Brisbane customers, insist on pro's not weekend warriors

Ekka · 7th May 2007, 03:56 PM

Monday 7th May was a public holiday, Labor Day. I drove past an ironbark being removed ... so I pulled over. Kept relatively low key and didn't let the cat out of the bag about my occupation ... neither did my 7yo daughter.

Two guys were doing a removal, debri to be left on site customer to clean up.

I could tell by the no PPE these were weekenders ... people who have a job during the week then go out on weekends doing tree jobs.

As I stood in the middle of the street the climber asked if "like to ave a go mate?" I responded, "oh no, looks hard." This broke the ice and allowed non threatening conversation.

The ground guy started to tell me how during the week they're Energex contractors doing all the power wire trimming and know all the rules.

I commented how handy it would have been for a bucket etc and started to home in on the service wire marked in pic 4.

The guy told me that they can work close to the wire as they were ticketed but to anyone else it was 2m (wrong, it's 3m). I mentioned that as it was so close to the tree perhaps the energy company could have taken down the tree for free for the customer ... after some debate he agreed that would be the case as the owner could just say he was doing the removal and is not force by law to use a company certified.

Knowing that then, I asked why then didn't they just tell the customer to ring Energex and try and get the tree removed for free or at least the wires cleared or dropped. The guy went quiet and just said they're certified so it doesn't matter. More like they wont make a cent if the Energy company got the job.

So the customer ended paying and cleaning up a job that would have been done for free. The customer chose to get in and deal with these people, sucked in, cost you money and they buggered up ya yard good.

The climber's saw ran out of fuel so he tied it to his lowering rope to get it refueled ... it fell out of the knot and struck the ground bending the bar.

With the service wires coming in he just bombed out pieces around it occasionally clipping and near ripping the wire out.

The hedge copped it good to. The lowering pull rope was an old 11mm rock rope full of decent puffs and nicks. I never hung around till they pulled the trunk over but it would have been good coz they had a back leaner, head on wind and were going to use their vehicle.

All pics and video was out of my mobile phone so but you get the gist of what's going down.

They have jobs, but they come and stuff up our industry, rip customers off and disregard rules. This is common, and who gives a shit? The customer ignorantly listens to these guys and tries to save a buck. What a great circus the tree industry is.

www.treeworld.info/video/hack1.wmv 1.3mb WMV

www.treeworld.info/video/hack2.wmv 4mb WMV

TREE-SURFER · 7th May 2007, 04:45 PM

We have guy's like that too. Having a weekday job in the office and then at weekends, go tree lopping. They then say, "We have ten years experience".
What a joke. There should be more regulations on joe blogs going out and buying a saw. If they are caught using it for more than cross cutting the fire wood, then charge them under safety regulations or something.

jim1nz · 7th May 2007, 06:11 PM

Ha unfortunately the home owner got what they deserved this time, paying cost cut weekenders to do a job they probably could have got done for free anyway.

The think is, its not until something goes wrong on a job like this that people really start to get stung. You think weekenders are going to have insurance??? Not likely. You think the power co is going to come out and reconnect the lines in the weekend because the home owner got a weekender in to save a quick buck.... Probably not, if they do it will be double time rates.

Is it worth the extra odd 10% saved?

JohN Dee · 8th May 2007, 01:45 AM

Dang the hacks are getting better, they're using climbing systems and better saws now :\. Next they'll start wearing PPE and use proper techniques and they'll be somewhat harder to spot besides seeing the ute with high sides

You'd be suprised how many hacks down here don't even climb with a system on tree like those in your pics. It's all ladders, no ppe and if you're lucky you'll get the occassional hacks that go up with their harness, spikes and one tie in - that's it!

It sucks, most times when I do see any tree work going on, i'm on my way to either a quote or a job

.

mdvaden · 8th May 2007, 07:47 PM

The video didn't quite seem to make a point, until I saw your first images. Together, they explain a lot, once the spaces, angles and wires are all seen.

Ekka · 8th May 2007, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdvaden

Together, they explain a lot, once the spaces, angles and wires are all seen.

And the PPE including those straw helmets.

JayD · 10th May 2007, 08:46 PM

Ekka,
This type of thing going on pissess me off!..imagine you or me running overhead power cables for our drinking money,I mean it litreally running cables from the pole to folks house???I mean I've seen them do it, "I know what I'm doing...errr...cough..fart..did you believe that..good let JayD do it wright for YOU..I'm fully ins..full of shyte.They take the food off our tables and NOTHING IS DONE ABOUT IT..sorry for shouting I got a bit excited.
If we were to poach jobs like this,electrical jobs I'm talking about..how long before the authorities started jumping out of choppers and arresting us but these damm cowboys are hurting us all.AND GETTING AWAY WITH IT!..not to mention the consumer who could have had this done for nothing.WRONG!

7th May 2007, 04:45 PM	#2 (permalink)
TREE-SURFER Mature tree Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Isle of Man,UK. Posts: 404	We have guy's like that too. Having a weekday job in the office and then at weekends, go tree lopping. They then say, "We have ten years experience". What a joke. There should be more regulations on joe blogs going out and buying a saw. If they are caught using it for more than cross cutting the fire wood, then charge them under safety regulations or something. __________________ The Aerial Arborist Isle of Man Tree Surgeon\| All Aspects of Tree Work Andy@Aerial-Arborist.co.uk What experts say about TOPPING

7th May 2007, 06:11 PM	#3 (permalink)
jim1nz Mature tree Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Tauranga, New Zealand Posts: 289	Ha unfortunately the home owner got what they deserved this time, paying cost cut weekenders to do a job they probably could have got done for free anyway. The think is, its not until something goes wrong on a job like this that people really start to get stung. You think weekenders are going to have insurance??? Not likely. You think the power co is going to come out and reconnect the lines in the weekend because the home owner got a weekender in to save a quick buck.... Probably not, if they do it will be double time rates. Is it worth the extra odd 10% saved? __________________ SPEED ALWAYS FOLLOWS TECHNIQUE

8th May 2007, 01:45 AM	#4 (permalink)
JohN Dee Moderator - Sponsor Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 869	Dang the hacks are getting better, they're using climbing systems and better saws now :\. Next they'll start wearing PPE and use proper techniques and they'll be somewhat harder to spot besides seeing the ute with high sides You'd be suprised how many hacks down here don't even climb with a system on tree like those in your pics. It's all ladders, no ppe and if you're lucky you'll get the occassional hacks that go up with their harness, spikes and one tie in - that's it! It sucks, most times when I do see any tree work going on, i'm on my way to either a quote or a job . __________________ Don't tell me the sky is the limit, when there are footprints on the moon. Free Tree and Green Industry Link Directory Red : Green : Blue

8th May 2007, 07:47 PM	#5 (permalink)
mdvaden Over mature heritage tree Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Oregon Posts: 451	The video didn't quite seem to make a point, until I saw your first images. Together, they explain a lot, once the spaces, angles and wires are all seen. __________________ ____________________________________ Grove of Redwood TITANS Oregon BIGOOT trap

10th May 2007, 08:46 PM	#7 (permalink)
JayD Moderator - Sponsor Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Sydney Posts: 1,166	Ekka, This type of thing going on pissess me off!..imagine you or me running overhead power cables for our drinking money,I mean it litreally running cables from the pole to folks house???I mean I've seen them do it, "I know what I'm doing...errr...cough..fart..did you believe that..good let JayD do it wright for YOU..I'm fully ins..full of shyte.They take the food off our tables and NOTHING IS DONE ABOUT IT..sorry for shouting I got a bit excited. If we were to poach jobs like this,electrical jobs I'm talking about..how long before the authorities started jumping out of choppers and arresting us but these damm cowboys are hurting us all.AND GETTING AWAY WITH IT!..not to mention the consumer who could have had this done for nothing.WRONG! __________________ Free Tree and Green Industry Link Directory

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