What a nightmare of a day trimming that giant oak in Brookline

Last Tuesday I had to climb this massive old oak in Brookline that some developer wanted thinned out. The homeowner kept yelling at me from the porch about how I was ruining his tree's "natural shape" whatever that means. Then my chipper clogged on some rotten wood from the core and it took me 45 minutes to clear it out. By the time I got down my rope was frayed from rubbing against a branch I swore was clear. Has anyone else dealt with customers who think they know more about tree biology than you do?

2 comments

2 Comments

coran633d ago

Man that sounds like a total mess. I feel your pain on the homeowner thing, it drives me nuts when they stand there critiquing every cut like they've been climbing trees for years. The rotten wood jamming your chipper is extra rough, those old oaks can hide all kinds of surprises inside. I've had customers tell me I'm cutting too much off when I'm just taking out deadwood, or argue about leaving a stub because they saw it on YouTube. Did the rope end up being salvageable at least? I always double check my lines now after a similar scare with a hidden branch.

tyler_fox413d ago

Coran63 you're really going to defend the homeowner on this? If a guy paid you to thin his tree and you're up there hacking away without explaining what you're doing, I can see why he'd be pissed. You probably looked like you were just butchering it from his view. And the rope thing? That's on you for not checking your path better before you started cutting. That's basic safety 101. Rotten core surprises and all that.