How'd it go today?

3E!? Thick!
I’d save up and go all in on some custome Wescos or similar high dollar boot. The price you pay up front hurts but they will last a very long time and can be rebuilt.
 
currently having to go after the guy I worked for today for some $$$, today was a shitshow, between waiting on the guy yesterday, finally getting a call today at 2pm to go help him, show up to the job and he makes me wait an hour, then he finally shows up, can't tell me what trees he bid, of course the customer left for food so we had to wait on her, she gets back and points out what trees are coming down which totally aren't what was in the bid, finally the guy I'm working for leaves, not 10 minutes later the customer is trying to get me to add 20+ trees that even I knew werent gonna happen, we did the 4 hours we were scheduled for (got 3 trees down, despite 2 hours of waiting on people in the 4 hours) and left, now I gotta send the dude a bill for the $3000 he promised

I would feel bad for him, but I was told "3 or 4 hours of chipping and maybe pulling 1 or 2 trees into the woods, no big deal"

it was infact 2 days of climbing and an hour of chipping, ffs people, know what the job is BEFORE calling people to do it for you


I guess moral of the story is, contracts people, I messed up today and now I gotta hope he pays, although TN is a verbal agreement state, but good luck proving your side in court, hope I get paid but thats all I can do, so that was my dumbass mistake today, learn from it so you don't do it!
I'm not sure that I would have even started the job by the sound of it unless I knew that guy well. That's a lot of work to do for someone else at the risk of not getting paid.
 
I'm not sure that I would have even started the job by the sound of it unless I knew that guy well. That's a lot of work to do for someone else at the risk of not getting paid.
I considered not doing it, theres only a few locals that I like working with, they are the guys that will give me jobs, I give them jobs, everyones happy, then theres others that will steal jobs from you, found out this guy is one of them, found out too late

I will update on the situation as things unfold, but I already know either he pays, or I go to court and collect on it there, I've gone the route of calling the cops before (and had them called on me, after a neighbor threatened to shoot us over pruning a tree) and both times they left while saying "its a civil matter, don't call us back", so they have made it very clear to me that I just have to go deal with it myself one way or another


I suppose this could be considered theft of services, due to the amount he owes it'd be a class D felony, so at a minimum he would be seeing 2 years and a fine upto $5000 if he doesn't pay, and I am willing to go there, I'm usually nice, but not when it comes to owing me money (unless we are friends and I know you're good for it, otherwise I don't play when you owe thousands)

not sure how the lien process works, especially because he doesn't own a house, I've had people tell me to lien his customers house but I really don't believe that's fair to the customer, and I doubt its even legal, first time I've had to deal with this process (and last, I'm about to get contracts and liability waivers wrote up so this doesn't happen again)
 
I am very much aware, I also know the dude cannot afford to go to court, especially if he got reported to the FTC (which will happen on the 27th if he hasn't settled up)

small claims court is $191.50 to serve someone, no lawyer needed, wouldn't be getting involved in a lawsuit in this case, I was involved in one last year with another company I was working for so I am somewhat familiar with what's involved
 
and I would like to mention, I had nothing to do with the lawsuit I was involved in, other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time
 
@WoodCutr just remember that litigation is not always beneficial to reputation.

That said, at least you have legal recourse. Action Tree Service still owes me more than 6k. I'll never see it, and because I was under the table, I can't do a dadgummed thing about it, except maybe swing my fists about. I'm working hard to not be "that guy" anymore, so that ain't an option.

On another point, if someone threatened to shoot me, or CurSedVoyce, or our god-tier ground crew, I'd either be dead or in prison, period. I may not want to be that part of myself anymore, but so help me, if my people are threatened in any way, I'm going to give someone a Bad Day. You obviously handled that situation with more grace than I. Kudos to you for it.

You seem to have humbled up since you've been back, good to see. There is no room for hubris in a harness. Keep that energy, Young Stud.

Climb High, Be Safe.
 
You seem to have humbled up since you've been back
had to almost die a few times, been biting my tongue a LOT lately, figured out I should just shut up instead of commenting on everything I see LOL, I do appreciate you noticing!


On another point, if someone threatened to shoot me, or CurSedVoyce, or our god-tier ground crew, I'd either be dead or in prison
trust me, I almost did, but he had a gun and I didn't so the best thing for me to do at the time was just not instigate and wait on the cops to show up, nothing I could do otherwise to make the situation better
 
I'm gonna have to borrow that wrench :D

I bought a pair of Knipex plies wrench things a while back, they are absolutely amazing for hydraulic fittings, super expensive but good tools arent cheap
 
renting an SD50 saturday, only need it for 4 hours or so, wasn't planning on needing one but I started to climb and found out how bad the vines and holley bushes are under the 6 trees I'm shortening (yes, doing the bad, trees will come out at a later date but for now just the top half untill the customer can plant arborvitaes to block the road noise)

so I guess I will have my weekend super busy, either out on side jobs with the lift or around the house cleaning gutters, pruning anything that I'm too lazy to climb, painting, etc, put the house up for sale so we have a lot of work to do while I have the lift, very possible that I will end up with some lights taped to the basket and run it all night :D

will be my first time in a self driving lift, watched one work the other day and was super impressed, I've only ran one bucket truck and a towable TM50, the SD50 is a lot faster flying, more hydraulic flow, outriggers controlled from the basket, self driving, bunch of pro's for an extra $70 or so over a towable, too bad its on a 14K trailer so I can't tow it behind the dump truck, but I will live
 
IMG_6074.jpeg First day climbing a real tree since my surgery a month ago now. Maybe 120’, big limbs, bit not a lot as it had been pruned in the past. Has a habit of dropping stuff on the house so it’s gots to go. I spent a couple hours in the bucket and the the rest of the day climbing. We got it stripped and topped, and I’m worked! I haven’t had cramps from climbing since I can’t remember 😄, but I did today!
 
@WoodCutr just remember that litigation is not always beneficial to reputation.

That said, at least you have legal recourse. Action Tree Service still owes me more than 6k. I'll never see it, and because I was under the table, I can't do a dadgummed thing about it, except maybe swing my fists about. I'm working hard to not be "that guy" anymore, so that ain't an option.

On another point, if someone threatened to shoot me, or CurSedVoyce, or our god-tier ground crew, I'd either be dead or in prison, period. I may not want to be that part of myself anymore, but so help me, if my people are threatened in any way, I'm going to give someone a Bad Day. You obviously handled that situation with more grace than I. Kudos to you for it.

You seem to have humbled up since you've been back, good to see. There is no room for hubris in a harness. Keep that energy, Young Stud.

Climb High, Be Safe.
I few boxes of roofing nails misplaced in the shop parking lot could be gratifying.
 
I few boxes of roofing nails misplaced in the shop parking lot could be gratifying.
I know a guy that has claimed he's done this

I am 100% for doing this, but I heard jail isn't fun, dang government ruining the fun
Debris disposal clause in my contracts? each load valued at $50, delivered straight to the non payers yard, until load values offset the cost of the job, so this guy would owe me 60 loads of debris dumped free of charge straight on his driveway, that would suck to clean up!
not sure if thats legal, but its tempting, so is signing people up for chipdrop
 
This is obviously another reason why being in business for yourself isn't all sunshine and puppies.

@WoodCutr Could public shaming do any good? Put up a big sign at the end of your driveway, or some other legal place, and call the miscreant out? Put the sign on your truck and keep it there wherever you go?

What about your situation, @Kaveman? Could this be useful?
 
View attachment 144083First day climbing a real tree since my surgery a month ago now. Maybe 120’, big limbs, bit not a lot as it had been pruned in the past. Has a habit of dropping stuff on the house so it’s gots to go. I spent a couple hours in the bucket and the the rest of the day climbing. We got it stripped and topped, and I’m worked! I haven’t had cramps from climbing since I can’t remember 😄, but I did today!
Baby steps bro
 
@WoodCutr Could public shaming do any good? Put up a big sign at the end of your driveway, or some other legal place, and call the miscreant out? Put the sign on your truck and keep it there wherever you go?
not really, he will just go by another fake name next week, although if he doesn't pay I will probably post some reviews and comments on his "now hiring climbers" ads, among other things that will happen
 
@Burnham, Karma is a wheel, it's good not to be in its path when it rolls round again, lest you be crushed beneath its weight.

That said, what you suggest doesn't put me in that path. He gets quite a lot of bad mouthing, all across the mountain on account of my friends and family. I get more calls for work in a week, now that I'm out of the state, than I did in the two years before I left. Be it the X, my adopted brothers, my friend Ash, or even the card-canvasing I've done, the calls come in now. Not enough to distract me from the premiere tree service in Mariposa County, mind you, but they are coming in.

I've been told in no uncertain terms by several locals in the industry that I'm the best climber on the Mogollon Rim. And they have lost me, indefinitely, to California of all places. Goodman & Cole Tree Service is my home now, and they will have to chase me off with a stick with nails in. I can't ever see myself walking away from people that treat me so well, and how could I live with myself if I did? I've been treated like family since my arrival, and I feel that every day. As I've said before, these are my people, and I'll fight about it.

Stephen is an excellent mentor, despite his morning grumbling grr grrs, and I am humbled by the opportunity I've been given to expand my horizons as a climber and improve my skills. It's amazing just how narrow my skillset actually is, growing up in an essentially monocrop forest of ponderosa. I've been climbing straight stem trees, for the most part, for 20 years. I've done more limbwalking in the last month than in my whole career previously. Stephen has been there with encouragement and advice every step of the way. His confidence aloft is contagious, his skill consumate, his passion for the work is evident to all his customers.

Beyond all that, for my personal views to be so readily accepted by so many, and even embraced, is a new experience. Without reserve, my colleagues make every jobsite a "safe space", where I am allowed to think, feel, speak and act, with complete freedom.

Rob is, flat out, a Long Stud, the kind of man who quietly holds the world up, and makes it work. His background in factory work lends him the patience to spend hours working happily on tasks like hand pruning. He runs a mini skid like a maestro, as if it's an extension of himself. The man is God-tier ground support, and a quiet, steady force to be reckoned with. He's incredibly well read and intelligent, and after a few beers, a real riot to yik-yak with.

Frank is truly remarkable, and I'm not sure they're still making men like him. A dip in his lip and and a smile on his face at all times, he happily sets his will to the toughest of tasks, with the knowledge that it could always be worse. That ol cowboy is tougher than steel fence posts, and steady as a mountain. Strong as an ox and fearless as a wolverine, Frank is the kinda guy you want on your side in a barfight, and if he isn't, you're likely morally wrong. And probably looking for the door.

In all, I've found a passel of folk like myself, who can't abide watching a friend struggle, who jump in as soon as they recognize the tune, and stick rather than run.

I've been embraced as a friend by the community as a whole, made to feel welcome and at home. I've made the kind of friends that last a lifetime in my short time here, and every one of them has my perpetual loyalty and love.

@flushcut, I never seek retribution anymore. The wheel will crush those who wrong me, as the Gods obviously smile upon me. The key is not to lose sight of that, regardless how much I might want to break off a few hypodermic needles in the hydraulic lines of his newly repaired bucket truck.

Oh, by the way, I'll be the first on stage at the Mariposa Storytelling event, on the 20th of every month at The Alley bar, at around 6pm. If anyone would like to physically hear me tell one of my tales, that's the time and place. It's also one of the ways that I know I'm right where I need to be, with the people I need to be with. Last month I told the story of my fall, not sure what I'll tell this time, its been requested that I tell a story about motorcycles.
 
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