I have a question I wanted to get everyone's opinion on. This may belong in the commercial tree care forum but I wanted to start it here. The situation:
There is a split ash with codominant stems. Each stem is no more than 14" in diameter and the split occurs only a few feet off the ground. The tree is 50-55 feet tall. The customer wants the tree removed completely. The ash is between two houses, the one they own and the neighbor's house. I can't get a lift to the tree so I have intentions of climbing it. Climbing trees with codominant stems kind of freaks me out so I will normally take two truckers ratchet straps and wrap them around both halves to decrease some of the pressure that may cause them to split when climbing and rigging.
The good news is that one whole side of the stem can be dropped into the yard, because the drop zone is clear and it is already leaning that way. The bad news is that the other side of the stem is leaning towards the house, and overtop of a fence. My plan up until this point in time was to rig the bad side over to the side with a clear DZ and use the portawrap to lower branches one at a time. This has worked perfectly in the past on other trees and situations like this.
As with most jobs, there are many methods for doing them and some are safer then others. The customer had the idea of putting a rope in the side leaning towards the house, and pulling it into the yard where the safe DZ is with a come-along or something of that nature. However, the tree is leaning over center, so you would be putting an enormous amount of faith in your hinge when pulling into the clear area of the yard. The customer knows that if we used this method, we could do the job in 1/4 the time and save them a ton of money, but I am not a fan of this method and know ash trees (especially dying ones with EAB) do not have a hinge suitable for pulling them away from a hazard and back over center.
My question to you all is: in a situation like this, do you stick to your guns and go with the correct way to do things by rigging them down one at a time, or do you give the customer the good deal they think they have to have and use their method? If you used their method, would you make them sign a release form? As far as I know, I would probably still get nailed even if I made them sign a release form so I am not bothered. I haven't had any insurance claims and don't want to start. But overall my question is, do you ever attempt to perform tree care somewhat higher in risk to save time and money for both parties (and make them sign releases of liability) or stick to your guns and move onto the next job you can do your way?
There is a split ash with codominant stems. Each stem is no more than 14" in diameter and the split occurs only a few feet off the ground. The tree is 50-55 feet tall. The customer wants the tree removed completely. The ash is between two houses, the one they own and the neighbor's house. I can't get a lift to the tree so I have intentions of climbing it. Climbing trees with codominant stems kind of freaks me out so I will normally take two truckers ratchet straps and wrap them around both halves to decrease some of the pressure that may cause them to split when climbing and rigging.
The good news is that one whole side of the stem can be dropped into the yard, because the drop zone is clear and it is already leaning that way. The bad news is that the other side of the stem is leaning towards the house, and overtop of a fence. My plan up until this point in time was to rig the bad side over to the side with a clear DZ and use the portawrap to lower branches one at a time. This has worked perfectly in the past on other trees and situations like this.
As with most jobs, there are many methods for doing them and some are safer then others. The customer had the idea of putting a rope in the side leaning towards the house, and pulling it into the yard where the safe DZ is with a come-along or something of that nature. However, the tree is leaning over center, so you would be putting an enormous amount of faith in your hinge when pulling into the clear area of the yard. The customer knows that if we used this method, we could do the job in 1/4 the time and save them a ton of money, but I am not a fan of this method and know ash trees (especially dying ones with EAB) do not have a hinge suitable for pulling them away from a hazard and back over center.
My question to you all is: in a situation like this, do you stick to your guns and go with the correct way to do things by rigging them down one at a time, or do you give the customer the good deal they think they have to have and use their method? If you used their method, would you make them sign a release form? As far as I know, I would probably still get nailed even if I made them sign a release form so I am not bothered. I haven't had any insurance claims and don't want to start. But overall my question is, do you ever attempt to perform tree care somewhat higher in risk to save time and money for both parties (and make them sign releases of liability) or stick to your guns and move onto the next job you can do your way?
