Anyway cancelled the final job for after lunch, client was fine as it was topping some lombardies which is tricky in high wind.
The weather gods have smiled on me by sending in horizontal rain to justify my decision.
Frigging fire. I've been laid up all week with a bum back. I tweeked something on Monday while splitting firewood. Today makes four days of pain and discomfort with very little recovery. My backs got two more days to square things away on its own before I break down and see a doc.
A frigging lifetime of logging and residential work, never missed a day for a sore back and leisurely swinging a maul and I'm laid up for days now. Weak sauce. FFS.
Finally "retired" the Husky.....and put the 660 in the stable....pic posted for Carl's gratification.
Went and flopped a big water oak this morning. Priced it two weeks ago. The guy said he had two other "tree guys" look at it and both said it would have to be topped out before it could be thrown, due to its proximity to the house. I assured him I could rig it and throw it. I Wraptored up, tied in, set three pull lines in it...tensioned one with the winch, and another with the truck. (Decided the third was overkill). Notched it, back-cut, cut started opening, told Ben to yank it over with the truck, and BOOM...it was done. It took far longer to get all the ropes out from under twisted/broken tops than it did to rig and cut the tree.
I asked the guy about the other bids...he said one guy wanted $700 to top the tree out. I charged $450 to rig and cut it, then knocked some off that since it only took 2-1/2 hours.
Finally "retired" the Husky.....and put the 660 in the stable....pic posted for Carl's gratification.
Went and flopped a big water oak this morning. Priced it two weeks ago. The guy said he had two other "tree guys" look at it and both said it would have to be topped out before it could be thrown, due to its proximity to the house. I assured him I could rig it and throw it. I Wraptored up, tied in, set three pull lines in it...tensioned one with the winch, and another with the truck. (Decided the third was overkill). Notched it, back-cut, cut started opening, told Ben to yank it over with the truck, and BOOM...it was done. It took far longer to get all the ropes out from under twisted/broken tops than it did to rig and cut the tree.
I asked the guy about the other bids...he said one guy wanted $700 to top the tree out. I charged $450 to rig and cut it, then knocked some off that since it only took 2-1/2 hours.
Made it back home tonight...glad to be here. Hard to tell if I was involved with a tree service or a soap opera. Ah well, knocked down a load of trees and got paid before I left for home. Just in time the way the weather is forecast is looking.
think I'll turn in early tonight...not been sleeping well most of the week and feeling beat...
I'm awful at pricing, especially charging premiums for high risk/high skill jobs, but I agree that was a good price, maybe a bit low. I dropped a codom pine for a friend of mine, narrow work area between 2 houses, one trunk leaning the wrong way with extra limb weight on the bad side. He had a guy charging him 350 per trunk, but couldn't do the job, many limbs were stripped already when I rolled in so I just had to knock a few mor limbs off for my piece of mind, tie them and drop them. My friend worked the rope for me to lower the limbs and pulled with his truck, took us 3 hrs, paid me 300 which I feel was a very good "friend" price for the situation. I think 600 would have been reasonable.
As for today, removed a small Bradford Pear for a family friend who made my business logo for me, then trimmed a birch cluster by her driveway. easy peasy, she insisted on paying me at least a little, even though I told her it was a thanks for the logo work, only took 2 hrs total.
I finally got the chip box in the truck pretty much set up, today was a test run. It still needs some tweaks, I'll try to remember to take a pic of it tomorrow. It has stake body corner brackets in the front so I can easily dismantle it, and has a hinged top with some flip up supports and I put the mesh tarp over the top to catch anything trying to get out the sides. Works pretty well.
Then went around the block and hung out at the in-laws for the rest of the day.
Tomorrow is a heavy leaner, I'll try to get an angle reading on it, as well as try to remember to take pics.
From your previous posts about it, I have that app, thanks to you. I am planning on using that app, I forgot it had the bubble level feature. The trick for me is remembering to actually do it BEFORE I cut it. I seem to remember it being close to a 45, so we'll see how far off my memory is. .
You can sight down from a spar top toward your lay/ drop zone. Rather than asking for a second opinion from a groundie, you can also get a second opinion from your phone. I've been close before, too close, because of visual estimation and wishful thinking compared to measurement with an objective tool.
I usually don't have my phone with me in the tree, too afraid of dropping it or crushing it (I bent my last phone like a banana by having it in my pocket while go karting), but I often use it with the camera view option while on the ground to measure tree or limb heights.
Jed. I got those dogs from either Baileys or EBay. Big dogs they called em.
Some pics from today. Most the wood is gone save some fire wood and the big ones. Lumber keeps finding homes.
Had a pretty good week considering it was pretty hot. Trees, stumps, hedges and shrubs yesterday (108F)
Came home about 12.30 before it got real hot to find a credit card statement with $1880 on it I didn't spend. Spent the next hour on the phone, very nice lady but not real easy to understand due to background noise but she seemed to have got it sorted. Tried to log on after that and couldn't so rang again and got a better connection and the guy said they put a hold on everything until I get a new card, should be in a few days. Hope that works, not a lot of spare cash around here these days. Screw you GRB and IRL who ever you are.
Steve, by background noise, do you mean those big calling enters where it's like you are speaking to someone in a huge chicken coop? I always wonder why they don't try to do something about that disturbing and rude noise, it's sick.
I usually don't have my phone with me in the tree, too afraid of dropping it or crushing it (I bent my last phone like a banana by having it in my pocket while go karting), but I often use it with the camera view option while on the ground to measure tree or limb heights.
Got a fine chance to train the new apprentice today, so his saw stays out of his pants.
Had to fell some 300 larch trees, between 8" and a foot thick.
Basically took out every second row for chipping.
A brutal way to thin a stand and not to my liking, but I have to admit it is the cheapest alternative.
So he felled them and I pushed them over with the long pole with a spike on the end, we use for that, meanwhile keeping a running commentary on his tecnique.
At the end of the day, he was WAY better than when we started, with low stumps, fine hinges and the ability to nip the hinge as the tree fell.
Just knocking trees over all day really helps on tecnique.
I love good teaching opportunities like that.
The crew I just finished with was begging to learn everything from knots to sharpening saws this week...owner wanted me to teach them too...only problem was no time set aside while they were being paid...I passed on what i could while knocking out jobs, but it wasn't much and no idea how much will stick with them without repeated performance
Spent a couple hrs this morning collecting fruit. From a clients and discussed long term care for his estate
Ruby reds are perfect this year!
Saw work for the rest of the afternoon is in order.
Had an easy day with "side work". A 24" dbh pin oak that they put a retaining wall right against and dead aspen to remove this morning. All bucket work and no rigging. Then a dead ash and two bradford pear this afternoon. Got home in time to cover my firewood for winter before the rain. My wife and kids are at my mother in laws visiting and I have the house to myself. It's so quiet I might take a nap
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https://www.masterblasterhome.com/forumdisplay.php?34-The-Logging-Forum Some great pictures.
