Brisbane, QLD


Saturday, February 2, 2013

CLEAN UP CHAOS

Last weekend's storm besides causing havoc to many Queensland towns it created a buzz of activity in our yard yesterday.  The storm caused a tree to fall in our yard taking out the washing line. The strong winds also broke the cross bar on a power pole in front of our house.

The tree loppers arrived to clean up the fallen tree and the electric company came to fix the power pole at the same time. Our little dead end street has never seen so much action. There were trucks and machines littering the street together with traffic safety people holding 'STOP'/ 'SLOW' lollipops.

TOH has all the power pole activity on his blog and I have the tree saga.

The loppers were a family of four big strapping young men originally from New Zealand. They were very polite and friendly and worked hard. They charge $350 per hour. (Anyone thinking of changing jobs?)

 There were four trunks to this tree. One fell on the washing line, one fell on the footpath and the other two were still standing. The whole lot had to go. 

 Untangling the branches from the rotary line.

 The two trees on the ground are cut up and removed. Then it was time to climb the rest of the tree and bring it down. 

The boss asked his offsiders who wanted to do it. They all shook their heads so the boss had to do it himself. He is helped into his safety harness and leg straps, 

It looked scary because the trunks were very skinny and had been weakened by the storm and this guy was big and heavy. Would it hold his weight?

I was amazed at how he just walked up the thin trunk. He must have had some sort of special grip on his boots.

His chain saw is dangling below him on a cable.

Notice the traffic control person in the street while the electricity linesmen fix the power pole just 10m away from the tree lopper.



 He saws off the branches on his way up. (These shots were taken from our deck upstairs by TOH and me.)

 Then he straddles both trunks to get higher. How do they support his weight I wonder?

 Now he saws off the tops of the trees, while the linesmen are in their 'cherry picker ' basket not far away fixing the crossbar of the power pole. 

The logs are carried away to the ......

 ........truck, which had to park around the side street as the front road was full up with the electricity vehicles. (We live on a corner).
Now all is cleared away, I have a load of garden renovations to do and TOH has to organise a new washing line. Luckily our insurance is paying for everything.

41 comments:

  1. Thank God for you that you have insurance to cover your mess.
    Obviously your area got more of a battering than here, but all the rotten old trees here had been removed. Except for the ones which are not rotten (pity) in "Stukka Avenue" - Under the complete control of the attacking Indian Mynah birds.
    $350 per hour per person or is that for all four????
    I think I would be having a careful look at all your trees, just in case we get a replay of last week.
    Great report Diane, great photo shots also. I enjoyed the blog report also of TOH.
    Colin

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  2. Diane, glad it is all been fixed fast. I am really happy no trees fell on your house and damage was minimal. I know it is all a hassle but it really could have been a lot worse. I hope you are having a happy weekend!

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  3. I always amazes me how big trees are on the ground when compared to standing. Getting trees removed is an expensive business.

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  4. Regarding spam. When I turned off allowing anonymous comments most of the spam disappeared.

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  5. A lot of activities in your street. Glad they cleaned up the tree for you. Amazing how that man copes to climb in the thin tree.

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  6. $350 an hour for four blokes is not too bad, especially as the boss was obviously very skilled.

    I recently turned off anon comments as the amount of spam had become absurd. It stopped spam in its tracks, but perhaps offended some anon commenters. Hard call but I think a good one.

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  7. I wouldn't do that job for any amount of money...(and nobody would want me to)...thank God for you that they were there and got it done.

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  8. Looks like they did a good job of that clean-up, Diane. Your storms sound like ours here in the states... Isn't it unbelievable about the weather??? You had drought, heat and FIRES---now torrential rains and flooding... Gads!!!!

    As you know from reading my blog, we've had some crazy weather here also.. This weekend though we finally are getting some real WINTER. It snowed on Thurs. night and is snowing again today.. We have about 3 inches on the ground. It's so pretty... Glad we don't have to get out in it today.

    Hope you get your washing line (we call that a clothes line) fixed...

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  9. OMW Thank goodness your insurance pays for the damages (and that hourly rate to fell and remove the trees) Guess how it would be done in Africa? LOL (think: without harnesses, without safety clothing and of course the chopped sections would be carried off for firewood!) So glad no-one was hurt in the storm and also in the clean-up process. Knowing you, Diane, your garden will soon be cleaned up and looking as beautiful as ever. Have a great weekend. Jo

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  10. Fun to watch those guys work isn't it? Glad things are shaping up and so sad you lost a tree to the storm.

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  11. These guys a acrobats. Luckily you were insured.

    Greetings,
    Filip

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  12. I am amazed at how quickly the tree surgeons came along to clear up the damaged tree and make it all safe.$350 does not sound too bad if it's for all four workmen for the completion of the work.

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  13. At least you have insurance so many will not have it although I do not understand not having insurance but I guess some may feel they can't afford it......$350 an hour is a lot but then I guess it is hard work and could be a little dangerous if a tree limb feel on them......also having to climb trees like that not something I would do........

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  14. Also I would love it if I was able to follow your blog via email......

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  15. Good on the boss for doing the job himself. I can see why the others weren't really jumping at the chance to climb up that flimsy tree trunk.

    Well the boys did a good job cleaning up. Great to hear your insurance is covering the costs too.

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  16. Wow, Diane. Thank God you have insurance.

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  17. I would imagine that insurance seems like a bargain when you heard what the tree loppers cost. But it looks as if they knew what they were doing and did it well. I hope you have no more weather excitement for a while.

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  18. I remember another tree you and TOH and neighbors cut and wondered if you would do any of this on your own. Looks like a big job and $350 well spent.

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  19. Geez, what a mess ! It's terrible when the storm blows over your house. We once had wind 200 km/h, it blow two trees from our garden over the street ! Ever since I feel a little scared when the wind starts to get a storm !

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  20. I just see that you changed your blogdress too, It's the same like mine I did it yesterday, only the color is different. We had the same idea,lol !

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  21. I went down the back yard this afternoon and found another giant limb has fallen from our Liquid Amber in the rain storm.

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  22. I wondered if you had been affected - it looks a mighty mess xxx

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  23. Looks like they knew what they were doing. Brilliant photos of all the activity. They certainly deserve every penny. We have some big trees overlooking our property that I think we will be trimming come early spring.

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  24. I guess it feels good to have it all cleared away and only the clothes line now to worry about. Just as well you had insurance Diane!

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  25. It's such a blessing that nobody was hurt! Also great that the insurance covers everything, especially at those rates!

    I hope this week is mellow for you, it sounds like with all the coming and going of those cleaning up your neighborhood that you could use some peace and quiet.

    Cheers.

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  26. hi diane,

    omg, what a mighty mess!
    i am glad it is all been fixed quickly and those guys cleared up the damaged tree. thank goodness you have insurance.


    have a great week ahead~
    xx

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  27. Crikey, that's a lot of activity!

    I guess the $350 per hour would cover a bit of their insurance and machinery??

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  28. $ 350 an hour? WOW! If I were younger, and stronger and lived in Australia.....hmmmm. lol!

    I'm glad you have good insurance and the job was done efficiently, Diane. It is alwast sad to lose a tree. I hope you are able to plant some new ones that you will enjoy.

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  29. Very fun post. I just had a tree taken down in my back garden and it was fun to watch the process from my deck (where I was well out of the way). I must say, the weather at your place looks much nicer than what I had. I was bundled up in coats, scarves, hats, mittens and boots. Just to sit! I'm sorry you had the expense and the loss of a tree, though. That part wasn't much fun, I'm sure.

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  30. I bet that is good to have it cleaned up.
    Rather worrying at the time I suppose as to what tree is going to fall where, hoping no one gets hurt.

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  31. Like the way they do things so systematically.

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  32. Oh wow so much activity. I am so glad it was only the clothes line that got zapped! I hope things have settled down a bit now and that the weather has improved. Take care Diane

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  33. Thanks for capturing the cleanup process Diane and enabling us to visually share in the activities resulting from the fierce storms. So glad you are safe.

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  34. Such scary weather across a lot of the world lately. I'm glad you were safe and that the excitement caused in your neighbourhood was worth photographing and not totally disastrous.

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  35. Diane you must have had a lot of wind. We heard the ocean, very angry and huge waves. In the garden ther tree tops were shaking but no fallen trees, no power cuts, luckily.

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  36. $350, no wonder the Kiwis are coming to Oz. Very hunky boys too. They didn't mind u taking their photo, or did the pose for you.

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