Monday morning blues

[imagineero]

Sometimes things are just all messed up. It's been raining for about 10 days here, and it's winter too. We worked friday, and everything got put away wet. Everybody was soaked. Got my chainsaw pants and boots dried out over the weekend, but left all the gear in the truck, and man it sure was wet and smelly! Nothing like sliding into wet cold gloves first thing in the morning, and putting a wet helmet on your head, then climbing a tree with a waterlogged rope, every hip thrust sending water cascading down your arms :-( To top it off, couldn't find a cafe open on the way to the job so I missed out on breakfast, and the job was a big pine so everything is now wet and sappy also.

On the plus side, it didn't rain so things got dried out a bit. And I'd still rather be doing this than anything else!

Shaun

 

[TheJollyLogger]

A good cowboy feeds his horse before he eats, and a good climber dries his gear before himself..... shame on you, Shaun. :msp_mad:

 

[imagineero]

hehe.... yeah it's been a loooooooong time since I've put my gear away wet and not dried it out, and it was a good reminder of just how awful it is. Heading on up wasn't so bad, but once I had my high point set and came back down to work the canopy my prussik was stripping the rope of all its wet muddy holdings, I was covered in it :-(

First sunny day in a week and a half, I flaked a dozen ropes out and let them get semi dry. Hopefully more sun tomorrow!

I make a point of sharpening all my saws every night, so I leave with a full quiver every morning. I find it kind of relaxing too. If I went straight in the house after a long day I might not be in the mood for talking like a human being. So I hit the garage, put some music on, crack a cold one and start sharpening. Once the saws are all sharpened, I find I've taken the hard edge off myself too.

Shaun

 

[TheJollyLogger]

When I was working in Houston it was a struggle to keep the gear dry during the rainy season too. I used to put a 2/1 prussik, or whatever wouldn't hold on the rope and run it through before I started up, it helped strip at least some of the water out.

 

[StrataTree]

Well if its not one thing.....
Winter is sounding pretty good now! I've had 1 day of hot temps and I'm over it!
Forgot what it's like workin in an oven...

I love the seasons, don't get me wrong...just ...
Not too hot
Not too cold
Not too wet...:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[treesmith]

Not too hot, not too cold I know exactly what you mean Strata!
Spent several years getting used to Scottish winter temperatures( -17'c lunchtime) and non summers, then moved to Oz with heavy Eucs in 38'c and full chainsaw gear and a scottish summer for a winter. If one more person tells me how cold it is here.....

And yeah, yesterday was a Monday for sure, clearing then grinding bush stumps in a rental bombsite dump hole. Today at least the 088 got covered in chips, in fact, everything got covered in chips but at least it's dry.

 

[imagineero]

Where in aus are you treesmith?

 

[treesmith]

Hi Shaun, I'm currently in outskirts of Melbourne, love it here but the summer takes some getting used to, the 38'c day we were taking down a Euc in full PPE with an uphill drag to the chipper, had an esky full of ice water which disappeared quick. The HO was sat under his porch drinking cold drinks telling us he thought it was supposed to be hot! Anyway, he then moves two barrows of dirt, changes colour and we never see him again

It's a little different to waist deep snow.

And yesterday I also managed to slam my phone in the truck door.

Andy

 

[imagineero]

Welcome to aus mate ;-) The last couple summers have been pretty mild. 3 or 4 years ago it was commonplace to have 10 or more days in a row over 40 degrees in summer. I'll confess to climbing in shorts in those sort of temperatures!

How's the tree scene down there? I heard citywide has the civic scene pretty well sewn up, but I guess there's still plenty of residential for smaller tree companies. Are the councils difficult to get removal permits from like it is in sydney, or is it pretty easy like in brisbane?

Shaun

 

[treesmith]

Thanks Shaun, it's nice to be here.
It's all dependant on location, different councils have different requirements. We're doing private residential, removals and pruning and work for a gardening company looking after rentals so good variety.
I'm not a qualified arborist(no degree) but I've got good knowledge of tree biology, CODIT, Shigo, inspections and hazards, was a regular contractor for a Scottish National Trust public garden. I love trees, well except palm trees! I'll be looking to get more qualifications now that I'm in civilisation, Scotland was beautiful but too far from anyting useful. Just got to learn all the Aussie trees now , when I see a European tree I get all excited
What's it like in the Blue Mountains, Shaun till working my way round Victoria.

 

[imagineero]

Sounds like you're already well ahead of most "arborists" then. Sign yourself up for your cert II arboriculture at tafe, takes 12 months but it's the basic climbing ticker. 6 months theory, 6 months climbing, one day each week. Some tafes offer the theory as a night class so you can work 5 days a week. You can do contract climbing from there, but some people are requiring cert III now, which is an additional 12 months of much the same stuff at a higher level. From there you can go on and do a diploma and become a consulting arborist which is good as you get older.

There are some big trees down there, and some good companys too. I was up the mountains working, but the trees are just too big, and the money too little... and you're always working on steep ground. I wouldn't care if I never worked another tree over 150' ever again. Couple years ago I moved my business down to the city. The cost of living is a lot higher, but there's so much more work available, and the work is generally easier and better paid. I still crank out a monster every now and then just to keep it real, but mostly we do smaller stuff nowadays. Its been one of the quietest winters ever this year, not just for tree work but for the economy in general. Retail, construction, property etc... all got hit pretty hard this year. I'm doing ok because I own all my gear, but if I had debts to pay it would be tough times right about now.

Shaun

 

[treesmith]

Thanks Shaun, I'll do that, I've got CS 30/31/34/36/38/39 saw maintenance/felling/rescue/saw-rope and harness.
NPTC UK in 2001 but I'll be here now so best get Aussiefied

If you can recommend a tree I.D. book or supplier that'd be handy

Cheers, Andy

 

[treesmith]

I've got a lot of respect for you Aussies and the monster trees here, my wife and I went down the Great Ocean Road and they're not the biggest! BIG wood! And bloody heavy too

 

[imagineero]

Leonard Cronin's key guide to australian trees is pretty good, but it's hard to get your head around australian trees because they're so similar. There's Euc's, and non eucs, and euc's make up the most of it. You need to get a loupe and examine the seed pods and flowers to distinguish between some of the 700+ species. In the real worold, you're likely to be exposed to a limited variety, which are indigenous to the area you work in. Most are region specific, and prolific in that region. In sydney it's the grey box out west, turpentine up north, sydney red gum, sydney blue gum, lemon scented gum, apple gum, scribbly gum, peppermint gum, ironbark, nicholai, the brush box, and a few other species. Most of what you end up working with is exotic anyhow, some of which you may be familiar with already. Jacarandas, liquidambar, plane trees, camphor laurel, cocos palm, privet, african olive, cypress pines (many variants), chinese elm, etc...

Euc's vary a lot in density, hardness and weight. Some of the softer eucs are softer than pine, and weigh very little. They live a short life and are easy pray to insects. Some of the harder/denser ones really blow your mind. They have you thinking there's something wrong with your chain.... there's just no cutting going on! Sparks fly, just from the contact between the wood and the chain. The pieces look small, but when you try and pick them up you can't believe the weight in them.

The species local to your area will be completely different from mine. Having a book doesn't help a lot, you get most of your knowledge from guys you work with who are familiar with the local trees. It takes a bit of time to get your eye in, and spot the subtle differences between them but once you get calibrated you'll start to pick out more. Some councils have information on species indigenous to their area on their websites which might be not a bad place to start.

Shaun