Mewing and crying about spurs for utility.

[clearance]

On another website. People whining and talking trash about Asplundh guys climbing trims with spurs. If you are not qualified and trained to work in close proximety to high voltage then you have very little business telling utility guys how to do thier job.
A couple of posters even said spurs are more dangerous because they "ground" you to the tree, guess what, the whole tree is a ground, everything that has not passed a di-electric test is conductive.
And it was pointed out that the ISA utility brochure states that spurs should only be used if, blah, blah, and discouraged if possible. Wow, I didn't know the ISA had any legal standing to tell utility gus how to do thier job, they sure don't here. What a joke. End of rant.

 

[clearance]

Thanks Dan.

 

[Little Monkey]

i did some powerline work in new zealand and spikes were a NO NO
they said they were conductive and could cause an arc,,
my arguement was you have to wear spikes in some trees mainly pines because otherwise you cannot get a safe foothold or work position and are more likely to slip and clash with the lines, i said it should be up to the climber, also what about your carabiners and d-shackles or your harness??
if spikes are conductive then they should be aswell, also i did not agree that it was always the newbees that where sent to do the linework, most of which was live manual climbing, power line work is dangerous and should only be done by experienced climbers, its not right that some companies put young mens lives at risk coz they are cheaper:angrysoapbox::rant:

 

[(WLL)]

Power company's are production based, they are insured for the owners safety, they don't care about trees and they sure as hell don't care about employee safety. Spikes are cheaper, faster, and just plain simple. I'd say about 80% of assplungers company field cutters/workers are hispanic, speaking little to no English. Its all about money, money, and more money!!! In America you can never have enough money. I honestly think, big name companies selling chippers, with Spanish warnings, is because huge companies; like asplunda,and Lewis, that buy thousands of machines a year, afraid, and just don't want to lose money in lawsuits from the majority of all the legal 3rd world employees they hire.. its big business, pushing for more profit. Nothing more, nothing less!! Greed has put this nation in our suffering state. Companies cant grow without profit, just look how big these crap companies grew. Its all about money!!!

 

[logantree]

I worked for Asplundh for a little over a year, and WLL is right - production is all they care about. "Safety First...No One Gets Hurt" shouldn't be their slogan..."Safety First...We Don't Lose Money" should be. In this area I only worked with a couple Hispanics. Most of the guys I worked with really didn't give a flying rat's a$$ about trees, they're just after their next beer money. Most of the guys I worked with couldn't pull themselves up a rope if they wanted to anyway. (I can't either, that's why I bought a foot ascender. haha)

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

When your standing next to a buzzing line with 46,000+ volts through it you want to be secure in that tree. Spurs make sure you are secure and planted in that tree.

Edit: Theres tons of trees in the world, who cares if a few are spur'd in the name of keeping your lights on.

 

[logantree]

When your standing next to a buzzing line with 46,000+ volts through it you want to be secure in that tree. Spurs make sure you are secure and planted in that tree.

The lines I climbed around were 36,000 or less, but IMO that's not really true. As long as I'm attached to the tree in some way, I feel secure. The only reason they use spikes is because most of the climbers don't know how to do it any other way, and it would cost too much to train them. We had a min. separation of 2.4 ft., and that was reaching as far as you could holding anything that you might have in hand, so you shouldn't need spikes to keep from hitting the line. If you do, you shouldn't be there.

 

[woodchux]

:deadhorse: Dam Clearance... How many years are you gonna milk out this topic?

 

[(WLL)]

if the company you work for dont give a rats ass, why should the **** payed workers!!!! hell if osha didnt push hard hats power companies wouldnt either. its my choice to be safe, its my choice who i work for, i choose to care.
you can work power lines, RR, air ports, sha, pipe line and lots more with much better company's then big wig trash, you just gots ta look and ask around, better companies are out there

 

[Nailsbeats]

Spike climbing is by far cheaper and less complex, if I was a utility company I would have to say it is the obvious choice. Trees around power don't have a future anyway.

 

[clearance]

Wow, some real hatred for Asplundh. Here in B.C. they are a great company to work for. No illegals, everyone is Canadian, everyone pays taxes and all that. Safety is stressed more than at any other outfit I have worked for. I would work for them again.

Anyways, nice to be so high and mighty, above the dirty utility guys. Best remember how it is the power stays on so you can slag these guys. And all utility guys who climb here, climb with spurs, in front of ISA certified supervisors.

chevytaHOE, thanks man.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Trees around power don't have a future anyway.

If the power company had its way all the ROW's would be cleared of everything green and living.

Trees in and along the ROW's that get trimmed are bound to get removed over a few more maintenance cycles.

chevytaHOE, thanks man.

When your life is that close to power, it should be the climbers choice on how to climb. Spurs FTW!.

EDIT: If you haven't climbed around power day in and day out then you really have no place to talk about the use of spurs. IMO.

 

[(WLL)]

i did line work in the state of Md, hooks are illegal on trims. our 4 man crew had a quota of a mile per week. the spike law was ignored, without the hooks our 4 man crew could only get 1/4th the work finished at best. the spike law cost more in payroll then the rare fine, so its the first rule to get dishonored. money is way more important to any utility company than any and most every tree in/on the right away. spike e'm deep folks, its a company problem not the employee. its not hard to prune trees in power without hooks, just cost more.

 

[clearance]

i did line work in the state of Md, hooks are illegal on trims. our 4 man crew had a quota of a mile per week. the spike law was ignored, without the hooks our 4 man crew could only get 1/4th the work finished at best. the spike law cost more in payroll then the rare fine, so its the first rule to get dishonored. money is way more important to any utility company than any and most every tree in/on the right away. spike e'm deep folks, its a company problem not the employee. its not hard to prune trees in power without hooks, just cost more.

Must be hard, otherwise you would be just as fast as with spurs. You make no sense.

 

[(WLL)]

Must be hard, otherwise you would be just as fast as with spurs. You make no sense.

climbing is hard fer a newguy, going hook-less in not hard once you know what your doing, but takes different technique. it takes more time and more setup, making it more technical. ever climb production prunes without hooks?. line clearance with hooks is easy, no chasing sticks, not much roping or rigging, i know the deal, clear the line move on.

 

[(WLL)]

Must be hard, otherwise you would be just as fast as with spurs. You make no sense.

the hardest part is trying to teach a bunch of hook climbers a different style from the norm, many were unwilling to even try. how well were you your first day in hooks?

 

[clearance]

the hardest part is trying to teach a bunch of hook climbers a different style from the norm, many were unwilling to even try. how well were you your first day in hooks?

First day in spurs, pretty slow, not now. And I wouldn't even try to climb around power without spurs, and I don't know anyone else who would. It would be laughed at, never seen it here.

I said I would never advocate pruning with spurs away from the powerline, and I will not now. Time and a place. Decison is to made by the climber, no one else should have that power.

 

[(WLL)]

from what i recall with doing span work we removed any future hazards making the trees relatively easy. i can remember doing 2-3 trees with one good tip, i cant say the same with residential. also your not working on old/big trees that never been prepped or cut for wires, its mostly routine maintenance. i can remember doing half a span or more many times with out ever coming to the ground. not all climbers are equal line work don't require half the skills needed for res work. you respect the wire not the tree. and trim fer clearance not appearance. like it or not there is a happy medium for the tree and line but cost more than the old fashioned hook prune. i never said doing it right was easy or cheap

 

[(WLL)]

First day in spurs, pretty slow, not now. And I wouldn't even try to climb around power without spurs, and I don't know anyone else who would. It would be laughed at, never seen it here.

I said I would never advocate pruning with spurs away from the powerline, and I will not now. Time and a place. Decison is to made by the climber, no one else should have that power.

well if things ever change;and they very well may, you will need to get with the program or find another job. many climbers can climb very well without hooks, like i said not all climbers are equal

 

[clearance]

line work don't require half the skills needed for res work. you respect the wire not the tree.

How do you figure that? Maybe a line clearance guy can't prune res. but it takes a lot to remove overhang or remove skanky trees by the line.