The Tree Butchers Are Coming

@Irishk,

Irishk wrote:

sozobe wrote:

Trimming, fine. Butchering, no.

Plus how does it work that they'll ignore the looming threat of a dead branch but cut down an entire, very old, very beautiful tree?

It's just stupid.
Because the dead branch isn't a threat to the power lines, which is the only reason they're there.

But it is! That's just the thing.

It's right above the power lines, it's huge (40 feet?) and heavy (18 inches diameter?) and it's dead. It's going to come crashing down at some point.

1 Reply

@rosborne979,

Exactly. After our first experience with the 'butchers', and after my hyperventilating, crying and yelling, Mr.Irish handed me a paper bag and calmly pointed out to me that had we taken it upon ourselves to have the work done, our poor trees wouldn't look butchered. We, being new homeowners, had no idea lol...no excuse, I know. Now we know. I do think it would be prohibitively expensive for the county/city to hire qualified tree surgeons to do the work.

1 Reply

@Irishk,

We HAVE taken it upon ourselves to have the work done! To the tune of a few thousand dollars!

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@sozobe,

Ah, I see, and if the crashing down involves the power lines, the dead branch should definitely be removed. I'd say talk to them when they get there, but I have to admit, they weren't very interested in conversing with me (or listening, either).

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

ossobuco wrote:

I can see having a city rule/law that homeowners are responsible to keep the tree trimmed, and that if they don't, matters will progress to the power company trimming.

You're being entirely too rational about all this.

You're talking about a government regulated mega-monopoly that probably spends 50% of its profits on multi-million dollar salaries for the CEO, 45% on lobbyists to manipulate congress and 5% on everything else (including hiring quality companies to trim trees on a regular basis).

(there, I feel much better. I've gotten back to bashing the power companies.)

1 Reply

@sozobe,

Let me try to summarize as I know the pertinent info was spread out over a few posts:

- The power company has CHANGED its standards. What was OK up until a couple of years ago is no longer OK.

- Independent of them, we have put considerable time + expense into keeping all of our trees trimmed. We've had no problems with them re: power lines.

- Independent of the power company, we helped pay for our neighbors to have their tree trimmed, because it was causing problems. It's caused no problems since.

- Meanwhile, the one thing we've asked for help with -- getting rid of a large tree branch that recently died, and is hanging over (but not within 10 feet of) a power line -- they refuse to do anything about.

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@Irishk,

We've already talked to them, and yes, they're unreceptive thus far.

My husband's calling the main guy again and asking to meet with him to get more info about exactly what they'll be doing (and also try to influence things a bit), fingers crossed there.

I'm not super-hopeful about how that will turn out, though, so I'm looking into other avenues as well.

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@sozobe,

Have the tree declared an historic landmark for the town. That'll slow them down.

They'll have to pit their own bureaucracy agains the town's bureaucracy and everything will come to a grinding halt. It'll take them decades to figure it out and by then the tree will have died already. (meanwhile your power rates and your local taxes will go up to pay for the legal costs to analyze the bureaucratic battle).

1 Reply

@rosborne979,

You know what, that's not completely insane for this particular tree!

Might at least throw a monkey wrench in the gears. Interesting!

1 Reply

@sozobe,

sozobe wrote:

You know what, that's not completely insane for this particular tree!

Might at least throw a monkey wrench in the gears. Interesting!

Just figure out how old the tree is and find some obscure historic event that happened during the tree's early lifetime and you're home free. Smile

Oh, and put a plaque in front of the tree dedicating it to the current town selectmen and call the local newspapers (who are usually desperate for a story) for a photo-op. The selectmen will fall all over themselves to preserve it.

Then film it all and put it on YouTube and let it go viral ("Save our Historic Trees" or some crap like that).

Have fun. Smile

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@sozobe,

sozobe wrote:

We HAVE taken it upon ourselves to have the work done! To the tune of a few thousand dollars!

We did, too, only we didn't give instructions re the power line clearance (our bad). Our HOA also has some rather strict rules regarding tree branches and their relationship to the public sidewalk (God forbid an acorn fall on someone's head) so we get letters any time a branch extends past the 30" limit and then have to call out the tree surgeon to fix the problem properly. Home ownership is such a joy lol.

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@rosborne979,

I really like the plaque idea!! Smile

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@rosborne979,

Well, mailers with a deadline date would be one way.

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@ossobuco,

Also, says ms. grumps, anyone who (swearing) touches a tree with any kind of shears, etc., should know about correct pruning. It's not that hard. Workmen/women are not generally stupid.

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@sozobe,

sozobe wrote:

My husband's calling the main guy again and asking to meet with him to get more info about exactly what they'll be doing (and also try to influence things a bit), fingers crossed there.

Maybe he can also ask them about the legal basis on which they intend to do it. That should give you a pointer to the documents that say what they can or cannot do. As a positive side effect, it also may put them on the defensive a bit.

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@Thomas,

Excellent point.

I'd suspect that the guy he'd be talking to would say that he's not the one who handles that part and he doesn't know. But maybe he does, and if not maybe he can point us towards the person who does know.

1 Reply

@rosborne979,

rosborne979 wrote:

Just figure out how old the tree is and find some obscure historic event that happened during the tree's early lifetime and you're home free.

Sometimes, in some jurisdictions, old trees are also protected for environmental reasons. Once they are this many years old or have a circumference of that many inches, they're hard to cut down.

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

ossobuco wrote:

Also, says ms. grumps, anyone who (swearing) touches a tree with any kind of shears, etc., should know about correct pruning. It's not that hard. Workmen/women are not generally stupid.

I agree. Tree pruning is both an art and a science. The really good tree surgeons trim to promote proper growth while making the end product pleasing to the eye.

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@sozobe,

If he plays the not-my-job card, you can play the you-stay-off-my-property card. When push comes to shove, they owe you a reason to let them into your garden. You don't owe them a reason to keep them off.

1 Reply

@Thomas,

Right. This meeting, if it happens, will be ahead of the actual butchering.

By the way, a tactic that is evidently employed by this company is to send out workers who either actually don't speak English or pretend not to when angry homeowners come out to see what's going on. (This is based on Google research this morning, a TON of complaints about the butcherers.)

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