Treeslaying Illinois style

[treeslayer]

and a public apology to John Sanborn, He has been an outstanding lifeline whenever I travel and need assistance, and my comments were completely out of line.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

and a public apology to John Sanborn, He has been an outstanding lifeline whenever I travel and need assistance, and my comments were completely out of line.

he also called me with a sincere apology for referring to my wife in that manner. I understood it was a jest, response to mine.

Water under the bridge.


Tom, he told me about Texas. We do need to talk about something too.

 

[ozzy42]

:agree2:

What the hell, that is kinda funny.

But here's a pic of the big maple I did top, was a pretty drastic crown reduction.

Did you tell them how nice it will look when it bushes back out?:hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[ozzy42]

I like to call that a ground level basal pruning!

I can get that fire truck into very tight spaces and down one lane streets with tight corners its unbelievable what you can do with it.It will completely destroy the neighbors home.

Thats either a big azz stump or a small azz bottle.


On the serious side,,,,,,glad you guys worked out your differences.

 

[BC WetCoast]

Now's here one for debate.
This big silver maple has lost over 50% of the trunk to rot and decay.

another tree company said "It's OK, not a hazard. "

This tree is 80' tall + and has 3 big leaders that spread out wide, in a perfect sail. A LOT of leaves.
and this thing sits less than 100' off the fox river and very close to a house whose owners asked us to examine it. Its not there tree, but a neighbors. It does not threaten the tree owners house.

I told them to send a registered letter advising the homeowner that the tree is a dangerous situation, and give them our estimate.

what do you guys think?

If you are calling this a hazard tree by looking at the cavity from over the fence, then you need more training in hazard tree assessment. Without determining shell thickness (which would require coring) you cannot make that recommendation in a professional manner.

I'm not saying that it isn't a hazard, what I'm saying is that you can't make the determination without a proper assessment and a single picture doesn't allow for a proper assessment.

 

[ropensaddle]

I can get that fire truck into very tight spaces and down one lane streets with tight corners its unbelievable what you can do with it.It will completely destroy the neighbors home.

Well there is a huge difference in flat land than here in up and downville I promise that

Here is what I get stuck with while illegals are trimming the cake!

 

[treeslayer]

If you are calling this a hazard tree by looking at the cavity from over the fence, then you need more training in hazard tree assessment. Without determining shell thickness (which would require coring) you cannot make that recommendation in a professional manner.

I'm not saying that it isn't a hazard, what I'm saying is that you can't make the determination without a proper assessment and a single picture doesn't allow for a proper assessment.

yes I can make a determination, and I personally don't need more training.
The one pic does not reflect our concern, however, advising the homeowner living under it, (elderly) that it is not a threat presents a dilemma, ethically and morally.

I've been doing this for a LONG time, and that tree does not belong where it sits. But of course a catastrophic failure would most likely result from an extreme wind/rain condition, and this tree could go for many years.

so the conundrum is, when asked for a professional opinion, how many of us give the honest assessment? while starving half to death?

I would like to hear more about the effectiveness of core sampling though.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

so the conundrum is, when asked for a professional opinion, how many of us give the honest assessment? while starving half to death?

That it does increase the risk of failure over a perfect tree, but is not an necessarily a high risk. If your "client" is willing to pay for the removal, or in part, then making a report stating this "know defect" does constitute an elevated risk is not a bad thing.

I have worded them as to the effect that there is a "known defect" that a "reasonable person" could ascertain that there was an elevated risk of failure. That you visibly inspected the tree from the lotine and public right of way to make your assessment and that your client wanted the trees owners informed so that your client would not incur any liability resulting from the trees future failure.

 

[treeslayer]

That it does increase the risk of failure over a perfect tree, but is not an necessarily a high risk.

and therein lies the issue, while I certainly know the potential risk and possible failure path, it,s hard to be objective when I am haunted by too many memories of damage. too many years of riding thru hurricanes.

calls for objectivity.

 

[ropensaddle]

and therein lies the issue, while I certainly know the potential risk and possible failure path, it,s hard to be objective when I am haunted by too many memories of damage. too many years of riding thru hurricanes.

calls for objectivity.

I am right with you there friend a defect they ask me things like will it fail or could it and what would happen if it did. I would hate to tell them like one CA did up north that the trees are not a threat in a public park and two people died in two separate incidents. I don't have billionaires backing my arse. I always try to tell them my opinion based off real life experience and assess the targets first and foremost. Some trees are in the wrong spot.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

and therein lies the issue, while I certainly know the potential risk and possible failure path, it,s hard to be objective when I am haunted by too many memories of damage. too many years of riding thru hurricanes.

calls for objectivity.

When asked "will it fall" I say that any tree can fail under adverse conditions. Meteorologists you tree debris to determine wind strength and patterns after a disaster.

Structural defects will increase the risk of failure in less extreem conditions. In scenarios like this the question is not always "will it fail?" but "who will pay if it does?"

We all know that once a fallen tree crosses a property boundary most jurisdictions consider it an act of god/nature and hold it more or less as a transfer of property/liability. There is precedence that can shift that liability back to the trees owner if there is a known defect and it can be shown that the owner knew about it prior to the event.

Some munies will condemn a tree if a complaint it filed, forcing the removal.

I have written several reports like this, one is posted on this site, that have been sent to the tree's owners, client's insurance company, civil authorities, legal counsel...Some have resulted in removal, trimming or a status quo that allows gives the insurance company room to recover damages from the owner in the event of failure.

The question of ethics we must ask ourselves is whether we are doing this as a service, or to get more removal jobs.

 

[ropensaddle]

When asked "will it fall" I say that any tree can fail under adverse conditions. Meteorologists you tree debris to determine wind strength and patterns after a disaster.

Structural defects will increase the risk of failure in less extreem conditions. In scenarios like this the question is not always "will it fail?" but "who will pay if it does?"

We all know that once a fallen tree crosses a property boundary most jurisdictions consider it an act of god/nature and hold it more or less as a transfer of property/liability. There is precedence that can shift that liability back to the trees owner if there is a known defect and it can be shown that the owner knew about it prior to the event.

Some munies will condemn a tree if a complaint it filed, forcing the removal.

I have written several reports like this, one is posted on this site, that have been sent to the tree's owners, client's insurance company, civil authorities, legal counsel...Some have resulted in removal, trimming or a status quo that allows gives the insurance company room to recover damages from the owner in the event of failure.

The question of ethics we must ask ourselves is whether we are doing this as a service, or to get more removal jobs.

Good post

 

[treeslayer]

We took the ladder truck to a birthday party at the lake yesterday, and wowed the crowd with a rappelling demo.

when that ladder went up 100' people driving by stopped, came from all over the neighborhood, and boats were stopping to watch. was really cool showing off, let me tell ya.

this is from 100' with me hanging upside down, then I pulled the hitch with my feet, came down headfirst with my arms outstretched, and that really gets attention and applause.:jester:

 

[fireman]

superman

I wish I could be just like you when I grow up your my hero.superman.:sword::sword:

 

[treeslayer]

Why grow up?

 

[treeslayer]

I wish I could be just like you when I grow up your my hero.superman.:sword::sword:

aren't you supposed to be working, dude? fighting lives and fighting fires?

you guys should see Tom's downtown worktruck. the climbing and rigging gear on this thing is incredible!

 

[ropensaddle]

We took the ladder truck to a birthday party at the lake yesterday, and wowed the crowd with a rappelling demo.

when that ladder went up 100' people driving by stopped, came from all over the neighborhood, and boats were stopping to watch. was really cool showing off, let me tell ya.

this is from 100' with me hanging upside down, then I pulled the hitch with my feet, came down headfirst with my arms outstretched, and that really gets attention and applause.:jester:

Me no do the show off stuff no more good for you son it is nice to have youth ehhhhhhhh:monkey: Wtf I am only 5 days older than your arse are you having mid life crisis sheesh?

 

[treevet]

We took the ladder truck to a birthday party

this is from 100' with me hanging upside down, then I pulled the hitch with my feet, came down headfirst with my arms outstretched, and that really gets attention and applause.:jester:

I hope you had a helmet on.

 

[treeslayer]

I hope you had a helmet on.

I wore a spongebob paper party hat, with the elastic chinstrap firmly engaged.

safety first!

 

[deevo]

We took the ladder truck to a birthday party at the lake yesterday, and wowed the crowd with a rappelling demo.

when that ladder went up 100' people driving by stopped, came from all over the neighborhood, and boats were stopping to watch. was really cool showing off, let me tell ya.

this is from 100' with me hanging upside down, then I pulled the hitch with my feet, came down headfirst with my arms outstretched, and that really gets attention and applause.:jester:

Nice, I hope our new ladder truck we are getting for our fire dept is that high!
Our current quint is only 55'!:greenchainsaw: