What kind of a crew leader are you?

[arborpros]

I just kind of glanced over everyone's post but to answer the thread question - It depends on the day. If we are rigging I tell my guys to do exactly what I tell them to. No more and cirtainly no less. I insist that the head ground guy keeps my rope clear of any obstructions in case I have to come down in a hurry. When we are rigging or not rigging and just doing light trimming or easy work the one thing I stress the most is safety. The one thing that pisses me off more than anything is a reckless person. Someone that gets done cutting and does not engage the chain brake if they are taking a few steps is enough for me to say something the first time and yell the second time. Safety is my number one concern and I don't put up with anything when it comes to that.

My guys have been with me for long enough to know what I expect. I treat them with upmost respect and I demand that same respect in return. I know more than them and have been in the industry longer than them but I am open to critisism which they like. It is a give and take type of thing but at the end of the day, I sign the checks and if I ream their asses, they did something to deserve it.

 

[hunthawkdog]

crew manage

Also making the. guys where shock collar helps i dont know if yalld get away with It in ca

 

[dh1984]

You can bet your Ass the law would bust you if you punched one of them Crackhead Junkies!

Yeah thats right they would throw me under the jail and throw away the key.

 

[2treeornot2tree]

Nothing gets under my skin more, when you have someone that has been working long enough that they should know what going on, and they run around with there head up there butt (in la la land) and you have to tell them everything you want them to do.

 

[lone wolf]

Nothing gets under my skin more, when you have someone that has been working long enough that they should know what going on, and they run around with there head up there butt (in la la land) and you have to tell them everything you want them to do.

I have seen mostly all of it .What do you think the worst offenders do?

 

[tree md]

I think its a pretty bad idea to make " the climber" assume the role of " crew leader".

Well let's put it this way; I's da climba and I's da boss!

 

[formationrx]

....

Well let's put it this way; I's da climba and I's da boss!

me too... i just assign someone to run the ground guys and when i need something he's my point man to coordinate...

 

[imagineero]

I'm not hiring full time staff after last year. It's tough to find guys who are into being a groundy full time - you're almost guaranteed to get someone not that great. Lets face it; it's a medium risk low pay tough manual labour job with little thanks and little to no chance of a raise or advancement. What keeps guys in these kinds of positions? Lack of any other prospects mostly. When I had full time groundies I tried to do what I could to add perks to the job... paid for short courses once or twice a year, always throw lunch in (you'd be amazed how that helps!) small bonusses on jobs we do really well, and early finishes when we can. Eventually though, even the groundy with the heart of gold gets sick of dragging brush.

This year I'm hiring casual only. It has helped my bottom line to be honest, even though I'm paying more for staff. On days when all I've got is a trim or a few stumps, I don't have to be making busy work for a full time staff member. Sucks to be doing stumps myself again though, used to get my groundiy to do it while I went to quote :-(

On a job with, say, 4 guys I try to get one good groundy (can run saws, ropes, chip, knows his knots, knows how to let 'er run), one semi competent guy (can tie a couple knots, fuel a saw and knows how to stack/chip) and a couple mouth breathers who can manage to tie their own shoe laces without hurting themselves if they hold their tongue just right. I keep my cool by not expecting more of people than what is reasonable. For example, I dont expect unskilled labourers to know what a bull rope is, how to tie a knot, fuel a saw etc. I pay according to skill level and everyone gets a free lunch. I cut no slack when it comes to getting work done though. Slackers won't see the day out or ever get another from me. Guys who don't show never get another day either. The way I see it is if I'm working with retards I'd be the biggest fool of all and deserve to be angry only at myself. I wont hire people who are no good, but I think good workers are worth good money. It's my life on the line up there.

I make my own life easier by arranging my work in a way that makes more sense to people who don't know. I make all my ropes different colors. It's a lot easier to say 'get me the yellow rope' than 'I need the 3/4" bull line' to someone who doesnt know. I label all the shelves in my truck to make things easier to find. I put all the things I know I'm going to need in places where poeple can easily find them. Same with my rigging/pulleys etc, I try to get different colors where possible. I show labour how to stack properly in the morning before I get up the tree and have one semi skilled guy to keep an eye on that.

Shaun

 

[troythetreeman]

i agree, climber shouldnt be crew leader
that doesnt mean i dont call the shots
but i dont want to have to worry about the ground work, that part is easy, put it in the truck
the less i have to worry about the better and so long as i dont got some guy who doesnt know what the #### hes talking about telling me how to do _my_ job, were golden
tho i do find myself reminding guys about efficiency a lot, and safety occasionally

 

[sgreanbeans]

I have a "head " ground guy. When I am aloft, he runs the ground. Normally, I don't not need to step in, he is pretty good, keeps things moving. I have found that I have the best luck teaching from scratch. I have had friends, family and tree workers from other company's. It never fails, they feel that they can have a opinion about how to do things, not having a clue of what they are talking about. These kids who know nothing, every bit of knowledge they have they got from me or the books I MAKE THEM READ! Although, they admittedly do not want to do this forever, they still want to learn, to do it right. That right there is very hard to find.
I pay them well, and buy them stuff for the job, Carhardts, good boots, tools and so on. I run my show pretty close to the way I ran my motor pool in the Corps. Its better to have them fear your disappointment than your wrath.

 

[2treeornot2tree]

I have seen mostly all of it .What do you think the worst offenders do?

One thing is when you send down your saw to get get refueled, and they dont refill the oil too or dont make sure the oil cap is on tight and when you get it you get a leg full of oil. Had that happen once this year. Last year I had a string of lazy people that you had to constintaly keep yelling at them to keep them moving. Had a guy walk under me when I was de limbing a norway spruce last year. I was probably cutting the 5th of 10 branches i was gonna drop and i happen out of the corner of my eye look down and he was right under me with a branch cut most of the way threw.

 

[sgreanbeans]

One thing is when you send down your saw to get get refueled, and they dont refill the oil too or dont make sure the oil cap is on tight and when you get it you get a leg full of oil. Had that happen once this year. Last year I had a string of lazy people that you had to constintaly keep yelling at them to keep them moving. Had a guy walk under me when I was de limbing a norway spruce last year. I was probably cutting the 5th of 10 branches i was gonna drop and i happen out of the corner of my eye look down and he was right under me with a branch cut most of the way threw.

I hate those oil caps, wish they would go back to the scwrench top, then put a little steel insert so we can tighten them properly. With the flippy lids, they will run it up to me and the oil or gas is oozing out, they have them shut, but those things can give ya a false feeling, feels like it shut, looks like it is shut, but..........its not shut!

 

[tree md]

I'm about as found of flippy caps as... Well, I'll just shut up; I have decided to not even speak of certain people. Let's just say I'm not fond of them.

 

[2treeornot2tree]

QUOTE=tree md;3465162]I'm about as found of flippy caps as... Well, I'll just shut up; I have decided to not even speak of certain people. Let's just say I'm not fond of them.[/QUOTE] I just got in the habit of pulling on them before you flip them down to make sure there shut.

:taped:

 

[lone wolf]

I'm about as found of flippy caps as... Well, I'll just shut up; I have decided to not even speak of certain people. Let's just say I'm not fond of them.

Der neue style gas und öl kappen die junk.

 

[superjunior]

Oh don,t even get me started on the floppy caps... I flat out refuse to buy another stihl product until those caps are gone forever.stihl owes me a pair of arbor wear pants and I don't know how many gallons of bar oil

 

[k5alive]

I try to stay calm when im in the tree, but with the way people think its really hard not to vent sometimes. i could swear that my 3 groundies have a combined IQ of mabe 100, theyre on the phone, or smokin a cig, i HATE PEOPLE SMOKING ON THE JOB, it looks ugly and unprofessional (say what you want). If i could i would have different groundies but its not up to me to hire and fire im just a climber.

 

[lone wolf]

I try to stay calm when im in the tree, but with the way people think its really hard not to vent sometimes. i could swear that my 3 groundies have a combined IQ of mabe 100, theyre on the phone, or smokin a cig, i HATE PEOPLE SMOKING ON THE JOB, it looks ugly and unprofessional (say what you want). If i could i would have different groundies but its not up to me to hire and fire im just a climber.

Just a Climber nothing! Climbers are the most valuable asset a Tree Comp has. Does the owner see this bullcrap?

 

[superjunior]

I worked for a company a long time ago that hired me to climb for them. Theyre a large landscape outfit that started a tree division. Our crew leader was a complete jackass, guy rubbed me wrong from day one. This buffoon was always barking orders at me from the ground and just agrivating me on a daily basis. Worst part is he was a complete klutz, a total danger to himself and everyone around him. What's even better is he hadn't the first clue about tree worK. Never done anything even tree related, not even ran a saw. One day he said something that pissed me off. Instead of pounding his face in I walked into the office and told the owner it's either him or me, I'll walk right now. He was put on the construction crew the next day and I was running the show.

Moral is you don't necessarily have to be a climber to be a crew leader, but you at least better have a damn good grasp on what's going on. I think the guy with the most experience should be calling the shots, and in most cases that's the guy in the tree or at some point WAS the guy in the tree

 

[tree md]

I worked for a company a long time ago that hired me to climb for them. Theyre a large landscape outfit that started a tree division. Our crew leader was a complete jackass, guy rubbed me wrong from day one. This buffoon was always barking orders at me from the ground and just agrivating me on a daily basis. Worst part is he was a complete klutz, a total danger to himself and everyone around him. What's even better is he hadn't the first clue about tree worK. Never done anything even tree related, not even ran a saw. One day he said something that pissed me off. Instead of pounding his face in I walked into the office and told the owner it's either him or me, I'll walk right now. He was put on the construction crew the next day and I was running the show.

Moral is you don't necessarily have to be a climber to be a crew leader, but you at least better have a damn good grasp on what's going on. I think the guy with the most experience should be calling the shots, and in most cases that's the guy in the tree or at some point WAS the guy in the tree

I tell anyone who climbs for me (if they are not totally green) that you are the boss while you are in the tree. I might make a suggestion but you are the one who makes the decision when the cut is being made. Now of course I'm not going to let someone drop a top on a house or anything but I am also not going to tell an experienced climber how to do his thing.