Poor Quality Tree Work in my Neighborhood

In my neighborhood, there has been some very low quality tree work happening. I have taken a few pictures and one video to demonstrate how NOT to do tree work. First, we have a small Mimosa tree that has been topped. This is the most abhorrent of all forms of tree mutilations. For this tree, it is not the first time it happened, note the sunburn on the top side of the branches. I myself will not go into details about topping but I will let the International Society of Arboriculture tell you why Topping Is Bad.


Second, we have two London Plane Trees that had many lower branches stubbed off. Not only is the cutting of the trees bad, but my wife, Quincy, witnessed the cutting happening. She said there were two dudes on 30ft extension ladders with out any Personal Protection Equipment ie; helmets, eye protection, or any sort of fall protection. The ladder was not tied to the tree in any way and the dudes were just up there hacking away with cheap bow style saws. These guys are lucky not to have hurt them selves. Here are the results.



Finally, we have a picture and short video taken from my back yard of a Thundercloud Plum being taken down. To set this up, it was a Sunday morning and my family was getting ready for church. We had heard a chainsaw running nearby for a little while. Both Quincy and myself noticed about the same time that the chainsaw had been running full throttle for a very long time. We both turned to each other and said something to the effect of 'Wow, they are really going for it out there.' At that point curiosity got the best of me and I looked out my back door to see this.



Now, let us count the number of violations of OSHA safety guidelines here: 1- No helmet, sorry the baseball cap does not count. 2- No eye protection, again the baseball cap does not count. 3,- No hearing protection 4- OSHA dictates that a tree worker must be have two separate tie in points while operating a chainsaw in a tree. Dude is not secured to the tree in any fashion. Now on to the video.




I said earlier that the chainsaw had been running full throttle for some time and that is because it was so dull. This cut was started, and I had time to run and get the camera, take a still picture, and then take a 20 second video before he make it through a 6 in. diameter cut. In the still picture you can really see the smoke coming off the bar. So many things could have gone wrong and he was only 6ft. off the ground. There was no directional cut to guide the falling branch. With out that cut his saw could have been caught in the kerf of the cut and pulled him out of the tree. This was scary for me to watch.

So, in conclusion always hire an Arborist! A person with the tools, knowledge and experience to perform the work safely, and in the best interest of the tree. Do not sacrifice the integrity of your trees, and the safety of an under qualified tree worker to save a little money. It is not worth it! For more reasons to hire an arborist visit this site http://www.treesaregood.com.