Retiring Arborist

[Honeypot1960]

Hi My name is Mike
I’m new to this site, and just wanted to share an experience that may be helpfull
I’m 63 years old , I’ve been climbing trees on salt spring island , and other gulf islands since I was 35 years old
I retired last September 2024 Following an accident that had me flown from salt spring to Vic generall , where I was in ICU for 6 days
To go back i was up a dead Balsam ( Grand Fir) carefully sounding it out as I climbed
I got to about 35 feet and didn’t want to go any further so I reached up and did a fast cut removing the top that was about 6 inches in diameter, as I did this I realised because of the way the cut was opening that it was hooked up to a near by Doug fir
The last thing I remember was the tree I was on starting to go
It moved about 5 inches I didn’t have time to grab any thing
That was it I was lying on the ground, no idea how long I was there for
I picked myself up managed to drop my belt an saw, but couldn’t bend enough to remove my spurs
Long story short, collapsed lung damaged kidney lots of bones down my right side cracked
And a small tear in my aorta
Which brings me to my point
I figured I could climb trees till I was 70 or didn’t want to do it anymore, I was in great shape, and had a good reputation
I was only working 2 to 3 days a week , over the years my wife and I paid off our house paid for a tonne of renovations, up grades etc, had no credit card debt or debts in generall
I have been on drugs since my accident to slow my heart rate , because of the tear in my aorta,
You can bleed to death from a tear in your aorta hence the drugs to slow my heart and lower blood pressure ,now 9 months after my accident the doc is lowering the dosage I’m walking every day to get back in shape
But strange thing I’m noticing is that my knees hurt like <>€£¥•
I figured that all that climbing over the years all that weight going up the tree , i lost all the muscle tone , it reavelled all the wear and tear on my body , particularly my knees
So maybe not for everyone but for some , as healthy as you feel there can be consequences for a prolonged career in tree combing I’m not trying to discourage anyone, I loved the work, and miss it a bit, as time went on , and you see more and more dead trees I got complacent, I should have spent more time and been safer say not to some jobs , or as in this case rope into a near by tree
I’ve had a few injuries doing tree work over almost 30 years, and I’m happy to share some of the stupid things I’ve done if there’s any interest
Though I will say on the island here guys have died or really hurt themselves doing this work
I would say it’s generally a safe job if you pay attention
Thanks
Mike

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Hi My name is Mike
I’m new to this site, and just wanted to share an experience that may be helpfull
I’m 63 years old , I’ve been climbing trees on salt spring island , and other gulf islands since I was 35 years old
I retired last September 2024 Following an accident that had me flown from salt spring to Vic generall , where I was in ICU for 6 days
To go back i was up a dead Balsam ( Grand Fir) carefully sounding it out as I climbed
I got to about 35 feet and didn’t want to go any further so I reached up and did a fast cut removing the top that was about 6 inches in diameter, as I did this I realised because of the way the cut was opening that it was hooked up to a near by Doug fir
The last thing I remember was the tree I was on starting to go
It moved about 5 inches I didn’t have time to grab any thing
That was it I was lying on the ground, no idea how long I was there for
I picked myself up managed to drop my belt an saw, but couldn’t bend enough to remove my spurs
Long story short, collapsed lung damaged kidney lots of bones down my right side cracked
And a small tear in my aorta
Which brings me to my point
I figured I could climb trees till I was 70 or didn’t want to do it anymore, I was in great shape, and had a good reputation
I was only working 2 to 3 days a week , over the years my wife and I paid off our house paid for a tonne of renovations, up grades etc, had no credit card debt or debts in generall
I have been on drugs since my accident to slow my heart rate , because of the tear in my aorta,
You can bleed to death from a tear in your aorta hence the drugs to slow my heart and lower blood pressure ,now 9 months after my accident the doc is lowering the dosage I’m walking every day to get back in shape
But strange thing I’m noticing is that my knees hurt like <>€£¥•
I figured that all that climbing over the years all that weight going up the tree , i lost all the muscle tone , it reavelled all the wear and tear on my body , particularly my knees
So maybe not for everyone but for some , as healthy as you feel there can be consequences for a prolonged career in tree combing I’m not trying to discourage anyone, I loved the work, and miss it a bit, as time went on , and you see more and more dead trees I got complacent, I should have spent more time and been safer say not to some jobs , or as in this case rope into a near by tree
I’ve had a few injuries doing tree work over almost 30 years, and I’m happy to share some of the stupid things I’ve done if there’s any interest
Though I will say on the island here guys have died or really hurt themselves doing this work
I would say it’s generally a safe job if you pay attention
Thanks
Mike

Wow, what a horrible accident. So glad you are still with us and able to talk about it. Also, you're very fortunate that you were financially prepared before this happened.
Enjoy your retirement!

And welcome to the AS forums.
With your career experience, I'm sure you will be a valuable asset to the forum.
I'm not an arborist, but I learn a lot from you guys!

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Welcome to AS. I had a similar experience. At least we walked away.

 

[telecasterfool]

I'm interested in the experience of those who climbed a lot. I have a theory that there is a danger in safely completing a dangerous job so many times. I changed from construction to tree work and saw it in the construction industry as well. I hear some climbers say: "I've done it this way for 20 years and never had an accident." Then, like you, they do. Please share your thoughts. Thanks.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

I'm interested in the experience of those who climbed a lot. I have a theory that there is a danger in safely completing a dangerous job so many times. I changed from construction to tree work and saw it in the construction industry as well. I hear some climbers say: "I've done it this way for 20 years and never had an accident." Then, like you, they do. Please share your thoughts. Thanks.

99.9% success rate sounds good until you start adding zeroes... I did the math and I think it was about my ten thousandth tree that got me...

 

[Honeypot1960]

I'm interested in the experience of those who climbed a lot. I have a theory that there is a danger in safely completing a dangerous job so many times. I changed from construction to tree work and saw it in the construction industry as well. I hear some climbers say: "I've done it this way for 20 years and never had an accident." Then, like you, they do. Please share your thoughts. Thanks.

 

[Honeypot1960]

I'm interested in the experience of those who climbed a lot. I have a theory that there is a danger in safely completing a dangerous job so many times. I changed from construction to tree work and saw it in the construction industry as well. I hear some climbers say: "I've done it this way for 20 years and never had an accident." Then, like you, they do. Please share your thoughts. Thanks.

It’s a complicated thing I think , there are many factors involved, but to speak for my self, I would say when a client asks you to do a bit more, then I have had accidents , I was often too tired and energetically hadn’t factored that in
I always needed to quantify my energy and was pretty sure what I could accomplish in a day, and that was quite a bit relatively speaking, I think I was pretty fast and accurate
Yes I think you can get good at it and become complacent
I also think the problem can be guys taking n too much work because they are charging less , and making mistakes , because they get tired
I used to think the clients could be cheap , but I now think the problem is withe the tree guy doing the job for too little, because they are afraid of not getting the job
For me I think I painted myself into a corner , I have lots of other talents , but this is almost all I did for a living for almost 30 years, and now I’m 63 and hoping I can do something else to supplement my income when I’m 65
I could go on ,but I think I’ll stop there
Thanks
Miike

 

[ATH]

There is some data I've seen in the past that there is a higher probability of accident in the "middle" of a hazardous career.

Beginners know it's hazardous and take extra precautions. Those approaching retirement have seen enough stuff and know they want to make it to the end. Middle of the career have gotten too comfortable and relaxed - relying on their expertise and creeping closer to the edge without realizing it.

Obviously, that's not all accidents. But being "in the middle" I try to stay very aware of that and keep away from the edge.

 

[English Al]

Leaving aside the statistical part of this discussion (which has its relevance), there are some important practical points to be learnt from Honeypot1960's opening post which need to reach a wider audience in my opinion.

Firstly, should a dead tree ever be climbed? Only as an absolute last resort, when all other ways of dealing with it have been considered and none is possible.

Could a bucket truck have been used? If it's not possible to get your own truck-mount to the job, could you hire in a machine that can? We recently hired a Hinowa spiderlift that had a phenomenal high/ reach duty but could be tracked anywhere that a one and a half ton mini-slew can go. I know it adds addition cost to the job (I'll come to that later), but if access is possible then that's got to be the best choice.

Can the tree be winched over, either off the fall or by the roots, uncut? You may not be able to get the winch tractor in line for a direct pull, but is it possible to set up a directional pull using one or more snatch blocks and additional ropes if required? If you can't get the tractor anywhere suitable, could you do it with the Tirfor? I know (all too well!) that you have no speed with a Tirfor so you can't 'run the tree' but if you get it on its way and in a direction where no serious damage will result, then it's job done.

In my experience it is very seldom that you encounter a tree where no alternatives present themselves and only one option is available. Often the choice is determined by (usually subconsiously) looking to the cheapest way in order to have the best chance of getting the job and making money on it. But when that job is especially risky, such as a big dead tree, then it is the arborist's duty to explain to the customer why the price will be high and the method of tackling the work that makes it so. Furthermore, the customer should be advised that any sustantially lower quoters should the quizzed on the intended procedure, and if it involves a straight climb and dismantle, they should think carefully about the risk (however remote it may seem) of serious or possibly fatal injury occurring on their property.

All that said, there are plenty of dead trees out there that it would be perfectly safe to climb, as well as many evil ones just waiting to catch out the chancer. A big part of our trade's professionalism is knowing the difference, every time.

P.S. Surely this thread deserves to be in Accidents and Fatalities topic where it would most likely come to the attention of a wider audience?

 

[capetrees]

Leaving aside the statistical part of this discussion (which has its relevance), there are some important practical points to be learnt from Honeypot1960's opening post which need to reach a wider audience in my opinion.

Firstly, should a dead tree ever be climbed? Only as an absolute last resort, when all other ways of dealing with it have been considered and none is possible.

Could a bucket truck have been used? If it's not possible to get your own truck-mount to the job, could you hire in a machine that can? We recently hired a Hinowa spiderlift that had a phenomenal high/ reach duty but could be tracked anywhere that a one and a half ton mini-slew can go. I know it adds addition cost to the job (I'll come to that later), but if access is possible then that's got to be the best choice.

Can the tree be winched over, either off the fall or by the roots, uncut? You may not be able to get the winch tractor in line for a direct pull, but is it possible to set up a directional pull using one or more snatch blocks and additional ropes if required? If you can't get the tractor anywhere suitable, could you do it with the Tirfor? I know (all too well!) that you have no speed with a Tirfor so you can't 'run the tree' but if you get it on its way and in a direction where no serious damage will result, then it's job done.

In my experience it is very seldom that you encounter a tree where no alternatives present themselves and only one option is available. Often the choice is determined by (usually subconsiously) looking to the cheapest way in order to have the best chance of getting the job and making money on it. But when that job is especially risky, such as a big dead tree, then it is the arborist's duty to explain to the customer why the price will be high and the method of tackling the work that makes it so. Furthermore, the customer should be advised that any sustantially lower quoters should the quizzed on the intended procedure, and if it involves a straight climb and dismantle, they should think carefully about the risk (however remote it may seem) of serious or possibly fatal injury occurring on their property.

All that said, there are plenty of dead trees out there that it would be perfectly safe to climb, as well as many evil ones just waiting to catch out the chancer. A big part of our trade's professionalism is knowing the difference, every time.

P.S. Surely this thread deserves to be in Accidents and Fatalities topic where it would most likely come to the attention of a wider audience?

I climb but only if I have to. As mentioned, what other ways can the tree (this one being dead) come down? Climbing is usually a last resort. I'm comfortable doing it but there comes a time when there are other ways to do it.

 

[Marley5]

At 64 and been blessed with great health, I woke up one morning with a totally different mindset.
A mindset of preservation.
I no longer climb trees, everything gets winched.
No longer use climbing tree stands.
No longer blow out my gutters from the roof, the list goes on.
If I ever fall, it'll be called tripping.
Stay safe