Tree cutting contractors are a waste of time!

[Timleech]

Twice in the last ten days I've suffered from the shortcomings of tree cutting contractors.

Last week on the T&M just North of Saltersford, I had been warned about a tree trunk which contractors had allowed to sink and failed to remove. I wasn't warned, though, that there was another large part of the same tree sunk right across the channel.

We were going very gently as we approached the known and marked sunken tree when suddenly the bows lifted by 6" and we came to an abrupt halt.

After some prodding around with a shaft we worked out that it was a substantial bit of tree right across our path with no way round.

It was getting towards knocking-off time, I rang CRT who were very good, after discussion with a couple of different people they said they would send out the reactive team first thing next day. We had to leave the boat and get a lift home, and I was on my way to see how they were getting on next mid day when I had a call to say that they had moved it out of the way. It turned out to be at least 12, maybe 15 feet long and up to 2' diameter. Six men couldn't drag it out of the water. The contractors must have been perfectly well aware that it was in the cut, but had told no-one and simply left it, out of sight and out of mind.

 

CRT Reactive team 10/10, Fountains Nul Points.

 

Today my work came to an abrupt halt because the power went off, unannounced. Scottish Power had been cutting trees up the lane, although we had a scheduled shut down in March for tree clearance. I went up to see what was going on, yes they had turned off the 11kV because some of the tree growth was too close to the lines. "Someone is supposed to have phoned to warn people we might have to turn off the power". Nobody had received any calls. It turns out there was something the contractors had not noticed, and SP had to treat it as an urgent safety issue. "It'll only be off for a couple of hours", it was off for 3.5 hours. An afternoon's work lost, and my dock schedule messed up. Given warning this morning I could have rearranged my day so that less was wasted, done this afternoon's work this morning.

 

Scottish Power and their contractors, Nul Points.

 

In both cases the 'employer' was having to use their own men to put right the failings of their contractors, and their customers were inconvenienced by those failings.

 

Grrr

 

Tim

Edited May 23, 2013 by Timleech

[Paul C]

Last trip out I didn't take the chainsaw and regretted it. This time round. I'll be bringing it for sure, especially with the recent winds we've had!

[Paul C]

Twice in the last ten days I've suffered from the shortcomings of tree cutting contractors.

Last week on the T&M just North of Saltersford, I had been warned about a tree trunk which contractors had allowed to sink and failed to remove. .........................there was another large part of the same tree sunk right across the channel.

 

Trees float don't they? Wot with them being made of wood?

[tree monkey]

Trees float don't they? Wot with them being made of wood?

not all, it will depend on the species, plus this time of year with spring sprung the tree if full of sap

[MtB]

Trees float don't they? Wot with them being made of wood?

 

Eh? Are you suggesting Tim is making it up?!

 

 

MtB

[pete23]

not so long back i was felling trees in a woods near the canal, there were a couple of contractors doing the same not far away.

 

then a bloke comes round to me in hi vis saying could you give us a hand.

 

long story short, they had cut a tree and could,nt handle it, had to get my lr to pull it over for them!!!

 

could of ended very badly for the boat moored under the tree!!

[Peter Reed]

Twice in the last ten days I've suffered from the shortcomings of tree cutting contractors.

Last week on the T&M just North of Saltersford, I had been warned about a tree trunk which contractors had allowed to sink and failed to remove. I wasn't warned, though, that there was another large part of the same tree sunk right across the channel.

We were going very gently as we approached the known and marked sunken tree when suddenly the bows lifted by 6" and we came to an abrupt halt.

After some prodding around with a shaft we worked out that it was a substantial bit of tree right across our path with no way round.

It was getting towards knocking-off time, I rang CRT who were very good, after discussion with a couple of different people they said they would send out the reactive team first thing next day. We had to leave the boat and get a lift home, and I was on my way to see how they were getting on next mid day when I had a call to say that they had moved it out of the way. It turned out to be at least 12, maybe 15 feet long and up to 2' diameter. Six men couldn't drag it out of the water. The contractors must have been perfectly well aware that it was in the cut, but had told no-one and simply left it, out of sight and out of mind.

 

CRT Reactive team 10/10, Fountains Nul Points.

 

Today my work came to an abrupt halt because the power went off, unannounced. Scottish Power had been cutting trees up the lane, although we had a scheduled shut down in March for tree clearance. I went up to see what was going on, yes they had turned off the 11kV because some of the tree growth was too close to the lines. "Someone is supposed to have phoned to warn people we might have to turn off the power". Nobody had received any calls. It turns out there was something the contractors had not noticed, and SP had to treat it as an urgent safety issue. "It'll only be off for a couple of hours", it was off for 3.5 hours. An afternoon's work lost, and my dock schedule messed up. Given warning this morning I could have rearranged my day so that less was wasted, done this afternoon's work this morning.

 

Scottish Power and their contractors, Nul Points.

 

In both cases the 'employer' was having to use their own men to put right the failings of their contractors, and their customers were inconvenienced by those failings.

 

Grrr

 

Tim

Which goes to prove that you cannot trust tree monkeys or trees

But I know our CWDF Tree and Tree Monkey are good peeps.

[Grace and Favour]

Which goes to prove that you cannot trust tree monkeys or trees

But I know our CWDF Tree and Tree Monkey are good peeps.

You're being a creeper..............

[John Holden]

Today my work came to an abrupt halt because the power went off, unannounced. Scottish Power had been cutting trees up the lane, although we had a scheduled shut down in March for tree clearance. I went up to see what was going on, yes they had turned off the 11kV because some of the tree growth was too close to the lines. "Someone is supposed to have phoned to warn people we might have to turn off the power". Nobody had received any calls. It turns out there was something the contractors had not noticed, and SP had to treat it as an urgent safety issue. "It'll only be off for a couple of hours", it was off for 3.5 hours. An afternoon's work lost, and my dock schedule messed up. Given warning this morning I could have rearranged my day so that less was wasted, done this afternoon's work this morning.

 

Scottish Power and their contractors, Nul Points.

 

In both cases the 'employer' was having to use their own men to put right the failings of their contractors, and their customers were inconvenienced by those failings.

 

Grrr

 

Tim

 

There was a time when power companies employed tree fellers who routinely went around trimming and felling trees that were in danger of mixing it with power lines.

 

Then came privatisation!

[Jerra]

You're being a creeper..............

Yes you see quite a lot of creepers on tree trunks.

[Timleech]

not all, it will depend on the species, plus this time of year with spring sprung the tree if full of sap

 

It was Sycamore.

 

Tim

[Peter Reed]

You're being a creeper..............

No sir Ivy never been a creeper but if you ever rhodedendron Etc Etc

[Timleech]

Which goes to prove that you cannot trust tree monkeys or trees

But I know our CWDF Tree and Tree Monkey are good peeps.

 

My post wasn't meant as an attack on tree surgeons etc in general, more to highlight one of the disadvantages of the current trend to contract everything out. Contracting out is done 'to save money', but one way the contractors can do the job cheaper, and make a profit at the same time, is by cutting corners and sometimes the corner cutting comes home to roost and the employing organisation has to pick up the pieces. I'll bet that the cost of that is never added to the cost of employing the contractors!

My understanding is that the company contracted by CRT to clear trees does not have any boats. When they were clearing offside trees along here they were dragging the cut trees across the cut to the towpath with a quad bike, chewing up the towpath and inevitably some parts got left behind in the cut.

 

Tim

[Neil TNC]

My post wasn't meant as an attack on tree surgeons etc in general, more to highlight one of the disadvantages of the current trend to contract everything out. Contracting out is done 'to save money', but one way the contractors can do the job cheaper, and make a profit at the same time, is by cutting corners and sometimes the corner cutting comes home to roost and the employing organisation has to pick up the pieces. I'll bet that the cost of that is never added to the cost of employing the contractors!

My understanding is that the company contracted by CRT to clear trees does not have any boats. When they were clearing offside trees along here they were dragging the cut trees across the cut to the towpath with a quad bike, chewing up the towpath and inevitably some parts got left behind in the cut.

 

Tim

A large part of Mrs TNC's job, working for a LA, is sorting out cock-ups made by contractors.

[tree monkey]

There was a time when power companies employed tree fellers who routinely went around trimming and felling trees that were in danger of mixing it with power lines.

 

Then came privatisation!

 

they still do and in fact the industry is far better organised than it ever was, all the power companys have to employ highly skilled and qualified staff who have to work in a dangerous sector of the tree industry in what is a a dangerous job without the powerlines.

 

in fact before privatisation it was common for the linesmen to "lop" a few branches off themselves and that was oftern the limit of the tree works.

 

the lads are constantly assesed, retrained and monitered by the power companys.

 

cheers

[Timleech]

they still do and in fact the industry is far better organised than it ever was, all the power companys have to employ highly skilled and qualified staff who have to work in a dangerous sector of the tree industry in what is a a dangerous job without the powerlines.

 

in fact before privatisation it was common for the linesmen to "lop" a few branches off themselves and that was oftern the limit of the tree works.

 

the lads are constantly assesed, retrained and monitered by the power companys.

 

cheers

 

...and it seems to be 'their' lads who have been busy down here for two days, in the middle of the birds' nesting season, only two months after their dedicated contractors had the power off for a planned full day and seemed to just p*ss about cutting a few twigs. Presumably someone belatedly realised the contractors had failed to do the job properly.

 

Tim

[jonathanA]

unplanned interuptions are something the (toothless) watchdogs take seriously. If you had an outage a bit ago and another quite close together I would get stroppy with power companies customer services, I got £50 off United utilities after a string of planned and unplanned power interuptions (including one for tree cutting) in a fairly short space of time ( IRC 3 or 4 in 6 months) when I berated them for thier incompetance. Not a life changing amount of cash but very satisfying when I got the cheque.

[tree monkey]

...and it seems to be 'their' lads who have been busy down here for two days, in the middle of the birds' nesting season, only two months after their dedicated contractors had the power off for a planned full day and seemed to just p*ss about cutting a few twigs. Presumably someone belatedly realised the contractors had failed to do the job properly.

 

Tim

 

Ok i respect your opinion but i have to back out of this.

[Paul C]

not all, it will depend on the species, plus this time of year with spring sprung the tree if full of sap

 

That's interesting, how does one go about removing sunken obstructions such as this? If its floating, there's a good chance of the average boater being able to get it out the way, if its sunken its a whole different issue, I imagine! Of course, its effective weight while in the water won't be much (due to the displacement of the water) but if it gets 5-6" or more beneath the surface, it disappears from view. A headache for all, I imagine.

 

I looked at the stoppages for T&M, there's nothing there, or even an advisory. Is the canal navigable at the moment? We're heading this direction very soon.

[tree monkey]

That's interesting, how does one go about removing sunken obstructions such as this? If its floating, there's a good chance of the average boater being able to get it out the way, if its sunken its a whole different issue, I imagine! Of course, its effective weight while in the water won't be much (due to the displacement of the water) but if it gets 5-6" or more beneath the surface, it disappears from view. A headache for all, I imagine.

 

I looked at the stoppages for T&M, there's nothing there, or even an advisory. Is the canal navigable at the moment? We're heading this direction very soon.

 

by getting wet

[Timleech]

That's interesting, how does one go about removing sunken obstructions such as this? If its floating, there's a good chance of the average boater being able to get it out the way, if its sunken its a whole different issue, I imagine! Of course, its effective weight while in the water won't be much (due to the displacement of the water) but if it gets 5-6" or more beneath the surface, it disappears from view. A headache for all, I imagine.

 

I looked at the stoppages for T&M, there's nothing there, or even an advisory. Is the canal navigable at the moment? We're heading this direction very soon.

 

Yes it's fine, just watch out for the yellow fence post and string marking the 'known' sunken trunk (if it's still there). Just north of the first bridge north of Saltersford tunnel. It does extend beyond the yellow post, but is fairly deep by that point.

 

I believe that they managed to lift one end of the other piece, sufficient to get ropes under it, and then dragged it to the side and strapped it to the side of their workboat.

Last I heard they were planning to tow it in this manner to the breach site, where there is still some machinery, so that it could be lifted out and cut up.

 

Tim

[ditchcrawler]

Ok i respect your opinion but i have to back out of this.

I would suggest that like in all walks of life some contract companies do a dam good job at a reasonable price and make a fair profit, where as others take the p**s. Like all businesses you only hear about those that that the p.

[John Holden]

they still do and in fact the industry is far better organised than it ever was, all the power companys have to employ highly skilled and qualified staff who have to work in a dangerous sector of the tree industry in what is a a dangerous job without the powerlines.

 

in fact before privatisation it was common for the linesmen to "lop" a few branches off themselves and that was oftern the limit of the tree works.

 

the lads are constantly assesed, retrained and monitered by the power companys.

 

cheers

 

So how come when in Norfolk, a tree came down taking a 132 kv line down on to a 11 kv line with the resultant mess taking weeks to clear up?

By resultant mess I mean meters blown into oblivion, TVs converted to heaps of melted plastic and metal etc etc.

If the lines were routinely checked there is no way a tree could have reached the size needed to bring down power lines.

[tree monkey]

So how come when in Norfolk, a tree came down taking a 132 kv line down on to a 11 kv line with the resultant mess taking weeks to clear up? By resultant mess I mean meters blown into oblivion, TVs converted to heaps of melted plastic and metal etc etc.If the lines were routinely checked there is no way a tree could have reached the size needed to bring down power lines.

I carnt explain and how could I? All I know is my industry and how hard we work to ensure this doesn't happen.

 

it is impossible to stop this happening, there are so many conflicting issues to consider and balance that its honestly hard to explain, in a simple post like this

 

it's all about managing the risk and we are very good at it, despite your example.

 

Cheers

[Timleech]

I carnt explain and how could I? All I know is my industry and how hard we work to ensure this doesn't happen.

 

it is impossible to stop this happening, there are so many conflicting issues to consider and balance that its honestly hard to explain, in a simple post like this

 

it's all about managing the risk and we are very good at it, despite your example.

 

Cheers

 

 

The whole thing here has seemed a bit strange.

 

Last autumn someone came down to weigh up what needed doing. There's an 11kV pole in our garden, some little bits of trimming were needed. We agreed I would do some myself, the contractors would do what I hadn't done. Nothing that needed the power off.

There are some spindly ash and hawthorn just over our fence which he said ought to come down, I'd be pleased if they did because they'll be a nuisance when they are bigger (they're already higher than the 11kV)

 

Just prior to the planned shutdown in March, they came round again, with some permission forms for me to sign. The guy showed me what they were planning to do on our and neighbouring property, the ash & hawthorn didn't come into it. He was very concerned about the height of the 240V cable from the pole transformer (not 'our' pole) to the house. It's an armoured cable, not terribly old, doesn't worry me at all but he felt it should be dealt with fairly urgently, might get done on the day the power was off. I told him I was more concerned about the angle the poles with the transformer on were leaning at, because if they came down we would end up with an 11kV line on our roof. I'm not in any way qualified to assess such things, but he agreed it didn't look good and would flag it up. If they at least put a stay on the pole I would feel happier. Nothing more has happened (that I have heard) about either issue.

 

Last week someone from the power co (or their contractors, not sure) rang me to ask whether he could come & talk to me about tree clearance on my property. He never came.

 

I do wonder whether the right hand knows what the left is doing?

 

Tim