So you want to knock down some wood....

[avalancher]

We all love to watch the pros take down some serious drops. Those big oak trees in the front yard with houses, cars and little Henry's tricyle laying around. Impressive sight, isnt it? The pros make it look easy with all that fancy equipement, ropes everywhere, who needs all that nonsense! And why pay all those big bucks for a pro! Just hire this guy! He works for beer! And after a lengthy court battle, maybe you might just get a new car out of the deal!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oCDcTxFUkk&NR=1

I have made a few boo boos in my time, but nothing like this.
Who is the biggest idiot here anyway, James the tree expert, or the guy that hired him?

 

[cjcocn]

Whoa, James is nuts! He's should have turned his hat around backwards - lucky for him that the brim didn't hit the tree and get knocked off.

 

[cjcocn]

I only watched part of it (at work), but that comedy of errors could have easily turned out to be a whole lot worse!

.... a part of me thinks it was staged to show how important it is to hire a pro, but I just can't see anyone being crazy enough to do what James did just for a video.

 

[mga]

man.....i look at a tree and try to come up with every worse case scenario before i cut anything....james just cuts them down with no thought to consequences.

must be nice not to worry about safety or law suits......

 

[cjcocn]

man.....i look at a tree and try to come up with every worse case scenario before i cut anything....james just cuts them down with no thought to consequences.

must be nice not to worry about safety or law suits......

yeah, i can't possibly believe that he didn't know it was going to hit that car?

 

[Wood Doctor]

yeah, i can't possibly believe that he didn't know it was going to hit that car?

It is quite possible that he thought he could miss it by angling his cut. You would not believe how many people cut trees and have no idea what is going to happen after they fall. Their minds simply cannot comprehend the drop.

Many of them operate a chain saw while they are smoking. Some have to light up before they start the engine. They get nervous and I guess they figure that the cigarette will pull them through the situation.

This happened to me while working with a smoker whose mind did not contain a full deck of cards. He decided to cut a limb off of a tree on a ladder. Before he climbed the ladder carrying the running chain saw, he lit a cigarette. I said in disbelief, "Why did you do that?" He said, "It gives me confidence, and I love to smoke."

Well, I guess the smoke got in his eyes. He cut the branch off all right. And, he also cut the top rung of the ladder in half. :monkey:

 

[avalancher]

I dont know about you, but if I hired a tree removal guy to take down some trees and he showed up in a mini van, I would have sent him packing.
NOT SAYING THAT GUYS WHO DRIVE MINI VANS DONT KNOW HOW TO CUT WOOD.
I just would expect for a drop in a situation like that he would have to show up with some serious equipement and a good bit of help.
I watched that video 5 times today, and each time was more amazed than the previous times at the lack of common sense and the sheer stupidity of both James as well as the onlookers.
That been my house next door, I would have shot him right out of that tree.

 

[avalancher]

It is quite possible that he thought he could miss it by angling his cut. You would not believe how many people cut trees and have no idea what is going to happen after they fall. Their minds simply cannot comprehend the drop.

. :monkey:

Scary to think that anyone would have taken that chance! How long would it have taken to move the dang car? A minute or two?
But, when you think about it, any moron willing to climb that leaner with nothing more than a saw and :censored: for brains probably didnt even consider what "Might" happen.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Scary to think that anyone would have taken that chance! How long would it have taken to move the dang car? A minute or two?
But, when you think about it, any moron willing to climb that leaner with nothing more than a saw and :censored: for brains probably didnt even consider what "Might" happen.

:agree2: That's precisely the problem. The guy that I have helped on occasion (smoker above) has exactly that much intelligence when it comes to trimming or dropping trees. I finally convinced him to try another profession (cutting grass) before he either killed himself or wound up bankrupt from lawsuits.

 

[iowawoodcutter]

I am sure that was staged. Seems strange to have someone with a video camera following him around. Staged by a tree company would be my guess...

 

[wdchuck]

Sounds like 'James the narcoleptice tree cutter', ???

I saw it at a friends house with high speed, that was some funny :censored: .

There's another yahoo in the video section of AS, they did a tip back with a crane truck, took too big a bite and the truck popped up, the tree went back down. Plenty of drama of course, came down to unprofessional conduct.

 

[oldirty]

not staged at all. this is what happens after a storm. dude has a couple saws and saw an opportunity. probably just drags brash for the 9 to 5 gig, thats why he thought he knew what the scoop was.

lol.

james the narcoleptic tree cutter is a good vid though for sure. i thought it had its very own thread here on this site.

 

[wdchuck]

not staged at all. this is what happens after a storm. dude has a couple saws and saw an opportunity. probably just drags brash for the 9 to 5 gig, thats why he thought he knew what the scoop was.

lol.

james the narcoleptic tree cutter is a good vid though for sure. i thought it had its very own thread here on this site.

James does have his own thread, he's a legend in his own time.

 

[Wood Doctor]

James does have his own thread, he's a legend in his own time.

I suppose the problem with all this is that James is being imitated very realistically by actual tree trimmers. I know one very well and I am trying to forget that I know him.

The best other story that I can convey about my "James" is the day that he leaned his 16' ladder on the left side of a large branch and then, being right handed, he cut the branch off on the right side of the ladder.

This was all done with the cigarette in his mouth. :monkey:

 

[hangnail]

notice the climbers at the end coming in, with some gear

 

[dean06919]

While previewing this video, I took the liberty to read some of the comments left by other youtube subscribers and one in particular caught my attention. This viewer denounced the actions of the cameraman and producer as shameful, claiming they were taking advantage of a poor, disillusioned person.

I believe that the real shame lies with James himself. The man is probably in his late thirties to early forties and somehow has only managed to master the skills of drinking beer and smoking cigarettes, certainly nothing in the way of cutting down trees. James also put little effort in learning basic communication skills, such as speaking English. In fact, if it were not for the subtitles, I would not be able to understand a tenth of what he said, except, perhaps, for a few swear words.

Was this staged? Probably to a certain extent. I doubt James would ever have enough money to purchase a chainsaw, or the ambition to keep up on its maintenance. The producer of this video probably loaned him a chainsaw and said, "have at it James." I hope the producer makes a million on his DVD. Society has already spent too much on James, his cigarettes, beer, food, and housing. It's about time James gave something back whether intentional or not.

Other than that, great video. I watched it six times and laughed every time. Good stuff, good stuff.

 

[abohac]

We all love to watch the pros take down some serious drops. Those big oak trees in the front yard with houses, cars and little Henry's tricyle laying around. Impressive sight, isnt it? The pros make it look easy with all that fancy equipement, ropes everywhere, who needs all that nonsense! And why pay all those big bucks for a pro! Just hire this guy! He works for beer! And after a lengthy court battle, maybe you might just get a new car out of the deal!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oCDcTxFUkk&NR=1

I have made a few boo boos in my time, but nothing like this.
Who is the biggest idiot here anyway, James the tree expert, or the guy that hired him?

I only watched part of it. Does it end?