I prefer the pistol grip because of having the ability to run all the functions at once.
I agree with the lockout on the pistol Cory. I think that?s a lubrication problem because mine moves pretty easy
Haven?t they been putting Safety locks on the levers since the 90?s?
I've always wondered if it was over-gripping that was the problem.
Do you know other people with a similar deal, Butch?
Brian, how much for just a second driver, no matter what? Previously, only one truck could possibly be on the road at a time, whereas now, it could be two big trucks that could crush a Hyundai Excel like a tuna can, at the same time.
Does he have a bunch of time on the offenses (three-year driver's history or something)?
We were supposed to do 2 jobs today. The first was pruning an 85' pin oak in a nearby town. We rolled out, climber set his tie in point way up, and began to make his way around the tree. The goal was deadwooding, safety pruning above the roofline, lightening the tips to prevent breakage. The homeowner wanted a rather extensive, aggressive pruning job to give them peace of mind for years to come. Things were going great for about 15 minutes. I was going to the chipper truck to get out the GRCS to set up the rigging for the over-roof stuff, when I saw a waterfall of coolant coming out of the chipper. Shut it down; pretty obvious source: the water pump was dumping out coolant. Took it off, and it was completely shot inside, ball bearings going everywhere.
We were able to get a friend to run to a neighboring city 45 minutes away to the tractor dealer (our Vermeer chipper runs a 100HP John Deere engine) who had the water pump in stock. Meanwhile, our climber kept pressing on, dropping brush which was stacked by the road and sidewalk, ready for when the chipper would come back online. I took the opportunity to dismantle a crispy 30' white pine that the homeowner wanted taken out at the same time. Then it was on to running the rigging show. We had the climber in the tree, a handler on the roof of the house, me on the GRCS, and the ground man on the butt rope. Finished the pruning by 3:30 as the part was arriving, along with gallons of coolant. Part was on by 4:30, then another hour + of chipping and then a light raking and blowing. Done by 6. The customer wants us back to remove a Siberian elm in front of their house that is crowding out a neighboring sycamore.
The second job intended for today will have to wait till tomorrow!
I had levers and then a pistol. I'd take a pistol any day over the levers. Mine was dead smooth and real easy/light on the deadman. The levers were a pita to multifunction and were heavy to actuate compared to my pistol. It was buttery smooth. Just my experience with two booms. Both versalifts.
He was a real goober on that smoking show he was on, but they all were.
I use the book written by the 'smoking hogzz' team. Can't recall the name right now and can't find it due to all the cleaning and purging we are doing? Good book and lots of good 'recipes'.
1). Back out to the two American Elms pruning for a quick one more limb over the driveway. Thankfully, we've finally gotten a new gear drive for our Stihl HT-133, so it was just a quick power pruner cut or three.
2). A neighbor a few doors down heard the chipper revved up and flagged us down. We've worked for her before, doing a medium removal on her back fenceline. She had 2 small apple trees she wanted to remove, wanted more coasters to lacquer up, so we obliged her.
3). The big job of the day was 2 maple removals, one 30' that was accessible for the winch from the street, so that was a quick drop-n-chip. The larger 45' maple was in a tighter section of the back yard, so our 2nd climber climbed it and pieced it out, lowering some things down with lines & a block. We also topped a juniper for the lady and fine pruned 4 Amur maples (suffering suckertash). One of them will need some cabling & bracing work, so I'll be back out for that and to grind the outside stump (unfortunately grown right around a sprinkler head!).
4). Called back to the large pruning job we did about 2 weeks back. A mild storm the day before had knocked down 2 limbs off the Bradford Pear we had taken limbs off that were growing toward the house. We hadn't been asked for a full pruning on that row of 4 trees, so it's no wonder they had so much weight the opposing side gave way. We cleaned up the 2 limbs and gave them some consideration -- either a full pruning on those four, or same cost for removal. They're more likely to go for the pruning, since its privacy screening and shade for their patio area.
5). Little "limber" job -- taking lower deadwood and 2 limbs off a black walnut. No problem, just had to watch the nice new cedar fence below!
Then off to dump, drop off the chipper, load up our new rear dually tires for the chipper truck. We dropped it off at the tire shop at 5, hoping to pick it up at 9 am this morning. Very needed, those new boots! Those old ones were far below 2/32" tread depth! We are definitely considering putting a pusher axle on the truck, as 30 cubic yards loaded is a wee bit heavy!
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