Need Help With Novel

[Chris E. G.]

I'm working on a novel that has a tree-cutting scene. I know nothing about this, so I'm hoping you'll help me out here.
1) The tree is a huge, dead tree in someone's back yard. Am I correct to assume that the crew would consist of one climber, one shagger for the fallen branches, and two chipmen? The shagger (an adult) isn't a certified arborist; but he's there just to help his father, who's the climber.
2) How long would it take to totally eliminate the tree, including the stump?
3) Where does the shagger stand or wait, while the climber cuts?
4) Where would the chipper be located, in relation to the tree? I'm imagining it being parked along the curb of the street in front of the house.
5) When it's time to grind the stump, the main character (resident of the home) must speak to the climber (owner of the service). This means I have to have an excuse for the climber-owner to be hanging around at his truck, while the chipmen are grinding the stump.
What realistically could the owner be doing at the truck, at this point? I don't want him just standing there while the resident is talking to him. I want him busy doing something. I'm assuming this would be a good time for him to dismantle the chipper or do something with it, like make sure all the chips are out, or perhaps examining the chips in the truck? (Like I said, I'm clueless.)
5) Is there anything the shagger could be doing, to assist the two men who are grinding the stump? The scene requires the shagger to be away from the owner, while the resident is speaking to the owner. Yet I want the shagger to be within eyeshot of the resident, because the resident is asking questions about the shagger.
I appreciate your help!

Chris

 

[moss]

Call the shagger a groundy and you'll be half way there. Put the chipper within branch dragging distance of the drop zone. The groundies will be standing near to but not in the dropzone. The groundies running the chipper are the same people as the groundies dragging branches.

Spend some time reading through the posts, do a search on the following terms: speedline, rigging, block, bull rope, face cut, back cut, top handle, bomb, chunk, spurs, spar, wirecore. You'll see there a dozen ways to skin a cat.
-moss

 

[Sprig]

Up my alley

I love to write and am glad to give you a suggestion or three, and just enough cocktails to make this interesting lol
First, moss is totally correct, get the terminology right!
Now, my 0.02$ worth gratis (send me a copy lol)

1> Dad should be at least 80, old and haggard visage, hands like iron, legs of a 20yr old, face beat up from too many loggers nights many years ago, after he met the woman of his dreams, Katie the cookhouse fallen angel who he rescued.........carp, nm, that is your job to build character.

2>Big tree, make it a half a day or so, unless these folks are super-monkeys, sunrise to lunch end-to-end, shorten or stretch to suit needs (add remove situations), short would be bare bones stuff

3>Groundy is outta the way, unless it is a really huge tree and he is hanging onto a rope to lower the enormous branches which almost lift him off his feet, still off to the side of the falling debris (search techniques), been there dunnit

4> On the street, outta the way, like moss says, unless the owner wants the chips piled to the side for mulch for his lovely wife's flower garden,,,,,,,,nm, there I go agian lol

5>He will be putting all his gear away, maybe touching up his saw, yelling at the crew to hurry up and get the last pieces in and remember all the gear, stowing his tools, checking the load on the truck, checking anything on the truck, taking a piss in a bush, opening a beer to end the day, the list can go on for a long time, your choice, your story

6> He will be staying a respectful distance from the grinder, he wouldn't be able to hear much if he was any closer. Probably smoking a joint by the front of the truck while undoing the crappy knots he did in some lines, good lord mon use yer imagination (jk jk), maybe under the truck re-wiring the falling exhaust pipe, sitting in the cab grabbing a bite to eat since it is near lunchtime?

Hey, your story, stories are fun things, hope you have fun with it and good luck man!

*end of story* Owners wife runs of to Vegas with handsome groundy, wins the slots and they retire to the Yucatan. Owner runs off with other groundy and buys a fishing lodge in the Gulf Islands of Canada where they raise llamas and live happily ever after.

Just ribbin' ya, have fun and good luck!





Regards and welcome, Serge

 

[Chris E. G.]

Moss's response made me realize two more things, then:

The "shagger" (one of the groundies) has only one job: dragging the branches. The boss is his father, and Dad won't let him near the chipper. The other two guys, I guess, can help out with the dragging, but they are the chipmen.
If the chipper is within dragging distance of the tree, this means that the machine is actually on the lawn somewhere. What I don't understand, then, is where all the chips go, as the men feed the branches into the chute.
I thought the chipper's "tail" (or whatever you call that thing that pokes up from it) is positioned so that the chips spew into the back of a truck.
But they can't park the truck on the homeowner's lawn. So that's why I'm wondering how it's set up??
This summer I hope to catch a tree crew in action, but there's no guarantee of that.
CHRIS

 

[Sprig]

LOLOL, nothing like posting at the same time!
Now I gotta go back and reead your last post, sheesh!

Okay, got yer delema, The chipper chute will be conviently pointed to where it needs to go, other wise, the kid (?) will be dragging the branches down the driveway/across the lawn to the guys dealing with the chipper (chute into the back of the truck type thing), maybe make the guys on the chipper (or one of them) the same that gride the stump? Tonnes of options there, its your scene so carve away McDuff!

opcorn:

 

[OTG BOSTON]

I've always reffered to groundmen as 'dirt'

 

[rebelman]

Sprig pretty much nailed it. I've written ten "episodes" of an "HBO" show about a fictional tree crew. You could show or describe proper pruning cuts prominently, maybe in the background topping going on across the street. Have the climber see a naked lady in an upstairs bedroom. One groundy should be Amish. The druggy should be a war veteran. Climbers talk like surfers. The black girl is a lesbian. The loudmouth foreman is a former utility climber incapable of spikeless climbing(his catchphrase--rake it again!). Every job should end with an accident, like Home Improvement, you know, Tim Taylor always did something. No trees should be harmed in the filming.

 

[Jumper]

One of the groundies should be an ex climber who is recovering from a bad accident involving a fall and is trying to get up the nerve to do what he really loves again.

"*end of story* Owners wife runs of to Vegas with handsome groundy, wins the slots and they retire to the Yucatan. Owner runs off with other groundy and buys a fishing lodge in the Gulf Islands of Canada where they raise llamas and live happily ever after."

You lost me, owner runs off with the black lesbian one, or Bruce, his longtime secret boyfriend. If the latter they live life to the fullest al la Monty Pyton, "I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK...."

As for the raising of llamas in the gulf islands, that is really a front for organic dope farming, which they export into Bushland through the Gulf Islands under the cover of darkness in a "Gay Cruise" houseboat,to an unsuspecting population in Washington. Could be shrooms as well.

You have got to interject Banker McNasty into the story somewhere as well who threatens to repossess all the equipment and put everyone out of work. One of the workers should be an illegal immegrant as well, one step ahead of the INS, who needs the $$$ badly so he can send it home to his terminally ill mother.

 

[coydog]

The climber in the tree is also the owner of the company , One guy on the ground is the ropeman( his son), a good ropeman lets the ropes run properly and understands rigging, and is also probably a climber too, one groundy is dragging to the chipper, the other groundy is chipping, the chipper is backed into the driveway close to the gate leading to the back yard. Make sure the old man's son the ropeman swearsunder his breath and calls em "brush maggots" and "knuckleheads" the old man is coiling and stowing ropes while his son is in the back yardscreaming at the knuckleheads for almost tipping the stump grinder over into the fence...( they can get tippy )

 

[rebelman]

Really good Coy, but Jumper is off the charts good. Can you say rolling stone?

 

[Chris E. G.]

Finally will witness tree removal!!

Well, looks like a lot of people had fun with my original post about my novel. But where did the black girl come from?

I'm going to observe the set-up and progress of a tree removal; an 80-foot cottonwood---healthy tree, but the homeowner wants it gone. Actually, there are three such cottonwoods, but the homeowner wants them out of there. I randomly called a tree service in the yellow pages and flat-out told him what I wanted, and he's more than happy to have me hang around and watch.

I am finally going to get a real clear idea of just what is involved. I know there are many permutations as far as who's doing what. The tree climber in my story is not as old as some people like to think he is...mid forties. Well, that might be old to some of the new young groundies. And tree climbers usually start out as groundies, and I'm sure most never forget where they started. Groundies aren't "dirt." They are the backbone of the tree removal operation!

Tree climber has very, very small part in the story, by the way. It's his son who has a key role, and yes, he is handsome like one of you suggested.

Thanks for the posts.

CHRIS

 

[OTG BOSTON]

Referring to ground workers as dirt wasn't meant as a slam, I was serious I don't know if it is a New England thing or not. Don't forget this biz is full of very independent, tough, individuals. New guys are more of a liability to a crew than you might think. Think of it as earning your spot on a varsity team, good natured hazing is not uncommon You have to earn it to learn it.