working alone

[ozzy42]

Hey guys. Just caught this thread tonight. Haven't been on the site much in the last month or two.
The only time I work alone is when the help is real late[more than 15 minutes] ,or no show at all.

I ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT let the pizz poor work ethics of others determine whether or not I go to work.

I will drop brush 12 feet high in every possible direction,followed by logs with stubs and maybe even some with branches still attached,then drop the spar on the whole pile.

If they choose to nurse their hangover on Monday,I will make them pay dearly Tuesday, for making me work alone.

 

[Saw Dust Smoken]

pile

I like you style. Just tell the knucklehead every Tuesday will be the same. Maybe Monday will become more important.

 

[treemandan]

Hey guys. Just caught this thread tonight. Haven't been on the site much in the last month or two.
The only time I work alone is when the help is real late[more than 15 minutes] ,or no show at all.

I ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT let the pizz poor work ethics of others determine whether or not I go to work.

I will drop brush 12 feet high in every possible direction,followed by logs with stubs and maybe even some with branches still attached,then drop the spar on the whole pile.

If they choose to nurse their hangover on Monday,I will make them pay dearly Tuesday, for making me work alone.

I shudder to think about it.

 

[jefflovstrom]

If you choose to work alone and then you get hurt or killed, your call, no sympathy here!
Jeff

 

[ropensaddle]

If you choose to work alone and then you get hurt or killed, your call, no sympathy here!
Jeff

Take away the desk and some other resources you might have and you might work alone yourself sometimes Jeffy! I don't know about others but I don't work alone cause I want to it is more because its necessary sometimes.

 

[jefflovstrom]

Take away the desk and some other resources you might have and you might work alone yourself sometimes Jeffy! I don't know about others but I don't work alone cause I want to it is more because its necessary sometimes.

Like I said Rope, no sympathy if you do. It is not personal, just the way it is for me.
Jeff
You can leave out the desk reference, I climbed 28 years to get where I am, Seems to me you would make more money subbing out as a climber. That is what I did until kids came along and I decided to go to management. If the desk bothers you, oh well, Like I said 100 times before, I am in the office maybe 2 hours a week. I got thick skin so I will take your Desk references with a grain and still be glad I made the right move for my family.
Jeff
and, yeah, got the cert's.

 

[ropensaddle]

Like I said Rope, no sympathy if you do. It is not personal, just the way it is for me.
Jeff
You can leave out the desk reference, I climbed 28 years to get where I am, Seems to me you would make more money subbing out as a climber. That is what I did until kids came along and I decided to go to management. If the desk bothers you, oh well, Like I said 100 times before, I am in the office maybe 2 hours a week. I got thick skin so I will take your Desk references with a grain and still be glad I made the right move for my family.
Jeff
and, yeah, got the cert's.

`Lol I bet if I worked around you one of us would go Its all good Jeffy, I climbed twenty eight to and still am but am glad for you friend, really it is good to see your making it in the corporation. I gave 13 years to one to only get crapped on, may you not be bro.

 

[jefflovstrom]

`Lol I bet if I worked around you one of us would go Its all good Jeffy, I climbed twenty eight to and still am but am glad for you friend, really it is good to see your making it in the corporation. I gave 13 years to one to only get crapped on, may you not be bro.

I found the right Boss. You live in a tough area, I get it. I got alot of respect for you guys ( you all know who I mean ), I live in a tough area too, meaning, I needed to move up. I would never have done it if I did not meet Rick Shepard, the owner. We talked for almost 2 months before I took the job and still it was a pay cut compared to subbing out my climbing.
Jeff
Now the responsibility is most of my stress.

 

[ropensaddle]

I found the right Boss. You live in a tough area, I get it. I got alot of respect for you guys ( you all know who I mean ), I live in a tough area too, meaning, I needed to move up. I would never have done it if I did not meet Rick Shepard, the owner. We talked for almost 2 months before I took the job and still it was a pay cut compared to subbing out my climbing.
Jeff
Now the responsibility is most of my stress.

Jeff I really am glad for you, I tease about the desk but I know you have been there and too many in your position haven't. All my buds flip crap at each other, so please do take it as grain of salt.

 

[jefflovstrom]

Jeff I really am glad for you, I tease about the desk but I know you have been there and too many in your position haven't. All my buds flip crap at each other, so please do take it as grain of salt.

Can I have that salt and a little pepper on the venison you are probably eating. Yeah, I get jealous of ya'll.
Jeff

 

[ropensaddle]

Can I have that salt and a little pepper on the venison you are probably eating. Yeah, I get jealous of ya'll.
Jeff

Hey Jeff they have vacations don't they? Take one and get you a deer!

 

[jefflovstrom]

Hey Jeff they have vacations don't they? Take one and get you a deer!

I get 3 weeks a year. I usually just cash them in because it seems impossible for me to leave. I am planning on taking the last week of 2010 off. That is my plan. Got a friend in Alabama to see, 2 in OK, 1 in Texas , and some family in Boulder,Co. See how far i get I guess.
Jeff

 

[ropensaddle]

I get 3 weeks a year. I usually just cash them in because it seems impossible for me to leave. I am planning on taking the last week of 2010 off. That is my plan. Got a friend in Alabama to see, 2 in OK, 1 in Texas , and some family in Boulder,Co. See how far i get I guess.
Jeff

Heck if ya come through the area pm me I will give ya some venison by then the freezer should be packed!

 

[tree md]

Dang, you are coming here and I'm planning on traveling to Indy over the Holidays to see my brother and his family. If my plans fall through maybe we can hook up for a cup of joe if you're gonna be close to Tulsa. I know that's the family time of year though and understand if you will be doing the family thing.

If I was married with kids I would have probably had to go to work for somebody else during this little rough spell with the economy. It's just me and my guys though so I can weather the hard times pretty well

 

[Tree Machine]

Monday I hired a new guy. Was supposed to be two, one didn't show. #1 did OK.

Tuesday I had a contract climb for another company, didn't use new guy.

Wednesday he worked out OK.

Thursday was 93 & hot, he called in 'sick'.

Friday he got all brush compiled from my work yesterday, I was in a tree, he went to start the chipper, but failed to turn the switch back once the motor had started, keeping the starter engaged, horrible grinding, on and on, I'm screaming, shaking the crown, FINALLY, 40 seconds later, each second an eternity, as the teeth are peeling off the starter spindle the grinding lessens and then he lets off the key. By now my hair is standing on end and I'm about to puke.

I hear the chipper now begin to rev up. It goes up a ways, and then comes down to an idle. I think, he's raking scrapple first, I hear the chipping commence, but the machine is still at an idle. It's chipping, but more because the knives are razor sharp. Is he going to throttle up?

"Hey.... hallooooooo...... Chipper guy,..... HEY!!!"
OMG, is it possible that three days into his working with me he all of a sudden forgot everything he's been shown and has demonstrated?

"HEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY!!!! Stop feeding THE CHIPPER!"

By now I can sense that there's not enough throw to expel the chips and they are depositing and filling the far end of the outfeed chute. I am screaming at the top of my lungs. A concerned passerby runs up as I'm screaming and shaking the canopy violently so as to get the worker's attention.

"Are you OK?" she yells up. "I'm trying to get him to shut down the chipper, which right about that time the infeed chute has filled completely, the spinning chipper disc slows as it begins to fill with material, and the oblivious chipper guy keeps on feeding right until the disc can no longer spin and a knife chops into the butt end of an incoming limb and it stops. It is over.

But is it?

no, it is not.

No, this saga has just begun, but I will spare you with the lost afternoon income and getting a new starter installed on Saturday when I should have been attending Indiana's Tree Climbing Championship. Then after shelling out a bunch of money, I got to go back and finish the cleanup by myself.

So I ask you. Is this extreme, or is this typical? It is what it is, or I should say it was what it was, I'm only one day out from that train wreck, working alone, again, not really wanting to, but I made the ultimate mistake. I hire someone because they needed work, not because I needed them so much. I'm done whining.

 

[tree MDS]

Lol! Sounds a little extreme to me TM.

On the rare occasion when you find a good one, the difference is night and day.

I had a new kid for a couple days a while back (unfortunately he had to go back to school) that simply amazed me. I figured I was wasting my time going through the chipper operating protocol with him as usual. To my amazement, he did everything flawlessly.. from engaging the clutch, to disengaging it as soon as the chipper hit low idle, to letting the turbo cool for the perfect amount of time. Of course this was a farm boy that has been running equipment his whole life.. but still, nice to see a glimmer of hope in one of these kids for a change.

Anyway, good luck with that.

 

[2chops]

I used to work for a local tree company doing ROW clearance. We used to have to hire 15 groundguys just to get 2 maybe 3 that would work out. The problem seems to be that these days people want to be employed but they don't want to work. Big difference.

Now days I have a rec. tree climbing academy as my main business and only do the ocasional tree job in order to fill in the income a little. I work alone mostly. But I only take jobs that I know I can do alone. Sometimes I'll employ my son-in-law to handle ropeing duties or brush dragging. Anything beyond my scope of energy, desire or that really needs a crew of guys, I refer the client to my former employer. Since I left on good terms with them, I don't mind throwing some jobs their way.

Yes I know that the risk is greater going it alone. But I weigh the risk/benefit factor well before committing to the job. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[himiler]

On the rare occasion when you find a good one, the difference is night and day. :

I do a lot with Boy Scouts and have to agree with finding the right young man for the job. More often than not, it's what the person came from and his attitude about life that makes the difference. I tell my scouts that being successful in life is a journey started with a right attitude. It will build upon itself, and unfortunately so will a bad attitude.
You don't have time nor the money to wipe noses on little boys who shoulda grown up but didn't. Go find a group like a local Boy Scout troop, talk to the scoutmaster, and give someone deserving a chance to be productive.
Trust me, you won't regret it.
Steve W.

 

[Tree Machine]

One of my early groundguys was an Eagle scout. I hired him solely on that. This was back in the days of loading brush onto a trailer. He was great.

I haven't had all bad experiences with employees, just this thing the day before yesterday, but when the most unlikely thing happens and takes my business out of the loop for two days, I'm really sorta gun-shy on hiring again.


I need to make the effectiveness of my effective equipment even more effective.

Solo climbing operations is much about strategy. You are 'dependent' on no one. You may have an audience of onlookers, but you are still very much solo, every one of you, except for key moments, but for a solo cat you don't have help for even the key moments. The crux situations you need to see coming, play through in your mind, rig appropriately and cut. Lots of slings is one advantage. Not forgetting anything is another. Powerful saw, good size gas tank and razor sharp chain another plus. Different length lowering lines to match the height situation. Cammed pulleys. Eyed ends. Lots of nuances that make everything faster. Expert shotline management, huge difference in time savings, no need to have assistance there.


But, it all depends on the job, doesn't it? I probably do 19 out of 20 jobs solo, but I must admit, my firewood guys are of big assistance on some of the bigger of those, they move out all the big wood. The solo part is in the tree climbing, rigging and cutting. And then solo on the ground, brush chipping/powerblow, get a check.

Solo artist, in my case, means being a professional firewood cutter (sometimes aerial, sometimes on the ground), and a stick picker upper.
For these reasons (big wood walks away and I like cutting logs into firewood) I have a small, efficient chipper to do brush. I have log arches to move both small and large logs, in length, and effective, wheeled carts. I'm really kinda geared for solo, more now so than in the past, but even when I was shlepping brush onto a trailer 15 years ago I still did my share of the jobs solo.

Helpers come and helpers go, but the show must go on.

Where I go to work, and when, is a freedom I truly enjoy. With an employee I'm forced into being 'more responsible' and learn to accommodate upcoming jobs to make use of labor; then teaching, explaining, instructing, directing, answering and hearing when all,

I want to do .....

is climb and make beautiful some trees and

listen to the music,

and have a peaceful and safe afternoon.


And as long as your afternoon is safe, that is what fundamentally matters most, yes?

I am safe with an employee
But I feel I am just as safe without one. You think more thoroughly because there's no one staring up at you waiting, no need to feel compelled to be fast up top to keep him moving down below. No distractions.
You just do your stuff, and go down and clean it up. I like that life.

 

[ozzy42]

Monday I hired a new guy. Was supposed to be two, one didn't show. #1 did OK.

Tuesday I had a contract climb for another company, didn't use new guy.

Wednesday he worked out OK.

Thursday was 93 & hot, he called in 'sick'.

Friday he got all brush compiled from my work yesterday, I was in a tree, he went to start the chipper, but failed to turn the switch back once the motor had started, keeping the starter engaged, horrible grinding, on and on, I'm screaming, shaking the crown, FINALLY, 40 seconds later, each second an eternity, as the teeth are peeling off the starter spindle the grinding lessens and then he lets off the key. By now my hair is standing on end and I'm about to puke.

I hear the chipper now begin to rev up. It goes up a ways, and then comes down to an idle. I think, he's raking scrapple first, I hear the chipping commence, but the machine is still at an idle. It's chipping, but more because the knives are razor sharp. Is he going to throttle up?

"Hey.... hallooooooo...... Chipper guy,..... HEY!!!"
OMG, is it possible that three days into his working with me he all of a sudden forgot everything he's been shown and has demonstrated?

"HEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY!!!! Stop feeding THE CHIPPER!"

By now I can sense that there's not enough throw to expel the chips and they are depositing and filling the far end of the outfeed chute. I am screaming at the top of my lungs. A concerned passerby runs up as I'm screaming and shaking the canopy violently so as to get the worker's attention.

"Are you OK?" she yells up. "I'm trying to get him to shut down the chipper, which right about that time the infeed chute has filled completely, the spinning chipper disc slows as it begins to fill with material, and the oblivious chipper guy keeps on feeding right until the disc can no longer spin and a knife chops into the butt end of an incoming limb and it stops. It is over.

But is it?

no, it is not.

No, this saga has just begun, but I will spare you with the lost afternoon income and getting a new starter installed on Saturday when I should have been attending Indiana's Tree Climbing Championship. Then after shelling out a bunch of money, I got to go back and finish the cleanup by myself.

So I ask you. Is this extreme, or is this typical? It is what it is, or I should say it was what it was, I'm only one day out from that train wreck, working alone, again, not really wanting to, but I made the ultimate mistake. I hire someone because they needed work, not because I needed them so much. I'm done whining.

Man,I hate to hear of anybody having a day like that. Hope tomorrow is a better day for ya.