spiderlift

[DTW902]

But thats where your wrong, the truck only weighs more on the way out.

Not if your going to the next job loaded with wood. May not leave ruts on the way in but might on the way out.

 

[Jonseredbred]

As soon as the tree is down i send the bucket out of there, on his way to the next job , where i will meet him. The rest of the guys stay and clean up.

See, there is a different procedure where your using stuff different for your benefit.

I only send 3 man crew's out: a bucket, chip truck and chipper and prentice loader truck. Most of the time a crew stays together to finish the job complete.

Experience has taught me not to start another job until the first one is complete.

 

[395xp]

See, there is a different procedure where your using stuff different for your benefit.

I only send 3 man crew's out: a bucket, chip truck and chipper and prentice loader truck. Most of the time a crew stays together to finish the job complete.

Experience has taught me not to start another job until the first one is complete.

Now this is same thing i argue all the time,why have the talent chasing a rake or humping wood when he could be out cutting.

Depending on the day i do not even see the clean up crew until the second or third job. There are some days that i never see them. Since our yard is in an odd location i do not go there in the morning. On my way in i pick up my rope man and call my boss on the phone and he gives me the jobs for the day. I get paid by the day not the hour so i get in early so i can get done early. I typically have 4-5 guys cleaning up after me and my rope man. My rope man gets left on the last job to help clean up. My job is to put the tree on the ground and get it cut up, then I'm gone.

 

[Jonseredbred]

Different train of thoughts I guess. A tree removal is a bitch to cleanup if it is all crashed down into 1 pile and left for others.

Cleaning up while removing the tree has always seemed to be the most cost effective IMO.

None of my customers would be hip to seeing a crew leave with a mess in their lawn.

How does a groundman become a tree man if he never works on the removal??

In my company, the climbers and bucket guys drag brush and rake. We all work together, as a team.

 

[395xp]

Different train of thoughts I guess. A tree removal is a bitch to cleanup if it is all crashed down into 1 pile and left for others.

It all depends on the job. My rope man does a good job keeping things organized on the ground and i try and feel his pain . If it is big job then they will catch up. This gives them an incentive to get to work on time, or they know I'll be pounding the wood on the brush.

Cleaning up while removing the tree has always seemed to be the most cost effective IMO.

Again if they hustle it up, then they have a chance at keeping up. We all know on some jobs the ground crew does not have a chance, that is just reality, if your going to worry about that then your in the wrong business. But we do run a big crew, so there is a lot of hands to pitch in. remember its 4-5 guys cleaning up after 1 climber.

None of my customers would be hip to seeing a crew leave with a mess in their lawn.

Come on now, they are only an hour or so behind me. Whays the big deal. The job is done the brush is stacked, Blah Blah BLah. Half the customers are not home, commercial accounts don't care , no one is taking their money till the job is complete. It does not happen on all the jobs, sometimes the crew stays with me and isn't that far behind.

How does a groundman become a tree man if he never works on the removal??

Who said i was training him? He has been my rope man for at least 5 years now and has no interest in going up in the air. I are not there to train climbers, just proficient ground men.

In my company, the climbers and bucket guys drag brush and rake. We all work together, as a team.

Sorry, but i see that as a waste of talent and bad business. Why would you have the high paid guy chasing a rake when he could be out cutting another tree?

 

[Jonseredbred]

This gives them an incentive to get to work on time, or they know I'll be pounding the wood on the brush.

again my point, how is that cost effective?


Again if they hustle it up, then they have a chance at keeping up. We all know on some jobs the ground crew does not have a chance.

a good ground crew can keep up.

Come on now, they are only an hour or so behind me. Whays the big deal. The job is done the brush is stacked, Blah Blah BLah.


how is stacking brush cost effective, seems like the work is getting done twice. and I thought you said above you bury the brush with wood?





Who said i was training him? He has been my rope man for at least 5 years now and has no interest in going up in the air. I are not there to train climbers, just proficient ground men.

How did you get trained? dragging brush out from underneath wood?



Sorry, but i see that as a waste of talent and bad business. Why would you have the high paid guy chasing a rake when he could be out cutting another tree?

because all the men on my crew can climb, or run a bucket. no hotdogs on my jobs, everyone carries the load. not much of a pay difference between men.

 

[395xp]

You really screwed up the quotes, i hope this makes sense.



This gives them an incentive to get to work on time, or they know I'll be pounding the wood on the brush.

again my point, how is that cost effective?

Cost effective has nothing to do with it, they go home when the work is done. Get to work on time and you can go home at a reasonable hour. Come in late work late.


Again if they hustle it up, then they have a chance at keeping up. We all know on some jobs the ground crew does not have a chance.

a good ground crew can keep up.

Ok

Come on now, they are only an hour or so behind me. Whays the big deal. The job is done the brush is stacked, Blah Blah BLah.

how is stacking brush cost effective, seems like the work is getting done twice. and I thought you said above you bury the brush with wood?

The brush is stacked with the wood on it , Back to the cost effective thing huh, If the tree is down when the clean up arrives, and is stacked fairly neat, then it is quicker to clean up than if they were there the whole time. If the whole crew arrived together then half the guys would be standing around while the tree came down, because it would not be safe to go under the tree. If you were removing a medium sized pine tree, would you just whale it down or would you cut a few branches and wait for the guys to drag them away before you cut some more? Having guys standing around is not cost effective either.





Who said i was training him? He has been my rope man for at least 5 years now and has no interest in going up in the air. I are not there to train climbers, just proficient ground men.

How did you get trained? dragging brush out from underneath wood?

I was born a climber.



Sorry, but i see that as a waste of talent and bad business. Why would you have the high paid guy chasing a rake when he could be out cutting another tree?

because all the men on my crew can climb, or run a bucket. no hotdogs on my jobs, everyone carries the load. not much of a pay difference between men.

I never understood that philosophy unless you are happy with mediocre to average help. Why would a talented climber drag brush and hump wood, no climbers i know would.

 

[sotc]

when me or my climbers are done we take a break and then help the groundies. if theres wood we drag brush while they haul wood. if theres only brush we rake or put gear away while they drag and chip. im not so busy that i can go to the next job while they clean up, id run outa work

 

[No_Bivy]

No problem keeping up with a climber, mini/grapple is worth six dudes. I clean up as we go. And of course everyone gets a rake!Hahahahahahah

 

[stehansen]

I've often thought about trying to organize my business like 395XP does. But 1. I don't have enough business 2. you would need a lot of room at each job site to store the brush and wood and 3. you run into the problem like Jonsaredbred says of it being a lot more work to chip the brush when it is in a big pile and 4. your guys would be spread out and I don't know about your guy's crews but mine seem to get a lot less done when I'm not there 5. I would need more equipment as I have a forestry truck and we usually chip into that. So, consequently we stay together and we clean up as we go. That does have the problem of guys wanting to work in the kill zone but I just have to stop and let them catch up sometimes.

 

[tntree]

From a biz standpoint I agree with 395, Keep your climbers climbing not humping and raking. Our clients don't have much of a problem with a pile sitting over nite or a big job started and finished the next day. Few professions finish all their work in 1 day. Steve is right though you need a lot of work to operate that way. A mini can clear whole tops out of the crash zone for processing, which help keeps moral high when the "star" leaves for the next job. Train the groundies to drop the trunk, situation specific.

 

[395xp]

A mini can clear whole tops out of the crash zone for processing, which help keeps moral high when the "star" leaves for the next job. Train the groundies to drop the trunk, situation specific.

The thing you are forgetting is where i work. Yesterday i was on a job that went through a store. One removal in that yard, the yard behind it was a 4ft grade change with a 5 foot fence. I had 1 removal and 1 pruning in that yard, the yard to the left of that had another 5 foot fence. I had 2 removals and 1 pruning on that job. All the debris was going out over fences(on one fence the guys removed 1 section) and through the store. So no matter what, the guys are going to get buried, there is no way 4 groundies can keep up with 1 climber with a clean up like that.

I usually do not leave until all the trunks are down and all the big wood is cut up. A mini or log truck would not work well for us.

 

[rumination]

Being a groundie in NYC must suck.

 

[DTW902]

A few pictures of the Spider control panel in the bucket. And some from up in the bucket. The last 2 are my home made saw scabbard. Brian wanted to see a picture of one of them.

 

[DTW902]

And a few of the sunset. One of Howard, all from 76ft up....

 

[Old Monkey]

Good stuff Dave. I hope you heat up that PVC in a well vented area. Is that the extra safety belt on the floor?

 

[DTW902]

Good stuff Dave. I hope you heat up that PVC in a well vented area. Is that the extra safety belt on the floor?

I should have been selling tickets, I think Craig took all the neighborhood kids
up in the lift. Thats my old belt from the tower removal days. You can see the metal bracket on the belt where you clip into the cable running next to the ladder on the towers. So they were using it for the extra person in the lift.

 

[tntree]

Nice job on the Scabbard, spidey looks pretty nice

 

[roller]

Being a groundie in NYC must suck.

You wanna try working in picture postcard English towns and villages...but yeah NYC must be just as bad

 

[treetx]

You didn't get the removeable remote?? The Teupen I used the most had a removeable control box.

We replaced the white plastic cover with a metal one....after I broke it off.

Oh, watch for that danged ladder too.

 

[Koa Man]

Oh, watch for that danged ladder too.

I removed the ladder from mine. It only got in the way and is mainly
for disabled people to get into the bucket. Anyone who cannot climb
up 3.5 ft to get into the bucket should not be doing tree work.

 

[TheTreeWiseMen]

You wanna try working in picture postcard English towns and villages...but yeah NYC must be just as bad

I've run tree crews in both and in my opinion NYC was the worst. If you double park a truck and chipper in Greenwich village you pretty much close off that road. Then everyone hates you, the fruit and veg delivery guy can't squeeze by, the cops turn up, blah, blah, blah....... I got to the stage where I just didn't give a shit anymore, the tree's coming down and my crews ain't dragging brush half a mile to the truck and chipper, simple as that! Anyway, arguing with asshole NYC cab drivers became a fun part of my day. But, looking at trees for bored, attractive women on penthouse roof decks certainly was a more satisfying aspect of tree care in NYC.

 

[Old Monkey]

I got to the stage where I just didn't give a shit anymore....

Sounds like you became a New Yorker.

 

[TheTreeWiseMen]

Sounds like you became a New Yorker.

Oh yes!! My NY wife says that I became a New Yorker very quickly. Something to do with my attitude...LOL After she saw my approach for getting through crowded subway platforms..... I grew up in south London, there really isn't that much difference!

 

[DTW902]

I removed the ladder from mine. It only got in the way and is mainly
for disabled people to get into the bucket. Anyone who cannot climb
up 3.5 ft to get into the bucket should not be doing tree work.

Good idea Wesley, I have threatened to remove it several times.