HOW TO BE AN EXCELLENT GROUNDMAN

[wpbgent]

Maybe add a part that mentions checking the chipper feed tray for saws and or cones and insert the picture of the husky that got "chipped" someone on here posted...

 

[Big A]

As an excellent groundie, I feel that a groundies best attribute should be a stout pair of boots to kick some of these idle climbers butts up the trees, God they :censored: me off sometimes

 

[skwerl]

Since this thread has been gutted by several original participants since first being written, I figured I could repost the article being discussed. This file is what it looked like on April 29, 2004. There were some tweaks afterwards, but nothing major.

http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment_29222.php

 

[hi-jacker]

My dad was a climber most of his life and trained me as a "brush monkey" first, then as a climber. I only worked for him and his company on weekends and during the summers while I was in highschool, so I never got to be a great climber. I did become a pretty decent groundman, however, and anyone who has worked for his dad knows he's harder on you than anyone else on the crew.

I'm now 63 and we just started using chippers when I left the business...we loaded all the brush and hauled it to a dump. In my day, I was a pretty good loader and could swing a pretty mean machete. As anyone who has loaded knows, the load has to be far enough forward to keep it from being lost on the freeway, but far enough back to make it easy to unload by backing up fast and hitting the brakes. My dad was not happy if he had to make more than one run backwards to unload brush from the truck.

Sorry for being so long-winded...us old guys do that.

 

[vharrison2]

Welcome to the site hi-jacker! That is a great article, isn't it?

 

[hi-jacker]

This is agreat site...brings back memories.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Hello Hi-jacker,

It sounds like you learned from the same guy that taught me treework. The first job that did was in about 1966. Us groundies had to drag the limbs to the curb and cut off the brush using Sandvik bow saws. Marv would hollar at us from the tree if we started to make a hay-pile on the trailer instead of a box-pile. Those early lessons have served me well over the years.

http://tinyurl.com/9zxzx