline which electrified the boom truck. I'm sure the guy would have known better than to touch the truck if his first thought had not been to try to help his friend.

There is a lot to be said for a good ground man. We couldn't do what we do if they didn't do what they do. I always try to make a point of letting them know that.

 

[adam]

for some time i wanted to post a poll, something like "is there a need for a team event at the climber's competition?" I think that there is a place for "best groudman in Idaho", "best groundman in Ontario" and "the best groundman in the world" I'd like this guy who lives uder the bridge to say one day "ok,I'm between homes right now but I'm the best". If he quits "takin' edge of the morning" with a joint.

 

[treevet]

Be a good event. A good team of climber and groundman makes both of them better than if they were alone. Something like l plus l equals 3. Don t know how else to say it. Maybe you could hang some heavy weights in a tree w a crane and have them rigged down w out damaging the tree. Under bridge dude would have worked out for me if he wasn t a stoner. I try to do the best w any gm I got til the dope becomes apparent. Had a gm run a 44 into his face and later found from his sister he was on acid.

 

[oldugly]

My groundman now is my son...He is as good as they get. He never wanted to learn how to climb, but he is the greates ever.

 

[treevet]

You re the 2nd dad and son team on this thread. CRNTree was ground for his dad and now his dad is ground for him. I can t ever remember having a good ground that clients didn t think we were father and son incl. current. I always take that as a compliment bcs it has been asked when they are impressed.

 

[treevet]

I have been blessed to have some very good ground men. 2 of them brought food to my bed for a month after I got hurt and couldn't get out of bed. I drug one of them half way up a tree onetime when I forgot to tell him to get a wrap and he still didn't let go of the rope.

Of couse I have had some bad ones too. Had one chase me around the truck in a customers front yard with a hammer because I only paid him a half days wage (he showed up after lunch drunk and I told him to come back at the end of the day to draw his pay).

Worst case I know of is when one of my mentors was killed by his ground hands. Both were new and neither spoke English. They took the rigging off of a log and let the cable from the boom truck swing back into a power line. Killed my old boss who was operating the crane instantly and killed his longtime friend as well when he tried to open the door to the boom truck to shut it down.

Just thought old dirty from the " big silver maple " thread might get a look at treemd's post if he ever comes back after getting roughed up a bit.

 

[blueatlascedar]

I think some of the best gm are one's that climb or have climbed. Many times I would take the role of the gm to help one of my climbers on tough jobs with lots of rigging involved. The guy in the tree would always say why aren't our other gm's this competent on the ground?

 

[adam]

good groundie

is priceless, still I was ridiculed seeking oppinion about "team event" at ISA climbing championship, obviously it's for dudes wearing spandexes with all this glittering gizmos on their useless teeny-weeny harnesses. No down to earth hard working goundsmen allowed. A