Photos and video of the forum's resident "tree hugger"

[gt_32750]

 

[gt_32750]

Video is at this link.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9K9L8FRQjN58vECz7

 

[gt_32750]

This was the 2nd time that Brian did tree work for us, and this big oak tree in the back yard looked to be a real challenge given its size and location. Brian came over to review the site conditions twice, developed a strategy for completing the work, and implemented that plan flawlessly. Watching the tree trunk logs fly up in the air, over the fence/shed and into the awaiting dump trailer was quite a sight to see. Having had many trees trimmed and cut down over the last 20 or so years that we've lived here, I've come to know that owning a chainsaw and calling one self an arborist are common occurrences, but Skwerl is the real deal!

 

[skwerl]

Thank you, Greg. I truly appreciate the compliment. I'm glad I was able to help you out with this tree. And I'm glad we took it down, as there was some nasty rot going on about 25 feet up on the side facing the house.

 

[gt_32750]

My wife will be glad to hear about that, as both of us really hated having to take the tree down. There was always a chance that she would change her mind and chain herself to the tree - really glad that neither of us had to deal with that

 

[skwerl]

Not a single comment? I figured somebody here would have said something. Or am I just an attention whore?

 

[eighty6gt]

People still do manual labor?!

 

[skwerl]

Not any more than absolutely necessary! I'm a lazy bastard.

 

[JJ427R]

Not a single comment? I figured somebody here would have said something. Or am I just an attention whore?

It is very cool what you do, and can be quite dangerous if your not careful. My neighbor fell 30 feet and broke his back/hip when he got carless doing what you do. His wife made him retire from it....
I used to work on the other end of the tree business and worked for a tree moving and landscaping company, I ran an 80" Vermeer tree spade on a Mack Truck and moved trees for housing developments, golf courses, etc.... We also did land clearing and had a Hydro Axe, that thing was fun as hell to wreck shit with but talk about dangerous.....

 

[skwerl]

Holy cow that looks like fun! How much did you pay them to let you run it?

 

[JJ427R]

I used to run a lot of heavy equipment and that's at the top of the list of fun things I did. Moving trees was pretty cool too and I moved some big enough to have escorts in front and behind me.
Nothing I'm really proud of but I also rolled my tree spade over backing sideways across/up a slope to plant a tree, told my boss it was too steep but he told me to go for it and then drove away. I backed up and dug the hole ok, but when I backed up the slope to put the tree in she rolled on her side. I rode it out in the cab and it seemed like forever as it rolled really slow. I crawled out the passenger window and had the homeowner call my boss. He didn't say a word to me about it, only asked if I was ok. If he'd said anything I'd probably have punched him right in the mouth.... and I think he knew it....

 

[stkjock]

that new dump trailer coming in handy!

Brian - that's a lot of wood, any guess as to how much it weighed?

what happens to all the cut logs?

 

[skwerl]

Not sure on the weight but an educated guess would be about 8,000-10,000 lbs. I pay $7 per cubic yard to dump it at a recycling yard where they grind it up into mulch and resell it. It's right at $100 to dump a full trailer.

 

[stkjock]

amazing that you have to pay to dump it when they turn around and sell it

 

[skwerl]

There's not much money in it so they have to get a little at both ends to pay the overhead and make it work. The tub grinders they use to grind it up cost almost a million dollars.

 

[stkjock]

Gotcha

 

[JJ427R]

How are your insurance premiums doing that work? Boss I mentioned above ended up selling the land clearing/tree removal part of the business because the insurance was so high....

 

[skwerl]

I'm a sole proprietor and have 15+ years history so my rates are pretty low. I pay about $1200 per year for a million dollar liability. The vehicle insurance is a lot more, over $5K per year for the three trucks. As a sole proprietor with less than 3 employees I am not required to carry WC so I don't.

 

[stkjock]

After thought, you bring in someone else to grind the stump?

 

[skwerl]

Yes, had the same stump guy for 15 years. I have no need to ever touch a stump. He has the $90K stump grinder pulled behind the $75K pickup truck and I have no interest in investing that kind of money to save $75-200 per stump.