18 mexicans and a whisper chipper

[murphy4trees]

I got lucky last week and just happenned to be home when Asplund came through the neighborhood clearing the backyard line... They brought what was called a super crew, two ten amn crews... Two white guys as general foreman and all the rest Mexicans... hard workers... Every one with a throwball and line and an echo 3000 saw. They were hip thrusting everything on a blake hitch....

I have three 85' oaks in the backyard that are suffering from old butchery, spikes, and heavy salt fertilization of the turf.... Big Jon pruned a couple of them last year just before Isabel came through... I told them to remove rather than clip a few pine limbs. I didn't think they were going after the oaks cause it seemed like they had plenty of clearance.... Turns out they wanted 15' on the oaks... So a climber walks up and drops a set of hooks on the ground next to us. I said no way... no one climbs the oaks... had to sign a paper... they were Ok with that and later assured me "Oh no, he wasn't going to spike the oaks"....

Ya right.......

 

[OutOnaLimb]

I worked for the guys in Orange for a few month, even though it was on a transmition line in the national forest we were told to spike every thing. Climb up to about 15 ft of the line. top it, and come down and spike up the next one. 10 hrs a day in gaffs kinda sucks. Im surprised they let them use a blakes hitch. I got written up twice for using that one. Asplund's formans manual says that the taughtline is the ONLY way to go. You did the right thing though Dan, I would never let those clowns touch my trees. Even though I do know some guys who are great climbers. Thier motto is "we trim for clearance, not appearance."

Kenn:Monkey:

 

[matthias]

The contract we get for utility line clearance stresses spikes on only removals and proper pruning methods. These guys don't want a single customer complaint so we are told to do it right even if it takes longer. Once I got past worrying about how many spans I cleared in one day work became more enjoyable.

 

[wiley_p]

I dont understand the significance of the caucasion/mexican ratio, nor the statment that they were hard workers. If I saw you on a job would I say a mullet haired, white guy with a Jesus fish on his van. It appears that your point was missed, was it the fact that Asplundh was gaffing trees? or was the gaffing going on because the ratio of white supervisors to Hispanic workers out of balance. Or wait only the mexicans had throwlines, you were saying they care more about pruning than who? was it the whiteboys with the gaffs at the base of the Oaks? Or were you bothered by what some perceive as their jobs being taken away by "those other people" Please elaborate Daneil, whats really at issue here.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I thought it was the title of a song...

 

[wiley_p]

Never was very musically oreinted.When I sing the crew gets scared.

 

[murphy4trees]

When I see a pro basketball game on TV and say... there are ten black men on the court, that is an observation.... Nothimg more...

When I watch Mexicans work and talk to friends that work with Mexicans that tell me Mexicans are hard workers, and I say Mexicans are hard workers, that is my judgment and of course a generalization... Bottom line, I respect their work ethic....

What I was really thinking is "just think of all the work I could get done with a crew of 18 Mexicans...

To say that Asplund sent a "supde crew" of 2 middle aged white general foreman walking around pointing the finger, while 18 Mexicans body thrusted up trees in my backyard last week... is a fact... It really happenned... I saw it.

The coment about the hooks is related to Asplund and what they say vs. what they do...

 

[MasterBlaster]

I still can't get the tune going in my head....

 

[Stumper]

Butch it is like "Sounds of Silence" but performed entirely with 2-cycle engines and handsaws -except for a chipper doing the bass part.