How'd it go today?

That is fantastic Stephen, I am really happy for you! I think Randy's quote is spot on.

It has been the busiest it is ever been here as well. Jesse and Tim are averaging about 110 hours per two weeks and I couldn't be more proud of them. I have 4 weeks or heavy production booked ahead, but the downside is that we have no time to do bigger maintenance. This will be our first Sunday off in weeks. We want to fabricate and weld a new chip box for the freightliner, need to install two new 7k axles on the equipment trailer, and a lot of smaller stuff. It will just have to wait I guess.
 
I did a light prune on a ash for my brother in law to make way for a backhoe to get into the backyard to install a new septic system, wife is going to Milwaukee for a bridal shower so baby girl and I are kicking it.
 
I have seen cases where people raised their rates and had increased sales. It seems that many people equate cost with quality. I knew a fellow in the 70's that charged about 3 times what anyone else did and was booked over a year in advance. He also did very nice work. Glad to hear that the private sector is thriving in the tree care business.
 
Now that's a great picture!
Big Euc deadwood today, finally getting a calm day, wind has been relentless.
 
Good for you, Stephen.
I'm happy for you.

The storm that wrecked England hit us today in the afternoon.
Been on emergency clean-up till now.Came home and had to help my neightbour out. The storm tore the roof off his tackle room the way you open a can of sardines.
Clear off and deposited it in front of the only door wedged in between an elm and the wall. Didn't feel like dealing with that in force 9½ winds, so we had to bring all the saddles and other gear out over the walls, to keep them from being ruined by rain.

Now I've got calls piled up for tomorrow.

I'll definitely be raising my prices by 20%, too.
 
Nice day yesterday, took down twenty ten year old Lilly Pilli and went back today to do the stumps. A bit smokey at home but a southerly breeze was blowing over the hill and it wasn't bad except for the dust, dry as a bone 2' down. Got to dig my extra heavy duty dusk mask out, there's no rain coming.

That turned into a lot more than a breeze, stuff down everywhere here as well by the time I got home. Got to go to my local school in the morning, one big tree half down. Just what I needed, I already had more than I could handle this week.
 
Screwed up a tree yesterday. Messed the whole situation up. Did a few notch and drops beside the foundation of a torn down house in the woods where a new house is being built.

Behind the foundation a 7 foot high fieldstone wall holds an embankment where the woods meet the old lawn. A 20" box elder grew out from the top of the wall and almost perfectly parallel to the lawn well below it. The crown swept up at the end. So, my screw up began. I decided to stand on top of the wall beside the tree (only place to make a cut) and notch it and try and sneak a bore into it. WRONG. The tree ate the bar almost at once when I bored it. Had most of the bar anyways. Tree starts cracking, down into the roots. Now Im standing over the roots on this wall. I stepped back and thanked that saw for its faithful service and told it good luck. I stood there for a minute and listened to the cracking and creaking. There was no taking the head off the saw without standing right in the area that I figured would blow up. Plus I assumed the wall would collapse too when the roots pulled and blew up. I made a big mess basically. I knew better.

Tree never blew up and pulled the roots after a few minutes. I called for another saw with a long bar and reached out from beside the mess and tripped the mess. Crown dropped, hinge held to the stump. Reached out and took the head off my pinched 372, and went and got busy sawing away at the crown and dicing up the tree. I think the bar is shot in the saw I used. All ended well, but my pride took a little shot. I guess a little snag is good from time to time to keep me from getting complacent. I flushed that stump low by the way. I wasn't leaving the evidence for anyone to see....
 
Sometimes shit just goes south.

The other day I decided to fall a spruce against a heavy limb weight to the side. Ripped the hinge, and it went 45 degrees to the lay. It had lost its original top, and sprouted a couple new, shorties. Serious enough trunk wood at the top of the tree that if it wasn't cut at 6', or it was a little taller, it would have smashed the garage. Fortunately, I judged it accurately to be just short enough to have the tips land next to the garage door. Had it only been 20 degrees of the lay, I would have been in trouble.

Erik bid the job as a drop and leave, no processing, for about 10 trees of various sizes, 10" and up. I came and said, I can fell that, and that, and that, and that, and that, and that, and that, and that, and climb that on the way up, and swing over to the next on the way down. So long as they stayed to the lay, I was laying them one top of each other between the houses. Limbing as we went, since we had the time, and we knocked out $2000 of work in a couple 5 hours. Only one largest tree left. Might dismantle it just to help them fell good about spending the money. Might just drop it out parellel to the road, with some bunk logs moved by Arbor Trolley power to protect the underground utilities.
 
That pretty much looks like my day, Andrew.
Storm cleanup and more storm cleanup.
We'll be doing that for the next week, I think.
I am recuperating from a torn tendon in my right shoulder ( that I tore 1½ mth ago and then retore 3 weeks ago becuse I figured it had healed enough that I could spar a blackbelt a head taller than myself. Heck, I thought we were supposed to get smarter with age?? ) so I can't climb.
The two others are having a ball using me for a groundie, though, so all is well.
 
Those trees look like they are rotten at the base...
St. Jude, that was a low pressure that didn't quite make it to a hurricane, we watched it wander across the Atlantic. Kinda like Emily in '87, a hurricane that smashed up Bermuda then went on a rampage in Europe.
 
Tucker943 said:
Screwed up a tree yesterday... I guess a little snag is good from time to time to keep me from getting complacent.
Click to expand...

So true!

I screwed one up today, royally. Priced a 42"x80' dying sugar maple for one day, including stump, using bucket. No crane cuz the setting was just too tight and the tree was next to a gravel drive so I planned on bombing alot of big wood as well as a huge spar. 4 hrs into the job, things going well, I realized the driveway was actually paved underneath the oil and stone top. It had totally seemed like straight gravel, honest! No way in hell to get that tree down now without a crane as drive was the only landing zone. Ordered a crane which got there 1 hour later. The setup was crazy tight but doable now because we had already removed much of the canopy. Just as we are backing in the chipper ready to start up again, 2 dumpsters arrived 2 hours too soon due to miscommunication.:whine: There was no room for them but I didn't want to send them away empty so we put em in the driveway instead of putting the chipper there, and so we lay the brush picks further down the drive for later chipping:/: The tree came down well but was hairy due to alot of high very dead tips, and the massive size of the trunk. Got everything done but the stump. My checkbook will get smacked around, but we survived another one;)
 
Wow.. quite the damage from that blow!

Today we went and knocked out 3 good sized crispy dead blue oaks. Got rained out yesterday, so we had to bust a move to keep on schedule. As it turns out, the guy removing the stumps could be there today (customer and family friend with excavators etc) and helped with loading all the wood and holding large pieces of stem off the ground as we bucked it up with the larger saws. We kept him busy.. He kept us busy and 5 cord of wood magically appeared in the clients yard in 4.5 hours all told. Had to bind a couple as they were cracked from the flair up to 12-15 feet. All went as planned and I hit every fall perfect. Got paid and came home, sharpened chipper blades and chain for our next job. Equipment always dirty's the wood, so had to put back what we used today.
Hitch Hiker showed up today.. :) My wheel motor for the Dingo is also done...
Lilly woke up in the middle of the night with a fever so I am going to Fresno tomorrow to go pick the motor up instead of Friday. Can't put her in day care in this condition.
Ran into some competition (friendly) today and they said nothing is coming in right now. I have been giving out referrals as we are booked. But they are just not happening. Oh well...
 
Worked 9-5 deadwooding with some dead skinny pine removals. Weeee..... Must have gone above and beyond as reflected in a sizable tip:D
Then as we finish the next door Neigbor flags us down to estimate work she would like done I think cool.... Look at it state price for two scenarios she picks the larger and then says she has a saw for me if I want it I say sure. She brings out a husky case with all paperwork :happydance: open it up inside is a near new 350. One happy guy I am tonight!
Put fresh gas in it purrs like kitten!
 
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