HUGE River Red Removal.

playfordtree

Hey folks,

haven't been on here in ages.
how you all doing?

here's what we've been up to.


cheers
simmo

__________________
Euthanizing South Australian Trees
since 2007

Drouin Tree Service

Hope you had a HUGE $$$$ on it,Well done

__________________

Drouin Tree Services | Excavator Hire - Drouin and SE Gippsland | Landclearing Melbourne

Jeff Darby

Good work.. looks like big hard job in a bad spot..oh by the way about time you showed up..been awhile.

__________________

Member: Australian Tree Association

Join the Australian Tree Association...Have your voice heard !

Arboriculture, A life long study for some, a passing phase for others

© Jeffrey J Darby 2011

Eric Frei

Big assed butt on that!

Hmmm, glad I didn't have to be the stump grinder operator.

Welcome back.

__________________

playfordtree

Never enough! lol

cheers

__________________
Euthanizing South Australian Trees
since 2007

playfordtree

She was a fair effort.
had 2 stump grinders going at it, one each side, stopped when we got to the middle lol. took about 2 1/2 hours.
(i only left 1 grinder in photo so it would look more theatrical)

if you look carefully you can see how much the river rose up over the week of the job.
(customer reports that jobsite now completely underwater)

we lost nearly 2 metres of workspace on the river bank from when we quoted job, to when we went back to do takedown.

over 60 litres of 2stroke used, all timber moved by hand and wheelbarrow as access was very limited.

most leaders had to be felled into the river then dragged out, several large logs also had to be fished out.
very difficult to control such large pieces of timber in such a confined area.
needless to say we came up with some very "interesting" rope and rigging techniques.

cheers
simmo

__________________
Euthanizing South Australian Trees
since 2007

Eric Frei

I see your signature

Then I take it you welcome the new laws coming in SA

http://www.treeworld.info/f9/south-a...nge-16904.html

What was the deal with that monster, needed a permit etc?

I used to go camping in Morgan all the time, between Morgan and Blanchetown on the other side of the river was some nice camping spots.

Got chased by a red bellied black snake once, scared the living hell out of me!

__________________

playfordtree

Outside metro area
Outside council area
comes under native vegetation act
within 20 metres of dwelling and deemed unsafe
fire up the chainsaws boys.


sad really,
would have been a cracker of a tree in its day.
you can see how heavily it has been pollarded in years gone bye.
(tree was pruned when shack was built years ago.)
we we're hesitant to do the removal at first, and checked with everybody even the bloody EPA, as to the legalities of removal.

We did the site inspection on a long weekend and that made our minds up.
there would have been about 20 people (mostly young children) within striking distance of a falling limb.
as we all know, redgums have a propensity for dropping large limbs without notice on hot summers days/nights.
and,
if you own a shack on the river, were are you on a hot summers day/night?

It's hard to argue between the right of the shack owner for a nice safe environment for his family.
as apposed to the rights of the tree, happily going about it's business for probably well more than a hundred years.
(any guesses on age??)

anyway

R.I.P

__________________
Euthanizing South Australian Trees
since 2007

Eric Frei

Thanks for the explanation. I wasn't grilling you, I was just curious.

I find the further you get away from the big smoke with big attitude the more reasonable things get. A 20m rule is fair enough.

__________________

Apocalypsse

Holy cupcakes thats huge. Did you have a self propelled stumpy or 2 of the ones in the picture? I get back pain after 5m on those things, that stump would have sent to the hospital on a short bus.

playfordtree

hi mate,
just 2 of the push along units, the 13HP Husqvarna (in the picture) and a 15HP Red Roo.
You're right they are hard yakka, but gee, talk about value for money, that little Husqvarna has slaughtered hundreds of stumps.

cheers
simmo

__________________
Euthanizing South Australian Trees
since 2007

playfordtree

Exactly,

We need to be fair when it comes to the subject of large tree removal.

Here is the reply i received from the Native Vegetation Board, regarding the removal, i thought it was fair and very balanced.

cheers
simmo

Native Vegetation Regulation 5(1)(k) allows clearance of vegetation within 20 metres of a dwelling.

This does not include vegetation that —

(i) consists of a tree that has a trunk circumference (measured at a point 300 millimetres above the base of the tree) of 2 metres or more; and

(ii) is situated within the 1956 flood plain of the River Murray, other than where the vegetation is within the area of a city or township;



From the photo you provided the tree appears to have a circumference of 2 metres or more. If it is on the river bank near Morgan, then it will be in the River Murray Zone, so it is not within the area of a city or township.



Therefore Regulation 5(1)(k) does not apply here.



There are other Regulations which may provide a pathway for clearance.



Regulation 5(1)(la) allows clearance if—

(i) the clearance involves the limb of a plant that is over hanging a building; and

(ii) the clearance is confined to removing the limb (or a part of the limb to any point up to the trunk of the plant),



Clearance under this regulation is limited to overhanging limbs only. Clearance of whole trees for safety reasons may be undertaken in accordance with Regulation 5(1)(l).



Regulation 5(1)(l) Clearance for avoiding the risk of damage to property and personal injury – states:



Pursuant to Section 27(1)(b) of the Act, native vegetation may, subject to any other Act or law to the contrary, be cleared -



if—

(i) a plant comprising native vegetation exceeds 2 metres in height; and

(ii) there is a danger that the plant will fall over or a limb or some other part of the plant will fall from it because of disease, wind damage or any other cause; and

(iii) there is a real risk of personal injury or damage to property if that occurs; and

(iv) it is not reasonably practicable to avoid the risk by avoiding the vicinity in which the plant is growing or is situated; and

(v) the state of the plant has been assessed by a person with expertise in the area of plant health, or by any other person acting in an emergency situation or in any other situation that gives rise to an immediate risk of personal injury or damage to property; and

(vi) the clearance is confined to removing the limb or other part of the plant causing the danger and only extends to destroying the plant if that is necessary to remove the existing danger.



The aim of this regulation is to permit reasonable clearance for safety reasons, both personal and property.

This regulation covers vegetation greater than 2 metres in height and is essentially designed to protect people or property from trees or tree branches that are likely to fall. For example, trimming of branches or possibly removal of the tree would be exempt if the tree is close to a house or other building and has branches that are weak and appear likely to fall on the building. Removal of the whole tree would be considered to be ‘reasonable’ where the whole tree was unsafe or where the trimming of unsafe branches would be so severe as to destroy the amenity value of the tree.

Landowners seeking to clear trees considered to be unsafe must obtain advice from a suitably qualified expert.



We would recommend the use of an ISA-certified arborist to undertake the assessment of the tree (International Society of Arboriculture), noting that not all people qualified to remove trees have expertise in tree health and tree risk assessment. However, as stated in part (v) of the regulation above, this is not an obligation – it only refers to ‘a person with expertise in the area of plant health’.



If you are acting as the person with the expertise in plant health, and you have assessed the tree and are satisfied that there is no option to reduce the safety hazard posed by the tree, other than to remove it completely, then you may do so. However you would probably want to record your assessment in a written report. If you are relying on someone else’s assessment of the tree, you may want to reassure yourself that that person has the appropriate qualifications.



It appears from the photo that the tree has been trimmed back before and has resprouted. I understand that this regrowth is often less structurally sound than the original growth. The removal of this regrowth would be less of a loss of biodiversity because none of the branches are large enough to be hollow-bearing. The main trunk and branches however may already contain hollows, or have potential for hollows, and therefore are much more valuable in providing habitat for threatened fauna species. We would therefore strongly encourage the retention of the main trunk and branches as far as possible.

__________________
Euthanizing South Australian Trees
since 2007

playfordtree

Yes and No???

Yes,
because i run a business, have a mortgage and 4 children.

No,
because i think it will be a dogs breakfast and many trees that should be left alone will be removed.
I would like to see it dealt with on a case by case basis, with rational arguements from both sides and a fair decision rendered.
Unfortunately that would probably take up too many resources so wouldn't be practicable.

The more important legislature would be to stop developers building houses on such small bloody blocks of land.

What hope have these people got of planting a decent sized tree in their backyard.
No more trees, no more tree loppers.
Which in turn worries me about our sustainability,
and the future of our industry.

cheers
simmo

__________________
Euthanizing South Australian Trees
since 2007

Eric Frei

New urban housing has little room for trees.

It's about parks and street trees for a lot of new estates.

On one hand the argument is that smaller lots mean greater density and less urban sprawl. On the other hand the argument is that larger lots offer more eco benefits.

A lot of new estates are not cut out of bushland but are old farms (already partially cleared). How much of Australia's trees have been cleared for agriculture? Very hard to say since 1788 because the areas with rivers etc get cleared first etc. Mountain regions are left but do get logged.

The urban forest also has turnover, meaning out with the old and in with the new. Perhaps we need to monitor plantings.

__________________

TrevMcRev

There was some hard yakka in that for sure! And some good firewood too.

If you could barrow it out then a narrow tracked mini loader w/grapple might have helped.

Attached Thumbnails

 

playfordtree

Cheers Trev,

in hindsight we should have hired some sort of heavy lifting equipment.
(or at least more labourers)

The job was 200 kms from our homes, on the way there on the first morning confidence was high "we'll smash into it and be on the road home by sundown".

by sundown,

lets go to the pub for tea boys we're here for the night.

next morning,
"we'll smash into it, and be on the road home by afternoon smoko"

by early evening,
"looks like we're coming back next week fellas"

next week comes,
"we'll smash into it, finish by lunchtime, on the road and home by 3pm"

crawled into bed next to the missus at about 11pm that night.

what a job

__________________
Euthanizing South Australian Trees
since 2007

TrevMcRev

Yeah, it's always 20/20 vision looking back hey.

Machinery is better than muscle i reckon.

That sounds like it was a real slog, but you conquered it in the end.
Sometimes there is plenty of satisfaction in that alone, even if it blew out time/$$$ wise.

Biiig wood always = lots of extra time when all you have is men & saws.

playfordtree

Here's how the jobsite looks at the moment.
(would probably want to re-quote if i was doing job now )

Attached Thumbnails

     

__________________
Euthanizing South Australian Trees
since 2007

Apocalypsse

Cant tell which side of the house the river is on in the last 2 pics.

playfordtree

Photo's taken from behind shack.
my customer had to hire a charter boat to get to his shack to have a look.
they're still tipping river will rise another 300mm.

simmo

__________________
Euthanizing South Australian Trees
since 2007

Rob Chace

far#ing h#ll!!! poor folks!