What is your best charity story?

[loveroftrees]

Time to let everyone know that some of do have a heart. I past this guy 66 yrs young tryin his best to buck some wood left behind by the side of the road. Now I past him on my way out to do a job I didn't see his equip at that time. So now I am returning and there he is with his electric saw and portable generator. He is working on his third round 26 inch red oak. 7 hours and only 3 pieces of firewood. I pull over walk over and take a good look. Now my guys look around and ask how many loads did you do today? He looks at me and says this is the first one. He tries to get 3 to 4 pieces aday. I looked at my guy and he did not skip a beat. We grab the 441 and 372, cut enough to fill his entire pick-up Chevy 2500. All in about 20 min. When we get done loading his equip he asked what he owes us, I said here's my biz card and to call me when you find an other pile.

 

[StihlRockin']

I started working on an oak for $450. I dropped the tree in the wide open and proceeded to watch a large stick go flying towards the main window of this business. Got the estimate and it cost $450 to repair. LOL!

How's that for charity?

StihlRockin'

 

[TreeClimber57]

Time to let everyone know that some of do have a heart. I past this guy 66 yrs young tryin his best to buck some wood left behind by the side of the road. Now I past him on my way out to do a job I didn't see his equip at that time. So now I am returning and there he is with his electric saw and portable generator. He is working on his third round 26 inch red oak. 7 hours and only 3 pieces of firewood. I pull over walk over and take a good look. Now my guys look around and ask how many loads did you do today? He looks at me and says this is the first one. He tries to get 3 to 4 pieces aday. I looked at my guy and he did not skip a beat. We grab the 441 and 372, cut enough to fill his entire pick-up Chevy 2500. All in about 20 min. When we get done loading his equip he asked what he owes us, I said here's my biz card and to call me when you find an other pile.

I love that one !! Great stuff !!

 

[Rftreeman]

I don't do charity work, every time I do something expensive breaks.

 

[TreeClimber57]

I don't do charity work, every time I do something expensive breaks.

Well there is some truth in that... my son broke a 12,000 lb Warn winch on the weekend when doing some charity work (for a church).

 

[Slvrmple72]

I do 12 trees a year for free. Not always one a month but usually towards fall. Keeps me honest and gets my name out there for more business. Some have been worth a few hundred up to a little over 1500. The business generated, the millable wood, the firewood, and the happy customers have more than covered the costs for the removals. I never go hungry and it seems when I do these jobs I eat like a king! I warn them though: " You feed me and you will not be able to get rid of me! " LOL

No good deed goes unpunished: I too am plauged with the expensive breakdowns in equipment when doing charity work. I think it is God testing my patience!

 

[Rickytree]

Hey Lover, great story! I was working for a guy and we were going to clear a lot beside some houses. The lot only had a couple trees and a small rose bush. Everything was going to get cut down to the ground. I saw a little old lady coming out to grab her mail and I ran over with the lonely rose in my hand and gave it to her. She was happy! and nothing broke. And if something did break it was weak or it was due to incompetance! Sorry I call them like a see them!!

 

[tree md]

With the prices I've been getting lately, it all seems like charity work...

I do some good deeds over the course of the year though. Usually for family and an elderly neighbor (charity begins at home). Sometimes I'll throw a freebie in on a job I'm already working. Had someone scold me for not doing charity work during an ice storm. I am charitable when I can be but this is my profession, not a hobby.

 

[Tree Pig]

My charity usually involves friends or their family. I dropped three trees yesterday (close to house and on a hill so didnt want him messing with them), one of which I had to climb but only about 25' to drop a crooked top that would have hung up. It was a friend and I did it for $200 (about the amount to cover bringing someone I can trust on ropes and buying lunch, I like to eat). The charity part comes in more in the end. Friend says just drop them and Ill cut them up . As he pulls out his poulan wild thing I said put that thing away, then limbed them up and pieced them out. Oh yeah while piecing them I cut about 20 feet off the end of a rope buried under a log, it was a 250 bull rope so not a huge but still sucked (my fault for trying to hurry out of the rain).

Funny thing is I have done some cutting for free but usually for a stranger who is physically incapable or financially unable to get the work done. And of course my family.

 

[pdqdl]

These guys were working on a ladder...

I was driving home one day, and saw some guys trying to cut down an austrian pine right beside one of the main roads in town. It was easy to notice them, because the pine was leaning at about 15 degrees over the sidewalk, and they were standing on a ladder trying to cut it up with a carpenters hand saw! Some parts were already cut off.

I couldn't take it! I drove back around the block, and asked them if they had considered hiring someone to do the job. Nope...money was an issue. "Thanks for inquiring, but we will manage". I advised them that they were going about it all wrong, that when they managed to finally get through the bigger logs with that saw, they were going to break the sidewalk. They were unconvinced.

I ended up offering to come back the next day and doing it for free, just to keep them from killing themselves. I suppose these two guys were really tired of gnawing on that pine, because they swallowed their pride and agreed to wait one day.

The next day, I spurred 15'-20' up the tree, cut the rest of the top out, and tossed the chunks away from the sidewalk. Probably 1/2 hour later, the tree was on the ground, and the man's wife thanked me very graciously. While her husband was no where in sight, I got the clear impression that she was very happy her husband was not in the tree anymore.

She tipped me $20 for bailing them out, and I just said "thank you". She seemed to think that was a lot of money, and I didn't try to persuade her otherwise.

 

[ozzy42]

Done a few here and there.Mostly for people too proud to ever ask.

The people who are truly deserving of a lil charity work are usually the hardest ones for you to convince them to let you do it for them.And are the most appeciative.
They do not like to take advantage of people.I will drink their offered tea, and eat their food[even if it taste bad,or Im not hungry]so they will not feel so bad about getting charity."Yes,thank you so much Mrs. Jones,,,,It was delicious"






Now the doc,or lawer with the vette,and the mid life crisis trying to get you to do all kinds of crap for nothing?
Yeah,,,,they can find somebody else to do their charity work,I'm out here to make a living.

 

[TimberMcPherson]

I help alot of people, its a habit of mine that gets me in trouble with my wife alot, but its that farming family background thing, cant help it.

A month ago I drove passed an old guy working solo on a steep hillside above a road bucking up a pine that was obviously a bit of a trap for new players.

I drove on a bit then my conscience got the better of me so I turned around and offered to help. He refused. I asked him what his plan was if the tree rolls and he gets pinned and then told him it would take me no time at all to get the tree more settled for him to cut up.

He refused

I then told him I was from a farming family and lived only a couple Kms away and by farming standards that makes him a neighbour, and neighbours help each other out where they can. And theres bound to be something he could help me out in the future. He accepted so I helped get the log down and bucked up and then sharpened his saw.

What did I get? A kiss on the cheek from his very worried wife when I helped him take some of the wood back to his place in my truck.

A good deal I think.

 

[Adkpk]

I've been doing a non-profit womens shelter for over 20 years. They asked in the beginning to go easy one the money because they were non-profit. I did and even though over the years the place has made me money they still pay substantially low compared to my other customers. They did a big addition several years back and I got the landscape design and planting job and I also take care of their trees now. So it's like my own private park to tend.

 

[silk]

There are many hiking / biking trails on the north shore mountains where I live at the base of Fromme Mountain in North Vancouver.

After every winter the trails are usually blocked with large hazard tree's that had come down during a wind / snow storm. Some are huge 100 ' fir or hemlock, others have snapped in half with a 50 foot top still hanging in the tree right above the trails.

Also many old dead 40 foot pecker pole hemlocks with so much rot that a single bump at the base would have the top crashing down on you.

I manage a good amount of the trail network and take care of all the hazard removals and keep the trails safe from the hidden danger that is often never noticed.

I always work with my 2 favorite Fanno hand saws to do all the work as I am almost always alone and do not feel safe running a saw way up in the mountains alone.

Here are some pictures of said work.

 

[asthesun]

There are many hiking / biking trails on the north shore mountains where I live at the base of Fromme Mountain in North Vancouver.

After every winter the trails are usually blocked with large hazard tree's that had come down during a wind / snow storm. Some are huge 100 ' fir or hemlock, others have snapped in half with a 50 foot top still hanging in the tree right above the trails.

Also many old dead 40 foot pecker pole hemlocks with so much rot that a single bump at the base would have the top crashing down on you.

I manage a good amount of the trail network and take care of all the hazard removals and keep the trails safe from the hidden danger that is often never noticed.

I always work with my 2 favorite Fanno hand saws to do all the work as I am almost always alone and do not feel safe running a saw way up in the mountains alone.

Here are some pictures of said work.

nice. i'd feel safer running a chainsaw tho. prolly a tossup between 'do i want to wear myself out using this manual saw' and 'do i want to wear myself out carrying this chainsaw up a mountain'

 

[Adkpk]

There are many hiking / biking trails on the north shore mountains where I live at the base of Fromme Mountain in North Vancouver.

After every winter the trails are usually blocked with large hazard tree's that had come down during a wind / snow storm. Some are huge 100 ' fir or hemlock, others have snapped in half with a 50 foot top still hanging in the tree right above the trails.

Also many old dead 40 foot pecker pole hemlocks with so much rot that a single bump at the base would have the top crashing down on you.

I manage a good amount of the trail network and take care of all the hazard removals and keep the trails safe from the hidden danger that is often never noticed.

That is very cool and I do this work also along a rail trail behind our weekender. But do you do this work completely on your own or do have permission from whoever owns the mountain?

 

[silk]

That is very cool and I do this work also along a rail trail behind our weekender. But do you do this work completely on your own or do have permission from whoever owns the mountain?

The district of North Vancouver has given a group of us trail workers Permits to work on the mountain for the last 5 years or so to take care of these things on a volunteer basis.

The only requirement is that we stay within WCB work place safety standards and have 3rd party liability insurance.

It works well for everyone involved as it saves the tax payers in the District money they would have to spend to have this done. And it provides a real sense of pride for the people involved in the upkeep of the trails.

Here are some pictures of the Mountain bike trail that I am responsible for. I finished building this over the last month with my free time.

All done with hand tools, around 100' long total.

 

[tree md]

That's awesome Silk!

I used to make wilderness trails and build bridges for the GA DNR. Believe it or not, every trail and bridge had to be wheelchair accessible, by law, if it was on state land. I spent a lot of time building wheelchair ramps in the middle of nowhere that no one would ever use.

 

[MonkeyMan_812]

I do 12 trees a year for free. Not always one a month but usually towards fall. Keeps me honest and gets my name out there for more business. Some have been worth a few hundred up to a little over 1500. The business generated, the millable wood, the firewood, and the happy customers have more than covered the costs for the removals. I never go hungry and it seems when I do these jobs I eat like a king! I warn them though: " You feed me and you will not be able to get rid of me! " LOL

No good deed goes unpunished: I too am plauged with the expensive breakdowns in equipment when doing charity work. I think it is God testing my patience!

Or the devil trying to get you to not do it anymore. It makes him mad when you help people. He likes to see them suffer not be helped. Keep on keepin on brother!!!

 

[StihlRockin']

That is so COOL!

StihlRockin'