Last spring I had a guy in Portland follow me around his backyard while I was inspecting a massive oak. He kept insisting I just needed to 'communicate' with the tree to figure out what was wrong. I told him I'd rather check the root flare for girdling roots first. He got quiet after I found a three inch garter snake in the bark mulch and said, 'see, that's the tree's messenger.' Has anyone else gotten the vibe that people think we're part therapist, part tree whisperer?
A guy on a job site last week told me I was leaving stubs that were just inviting disease, so I watched him do a proper drop cut on a silver maple and it clicked. He said 'you're making that tree fight a wound it didn't need to have,' and honestly I'd never thought about it that way - has anyone else had to unlearn bad habits from early on?
I was out in my backyard in Portland last Thursday trying to cut up a fallen maple branch. The chain kept getting tight and smoking no matter how much I adjusted the tension. After 20 minutes of cussing at it, I realized I had put the chain on backwards facing the wrong direction. Soon as I flipped it around the cut went smooth as butter. Has anyone else done something this dumb with a simple fix?
For 2 years I thought it was just a dull blade, but a guy at a demo in Nashville pointed out I was cutting at the wrong angle (you know, too steep). Anyone else have a simple fix like that make you feel kinda dumb but stoked at the same time?
Everyone at the Austin chapter meeting last month was bragging about their battery-powered chainsaws, but I still use a standard 24-inch pruning saw for most cuts. It's slower sure, but I've made cleaner cuts on my client's 50-year-old live oak without tearing bark or compacting the tree's collar. Has anyone else gone back to manual for certain jobs and felt like it paid off?
I was 40 feet up in a red oak near Dayton doing a crown reduction last week. About halfway through, my Silky Zubat just snapped at the handle - the blade was fine but the plastic grip gave out completely. I had to finish the rest of the job with my hand pruners, which took forever and killed my hands. Turns out that saw was about 8 years old and I'd left it in the truck bed during a few rainstorms. I grabbed a replacement at a local equipment shop in town but I'm wondering if I should have gone with a different brand. Does anyone else have a climbing saw that lasted them a decade or more?
Last summer I was on a big removal in Portland where a 60-foot maple had to come down between two houses. The crane operator said my rope angles were off and showed me a different block placement that made the whole lift way smoother. Has anyone else had a crane op teach them something that changed how you rig?
I had this client in Boise who insisted I trim every crossing branch on her 15 year old maple, even if it was still healthy. She said it's better for the tree's future. I usually leave structure pruning to winter dormancy and just take deadwood in the summer. Her way felt too aggressive to me - like we were causing unnecessary stress during growing season. But she showed me some arborist blog from Oregon that says light structural pruning in summer helps direct growth better. Now I'm second guessing myself. Has anyone else dealt with a situation where the client was actually right about a technique?
Old timer named Bill at the local tree supply shop warned me about oak wilt back in June, but I figured I knew better with my new chainsaw and all. Lost three big red oaks on a job in Springfield after I trimmed them during a heat wave, cost me around $4000 in removal fees and ticked off the homeowner. Anyone else learn the hard way that summer pruning is a bad call with oaks?
I was up in a 60 foot red oak near Mt. Tabor, and a hinge I thought was solid turned out to have a hairline crack hidden under some bark. The tree started to go sideways on me before I could get a proper pull line set. Lucky for me my groundie saw it and yelled, but now I always shave a test strip of bark off the hinge face before I make my final cut on anything over 30 inches. Anybody else ever had a hidden defect almost cost them? I'm wondering if there's a better way to check besides just scraping bark.
I had this massive silver maple in a backyard in Springfield that I was dreading. Expected it to take two full days with all the limb tying and drop zone issues. But the wind stayed calm, my rigging setup held perfectly, and the 60-foot trunk came down exactly where I aimed it. Wrapped up by 2 PM with zero damage to the lawn or fence. Has anyone else had a job that just clicked like that out of nowhere?
I walked through Elm Street Park yesterday and saw they hacked the tops off three old oaks. Everyone says it's fine for safety, but I think it's ruining the trees and makes them weaker in the long run. Who else has seen bad topping jobs in public spaces?
I keep seeing guys grab a chainsaw for every branch over 2 inches in Austin, but I still reach for my trusty 21 inch rapid cut hand saw. It leaves a way cleaner wound on live oaks since there's no oil spray or chain tear, and the tree heals faster. Last month I pruned a 40 foot red oak with just that saw and a pole saw attachment, no noise or gas smell. Anyone else think we rely too much on power tools for cuts that don't need them?
I've been fighting with a silver maple in my backyard for 2 years, always getting weepy cuts that never healed right. Last weekend I tried making a 3-cut removal on a heavy limb over 6 inches and angled the final cut just barely past the branch collar. Has anyone else noticed a big difference with those tiny collar adjustments on messy trees like maples?
I used to make my cuts flush with the trunk on smaller branches... felt clean and looked good. Then a guy I was working with on a live oak job in Austin told me I was leaving too big of a wound and slowing down the tree's healing. He showed me to cut just outside the branch collar instead. What do you use for a final pass on those collar cuts, a sharp handsaw or a chisel?
I was up in a big red oak in Portland, setting a redirect line for a limb walk, when my rope lock just let go. The whole line slipped about 10 feet before I caught it with my hand jammed against the crotch. That was the moment I realized the lock was worn down from years of use and I never checked it. I got down, swapped the part, and now I inspect every lock before I tie in. Has anyone else had a similar close call with gear that seemed fine?
A guy with 40 years in the biz told me at a job in Nashville last July to never cut oaks when it's hot. I figured he was just being old school and kept trimming a big red oak during a heat wave. Within 2 weeks, oak wilt showed up and I had to remove the whole tree. Lost a $1,200 client because of it. Anyone else learn this lesson the hard way?
Last week I had to take down a 60 foot red oak that was leaning bad over a garage. I brought both my Husqvarna 572XP and my buddy's Stihl MS 461 to compare on the same cuts. The Husky just felt way more responsive in the cut and vibrated less after 20 minutes of nonstop work. I timed my big back cut and the Husky was about 3 seconds faster through 30 inches of wood. Anyone else notice a big difference between these two on heavy hardwood removals?
I drove past this big sugar maple on Elm Street in Denver every day for like 3 years and never really noticed it. Last week the city finally trimmed it and took out all the deadwood and crossing branches. Now you can actually see the structure underneath and it looks twice as healthy. Has anyone else had a client who just let a tree go for years and then finally paid for a proper pruning?
I was driving home and spotted this crew working on a huge live oak near 6th Street. The climber was up there sawing for like 10 minutes on a branch maybe 4 inches thick, just grinding away. I pulled over and watched, and sure enough his blade was toast. You could hear the saw catching and tearing instead of cutting clean. He finally got it but left a nasty jagged collar on the trunk. That tree is gonna have a hell of a time sealing that wound. Am I the only one who can't stand seeing people fight their tools instead of just sharpening them?
I finally switched to dormant pruning for my live oaks after that Austin job and I can't believe the difference in healthy new growth by spring compared to the summer hack jobs I was doing, has anyone else noticed how much better trees bounce back when you wait for winter?
Turns out all that wound dressing stuff is pretty much useless for trees and can even cause rot. Has anyone else found this out the hard way or did I just waste my money?
I was at a job site last month in Portland and a power line arborist named Dave started talking to me while I was taking a break. He said topping is basically giving a tree a slow death sentence because it creates weak attachment points that fail in storms. He showed me photos of a 60 year old oak he had to remove 5 years after someone topped it, and the rot went all the way down the trunk. That visual stuck with me, now I only recommend reduction cuts instead. Anyone else had a chat with a utility guy that made you rethink something?
I picked up one of those $30 soil injectors off Amazon last spring in Portland thinking it'd save me time feeding roots. After 3 treatments the tree started dropping leaves in June and I found the injector was dumping too much nitrogen right near the trunk. Had to flush the soil with 200 gallons of water over two weeks to fix it. Anyone else had a tool that almost did more harm than good?
Got called to a property in Portland last month. Homeowner wanted me to top a 40 year old maple because it was shading her garden. I explained it's bad practice, she insisted. Six weeks later that tree is sprouting weak shoots everywhere. Another job I did a proper crown reduction on a similar maple and it looks fine after three months. Who here still deals with homeowners begging for topping?