c/arborists

Just noticed how many people prune oak trees in the wrong season

Walked through a neighborhood in Portland last week and saw three different crews cutting oak limbs in late May. That's prime time for oak wilt spread through fresh cuts if you're in the right zone. Anybody else run into homeowners who insist on spring pruning despite the warnings?

TIL an old climber told me I was cutting my notches completely backwards

Guy I met at a workshop in Portland said my notch was too shallow on the backcut side. He showed me his way with a 45 degree angle and I stopped getting bar pinched after like 3 months of struggling. Anyone else get their whole technique flipped by an old timer?}

Nearly lost a 40 year old oak last month because of bad cabling install

I got called out to a property in rural Vermont where a giant oak was leaning hard after a storm last month. The homeowner had hired some handyman to put in a cable system 3 years ago, but they used galvanized fence wire and never installed a thimble. The wire had sawed halfway through the bark and was starting to choke the main trunk. I had to cut it out and redo the whole thing with proper hardware and a torque wrench set to spec. Cost them an extra $800 to fix what could have been a tree falling on their house. Anyone else run into sketchy cable jobs that looked fine from a distance but were actually dangerous?

Overheard a guy in Tulsa talking about tree topping and it scared me

I was grabbing coffee at a Pilot in Tulsa last Tuesday and heard this landscaper bragging about topping a 60-foot oak for a client. Said he chopped off the top 30 feet because the owner was scared of it falling on their house. I wanted to walk over and tell him that just makes the tree more dangerous long term, but he was with three other guys. Any of you run into homeowners demanding topping even after you explain the risks?

The 18 month oak I pruned finally showed the change I was after

I thinned out a massive live oak in a client's yard in Austin back in spring 2022, and yesterday I drove by and saw the canopy is finally letting enough light through for their St. Augustine to fill in underneath. Has anyone else seen a gap closure take way longer than you expected on a mature tree?

Chunk of oak came down on my truck last week

Was taking down a big red oak in a backyard in Portland. Had the drop zone all marked out but a dead limb snapped mid-cut and swung right into my F-150's hood. Left a dent the size of a dinner plate. I had to pay $600 out of pocket since my deductible was higher than the repair. Anyone else ever had a customer's tree damage your own gear and how did you handle getting reimbursed?

My climbing technique was garbage for 5 years until a guy on a job site called me out

I was up in a white oak last Tuesday in Portland, doing a removal with a rope system I thought was dialed. This older arborist from the crew next door watched me for like 10 minutes, then just yelled up, 'You're wasting all your energy with that wrap.' I came down all annoyed, but he showed me how I was over-gripping the rope and my hitch was set too tight. After 5 years of thinking I was efficient, I spent 30 minutes with him and cut my climb time by half. Anyone else have a moment where a stranger's blunt comment totally changed how you work?

Bought a $300 arborist saddle last year and it's already falling apart at the seams

Went with a cheap brand off Amazon instead of sticking with my usual Buckingham and now the D-rings are pulling through the stitching, has anyone else had luck getting a warranty replacement on these budget saddles or am I just stuck buying another one?

That time I found a stump grinder parked inside a Starbucks in downtown Austin

I was grabbing coffee last Thursday and there it was, a big Vermeer just sitting in the drive-thru lane with the owner inside ordering a Frappuccino. Has anyone else ever seen a piece of equipment in a totally random spot like that?

Snapped a lowering line on a 60-foot oak limb drop last Thursday

I was working a big red oak in a tight backyard in Fort Worth. Had my 5/8 line rigged, everything felt solid. Got about halfway through the lowering on a 12-inch limb, heard that awful pop, and watched the line go slack right as the limb hit a fence. Turned out the rope had a weak spot near the spliced eye that I missed on my pre-climb check. The homeowner was cool about it, fence just needs one rail replaced. But I spent the next hour rethinking my whole inspection routine. Now I run my hands over every inch of rope before I even load it. Anyone else had a close call like that?

Tried pruning a massive oak with a dull handsaw because I broke my chainsaw. Took me 4 hours and my arm still hurts.

Hit 100 tree risk assessments this month and I think most of them were a waste of time

I did 100 assessments in August for a commercial property in Phoenix and about 70 of those trees were totally fine. The client just wanted paperwork to cover their liability. I get that you need to be careful, but we're blowing this way out of proportion. Has anyone else had a client insist on assessments for healthy trees just to pad their insurance file?

TIL to never buy a cheap rope saw off Amazon for a canopy job

Snapped after three cuts on a live oak in Austin and I ended up having to climb back down and buy a proper Silky saw for $85, has anyone else had a tool fail mid-branch like that?

Changed my mind about topping trees after a storm job in Nashville

I used to think topping was fine for reducing weight until I saw a 40 foot maple split right down the topped stubs during a windstorm last spring. We spent 8 hours cleaning up what could have been avoided with a proper crown reduction. Anyone else seen this kind of failure up close?

Pro tip: wet the stump before grinding if it's been dry for weeks

I was fighting a big oak stump last Tuesday, the dust was choking me and the grinder kept clogging. Soaked it with a hose for 10 minutes and the teeth cut through like butter, barely any dust. Anyone else do this or am I just slow on the uptake?

A 30-year-old maple came down in my neighbor's yard last spring and I learned something about root decay I never knew before

I pulled up a soil core near the base and found a root rot fungus called Armillaria that had been spreading underground for years. The article I read from the local extension office said it can travel through root grafts between trees without any above-ground signs. Has anyone else dealt with Armillaria in mature maples?

Worst tree removal day I've had in 10 years

Last Tuesday I was pulling a dead oak out of a backyard in Austin and the rope snapped right as I had it halfway down. The whole top came crashing through a neighbor's fence and took out their brand new grill. Spent 4 hours cleaning up and apologizing while the homeowner just stood there with this look on her face. Has anyone else had a job go sideways like that where nothing went right from the start?

Wasted $400 on a fancy gas pole pruner that couldn't handle a single oak branch

I bought that Stihl gas pole pruner everyone raves about after watching all the youtube reviews. Took it out to a job in Maplewood last spring, big old white oak with some deadwood hanging over a driveway. First decent branch maybe 4 inches thick, the thing bogged down and the chain kept slipping off. Spent more time fiddling with the tension than actually cutting. Had to drag my old manual pole saw out of the truck to finish the job. Anyone else find these gas powered heads are way overhyped for real work?

Stopped using a handsaw for pruning cuts over 2 inches after a climber in Portland showed me how fast an arborist blade on a reciprocating saw works

Saw him drop a 4 inch limb in 12 seconds flat with zero tear out and that was enough to make me ditch the manual saw for anything I can't snap with my fingers, anyone else switch to power for bigger cuts and notice cleaner healing?

My favorite climbing saw snapped clean in half on a job in Riverside yesterday

I was about halfway through trimming a big old eucalyptus for a client and my Silky saw just gave up. The blade snapped right at the handle joint while I was making a cut on a branch maybe 6 inches thick. I almost fell backwards off my spike when it went. Had to finish the job using my hand pruner like a caveman. Anyone else have a trusted tool just fail on them out of nowhere?

Stumbled on a stat about oak tree root spread that blew my mind

I was reading a forestry report from the University of Georgia last night and found out a mature oak's root system can extend 3 to 7 times past the drip line. That means the roots on a 60 foot wide oak could stretch over 200 feet sideways. Has anyone else run into wild root zones on a removal job that caught you off guard?

Rope climbing technique I dismissed for years finally made sense after a storm job

I used to watch guys use the Blake's hitch and thought it was just outdated... slow and clunky compared to a mechanical ascender. Then last February we had a big ice storm in Portland and my ascender froze up on me halfway up a 60 foot maple. Had to borrow a guy's rope and fumble through a Blake's hitch just to finish the day. After that I spent a weekend practicing it in my yard and now I keep both systems in my kit. Anyone else have a backup method they initially ignored?

Overheard a guy at the lumber yard say something about chainsaws that stuck with me

This older logger was telling his buddy that he never runs his chainsaw past half throttle for the first 20 minutes, says it "keeps the spirit in the saw." I tried it yesterday on a big oak removal and my chain actually stayed sharp way longer. Anybody else got weird little rules like that for their gear?

My brand new chainsaw bar snapped in half on a Tuesday morning

I was out on a job in Phoenix last week, trimming a big mesquite tree. About 20 minutes in, my bar just cracked right down the middle while I was making a clean cut on a 6 inch branch. I stood there staring at it for a good minute before I realized I had to call the client and explain I'd be back tomorrow with a spare. Has anyone else had a bar fail like that out of nowhere, or did I just get a lemon?

Wasted $400 on a cheap stump grinder that couldn't chew through a pine stump

Last spring I bought a off-brand stump grinder from a online auction for $400. Looked good in the pictures and the guy said it was barely used. Got it home and tried it on a 3 foot pine stump in my backyard. That thing could barely take off bark, let alone get down into the roots. I spent a whole Saturday fighting it, ended up renting a real one from Sunbelt for $150 and finished in 2 hours. Now the cheap one is just sitting in my shed, a nice paperweight. Anyone else fall for a deal that was too good to be true?