#067-008 BLM Pink House Camp, Orofino, ID

#063 Large Old Willow. Storm Victim. Moscow ID

Start 08-29-08. 12 man hours. Reuben and Kathleen get tree down. Storm knocked a lot of it down and in the street on the evening of 08-21-08. Jeremy cut up the wood with the 88 and 66 Stihl.

#062-008. Sick Aspen. Wires everywhere. Moscow

Start 08-28-08. 12 man hours. Reuben and Jeremy. Take down. Clean up.

#061-008. White Ash. Storm damage. Moscow ID

Start 08-27-08. 12 man hours. Good size limb broken and hanging down in front of the front door. Customer consented to trim the WHOLE tree for health and safety. Found another large broken limb closer to the top. Tree was too thick and overgrown to notice it before. Lightened up the top. Reuben and Kathleen.

# 060 - 008. Silver Cottonwood. Windfall. Moscow

Start 08-22-08. 16 man hours. Victim of storm on the night of 08-21-08.

#058 - 008, Perpetual Mess Linden. Moscow ID

Start 08-22-08. 16 man hours. Linden rained down perpetual mess on patio. Much better suited for lawn area. Jon and I were both up in the tree to start with. This is very efficient if you can get everyone up in the trees right away. We try not to have grunts to do the ground work that can't climb. Our main focus is training climbers. There is a tremendous growing demand for arborists in other parts of the country. Kathleen and Natalie tend ropes and process limbs, brush, and firewood. It's fun to do little jobs like this in a more labor intensive, simpler, safer, quieter way. No chipper. No bucket truck. Mostly hand saws.

Natalie. Stomping and chomping the trailer.
This trailer is the best tool I ever bought. We use it to haul horses, hay, lumber, furniture, brush, you name it. Cheapest dump truck in the world. Nice and low to the ground because there's no hoist. [Guy working for an outfit in Lewiston was killed last year when a dump bed came down on him.] We unload it with the cable that runs under the brush. You just need something to hook on to, or another truck to pull it off.

#026-008. Horse Logging. Koehler. Deary ID

Photography - Carrol Koehler.
Natalie [12], Reuben [18]. Daughter and Son. Natalie's last day helping Dad before school. She'll be 13 tomorrow. Last day of not being a teenager!

Leonardo on the left. His Mamma. Mona Lisa on the right.
Chuck and Carol Koehler graciously conceded to have their name on our job blog. I said, "Great. I'll get your pictures on and quotes. You'll be famous!" They have a nice quiet little 5 acre piece. Too small for most logging companies to look at. We put up a quick temporary electric fence this spring. There's a nice pond there. The horses think they're in Horse Heaven. Everyone is glad to have the grass mowed. It's absolutely crucial that horses get virgin pasture every year. No parasites. No deficiencies. Mona Lisa is 29 or 30. Never seen the vet. Never had worm medicine. Never had shoes on. Never had a bit in her mouth. Since we've had her. 12 yrs. Same with the other horses.
Never spent one penny on them, other than feed and a lot of work. If you want to know how to take care of horses. Just learn to think like an Indian. I had so much fun out there with the trees and horses. I could hardly stand it. Cutting some of the over mature White Fir. First one was rotten for 15 ft. or so on the bottom. The second one about 24" DBH. Looked like it had been struck by lightning. Scarred all the way down. Also. Cutting over mature Black Pine. Unless they are in the open. Then they will stay for shade and wildlife and to attract moisture, buffer the wind, etc.

#055 - 008. Big Red Fir. Against house. Troy ID.

You'll want to click on this picture to enlarge it. Then you can see Reuben.


Jon Fagerland. Apprentice Climber. Anchor man here.

Reuben, ready to start blocking down.
Start 08-15-08. 20 man hours. Tree that I trimmed over 20 years ago. Pretty tight spot. In the back. No way to get equipment in. Other companies would have rented a crane most likely. Which of course would cost the customer 2 or 3 times as much. The tree was pushing against the eave where the roof had been cut away in the past. Plus. There were drop lines everywhere. And. The garage was 3 ft. away 90 degrees to the South. The only drop zone was the North East quadrant. Reuben did an amazing job getting it all roped down and blocked down in a day and a half. With the help of Jon on the ground. Jeremy showed up later and tripped the trunk. With Jon on the winch line.

#054-008. Overdue Blu Spruce. Orofino ID

Congratulations. Kay Weller. The first one to volunteer to have her name on our job blog. Said she would be glad to recommend us. Thank You. I'm sure we will be doing more work in Orofino. It sure was a lot of fun. Even though it was 100 degrees in the shade. And. We were cutting down our shade. Start 08-07-08. 16 man hours. Too close to house. Threat to foundation. Root growing up above ground and wrecking siding. Should have been cut years ago. I cleared path to the top. Cut the top. Tied in and cut some on the way down. Kathleen went up then while I worked ground. Climbing is often the easier job. This is one of our important safety rules. " There will be a lady on the job if at all possible." It makes a big difference. When you get too many guys together in one place and they think money and production is the first priority. ACCIDENTS HAPPEN !!! Not to mention the deterioration of manners and language. Some of my critics have said. " This is dangerous work. You can't have women and children around." I say. " If you can't have women and children around. It most likely is dangerous. I wouldn't want myself or anyone else on their job either."

#053-008. Sad Norway Maples. Moscow ID

Start and finish. 08-06-08. 16 man hours. Reuben, Kathleen, Jon, and myself up in the trees. Jeremy on the ground. Norway Maples in Moscow have been maturing, and dying. I'm sure they are the most common tree in town. They can generally be revived with pruning and a drip system with a mulch bed. The problem is. We don't have water to spare. And. The best thing about trees. Is. They can be established with a mulch bed and not need water. Trees are the answer. Trees and mulch are the most economical efficient solution to everything. At any rate. All we did to these 8 city trees. Was. Cut the major dead wood and adjust clearance.

#052-008. Victim #3. Dutch Elm Disease. Moscow

Start and finish 08-05-08. 12 man hours. 12 inch caliper tree. Reuben, Jon, and myself. Next in line from 20 inch caliper Elm they lost last year. Customer is really hoping not to lose 2 remaining Elms that are in the best location to provide shade. Among other benefits naturally. Tall straight tree. Will make strong lumber.

#051-008. 2 infested locust. Removal. Lewiston ID

Start 08-01-08. Jeremy and Jon. 12 man hours. No cleanup. Locust borers seem to have gotten into most of the Black Locust in the valley. They start in the smaller branches. The next year they are in the larger branches. By the third year the tree is bored full of holes clear into the trunk. They honeycomb the limbs and soon you have branches breaking and dying. There are 3 options. Leave the tree alone except for retrieving broken hangers. [obviously don't park or lay under the tree]. Cut the tree way back [in other words butcher it], and see how well it sprouts back. Or. Removal.
I think it was around 30 years ago when we had an outbreak of locust borers. It wasn't as devastating though. No matter what happens. There will be plenty of locust trees. They keep coming back. Everywhere. Some call it the plague of the Locust. Actually. They are one of my favorite trees. Well suited to the desert climate in the valley. The pioneers brought and planted a lot of them. They are so amazing. They grew up fast and made shade and strong dense rot resistant wood for fence posts, firewood, single trees, etc.

#050-008. Pruning job. Moscow ID

Start 11:30. 08-01-08. 8 man hours. 2 apple trees. 2 cherry. 1 small birch. 1 plum. 1 small thornless locust. 2 skyrocket junipers. 1 small Black Locust. Cleanup. Jon, Natalie, and myself.

#048-008. Pair of English Walnuts - Clarkston WA

Two English Walnut trees. The finish product.
Start 07-28-08. 24 man hours. I trimmed these over 12 years ago. Things grow so fast down in the valley. Longer season. Warmer temperatures. Especially if they get water. At any rate the trees were overgrown. Top heavy. Starting to fall apart. They needed better periodic maintenance. We had to clip the tops at about 3 inch caliper. This requires exceptional skill as a climber. If you just thin the trees and leave the tops in a situation like this. They would be more likely to break than if you left them alone. With proper periodic maintenance. You can keep most of your cuts under 3 inches. 4 inch cuts aren't too bad. Larger cuts often don't heal over. Producing cavities, excessive suckering, structural defects, etc. Often we have to work on trees that haven't been maintained for 15 or 20 or more years. Then it can get a little radical sometimes. Certain things have to be fixed. For safety. A good arborist has to be like a good surgeon. Cut what needs to be cut. Never mind how difficult it may be.

#047-008 - Big Old Silver Maple - Pullman WA

40 man hours. Plus 8 man hours of other pruning. Tree is in decline. Actually trimmed it last year. Deliberated then with the customer about trimming or removal. Silver Maples are credited with being the most notorious hazard trees. They grow so fast and get so big and start to rot quite readily.
They can be maintained though. Right down to nothing.[Trees in decline will actually start shrinking in size as you remove dead wood.] If you can afford it. Every 3 to 6 years. And. If you can comprehend it and accept it. The way they are usually trimmed though, makes them worse. If they haven't had PROPER periodic maintenance. They can be scary. Trust me. You don't want to wait for Mother Nature to trim these! Of course it can require a certain process and time to accept the idea of cutting them down.









Reuben in tree. [18 yrs. old] Some folks say that he was born in a tree. Tough as a mule, healthy as a horse, strong as an ox, and smarter than a tree full of owls!












Mark Germain. [Grandad] 660 Stihl - 36" bar.

Nothin' like sendin' 'em packin'!

# 046-008 2nd Elm - East City Park - Moscow ID

24 man hours. Reuben starting on the 2nd Elm tree. 044 and 046 were infected from the roots of Elms next to them. They were cut last year. The City trenched between them. But that sometimes fails. Trees were so close together.

Took some extra time to get this one down. Had to rope everything over the stage. Plus the Montrose Academy students were practicing Shakespeare again. Same thing happened last year.Their teacher said it was good. They needed to get used to noise and distractions.

Here is Reuben and Jon and Jeremy. Getting ready to trip the trunk. Kathleen is on the camera.

#045-008 Non-Typical Elm Moscow ID

20 man hours. Customer stated that several experts have looked at this tree. Non of them could positively identify just what variety of Elm it is. Not your typical Elm limb formation either. Quite beautiful. Tree was very compacted. Full of dead limbs and debris. This is the finish product. No one would guess it was trimmed. Unless they saw it before. We trim the whole tree. We go to the tip of every branch and trim for safety, structure, and design. The goal for safety is to make the tree self pruning, without major failures. In other words. In the event of a storm [wind, snow, or ice.] the tree will thin itself rather than lose major limbs or uproot. Also, pruning and thinning the canopy stimulates the tree to grow. Tree will fill back in with healthy, strong, vibrant growth. The opposite of this. Which is often mistaken for proper pruning. Is. Gutting the inside. And. Hacking the bottom half of the tree. Leaving it top heavy for Mother Nature to prune. The lower limbs stabilize the tree and roll the wind over the tree.

# 044 - Moscow East City Park

36 man hours. First job on the job blog. No picture of the tree before it came down. Here I'm getting ready to cut the stump at ground level. Before we bring in the stump grinder. Didn't want to leave anything for anyone to trip on. The annual Rendezvous in the Park was starting the next day.

















Started on first infected Elm in East City Park. One week ago. 07-14-07. Infected with Dutch Elm Disease. Also infested with the Japanese beetles that spread the fungus. The beetles of course fly around and infest and infect other trees. Also, the fungus spreads through the root system and infects other trees that way. You can begin to see why the Dutch Elm Disease has been so devastating. Since it came here from Europe about 90 years ago. Before that. Elms were the most common shade tree in America. It's so important to try and maintain diversity. We took 7 out of the park last year. 10 went away the year before. Too many Elms in one place didn't help. I'm afraid it's not over for this year.

Kathleen Flores. Arborist apprentice. She's excited about learning to climb and prune.
















Some mighty fine hardwood. # 044-008. Cutting full 4" by 8" cants here. Stuff is like lead. Until it dries. Then it's still heavy.