Tree trimming update......Rant

I posted pictures on Tuesday of tree trimming by helicopter. Of course all the trimmings fell into a hay field. The crew did a half a$$ed job of cleaning up the mess, so I spent Wed. doing it to my satisfaction. No one seems to know that cherry trees are toxic to cattle.

Yesterday (Fri.) another crew with a brush cutter on a skid steer drove through a very wet hay field to clear on my neighbor's place. Yes, there is a 150 foot easement under the lines, but it is just easier to cut through the field.

Dealing with these line crews is like herding cats. Never see the same person twice, there are three different companies doing different things at the same time. I was told straight up by one line crew foreman that he did not know what a hay field was!

It seems to me that it is impossible to deal with a large company. Duke Energy owns the transmission towers in my area and contract the power line maintenance to other large companies that are nation wide, and gone sometimes before I find the damage.

Ellis

I would contact the transmission line company, generally they do not like situations like this.

We have a new power line going across our property, took 13 acres, went quite well. We would rather not of had it cross our land, but it's bringing clean Manitoba hydro power to the MN iron range so they can shut down a coal fired plant, that is good. And, it paid quite well.

Didn't a right of way agent or some entity notify you of the work going to be done, well in advance ? The power company here will always do that and most times I meet with someone long before any work starts. They use Asplundh for right away forestry work, and they always do a great job. I've known the crew that works this section for years.

They just completed adding a tower to raise up 115,000 volt lines, and had placed crane mats for a road and to work from. I happened to run into the 2 field guys scouting out the upcoming work and spoke to them about it. The power company sent a letter, and although it was mainly to cover their backside, it was to confirm there was no agricultural activity in the field they were working in. I just keep it mowed since the farmer passed away and no longer plants crops there.

They rutted up the road something terrible, but I knew they would fix it, they did, but the surface is not graded like it was, so I 'll have to do that with the backhoe front loader scrape it and level it better. But the soft areas, were just thick topsoil, that graded out just fine. It's the people that make a difference and aside from some very minor, not worth mentioning things, they did a fine job and were respectful of my land that they had to cross to get to the work area. 13 years back they added a line and the line crew were a bunch of yahoos to say the least, with production their main focus. However when Asplundh came through for restoration, they put in 2 gates and a culvert pipe, not to mention all the crusher run for the road they put in for access. I have heard the opposite of good things, but when they are around I make sure to meet with them if at all possible, it makes a difference if a landowner makes their presence known vs waiting to see what happens.

Are the trees your trees or do they belong to a neighbor? The trees will continue to grow back into the right-of-way, and when that happens, the power company will continue to send crews of contractors out to trim the trees back. Is there any chance the trees could be cleared back an additional 30 to 50 feet so they don't grow into the right-of-way for a good long time? That could be a win-win for everyone as your hay field should benefit from the reduced competition with the trees for moisture and maybe for sunlight too, the power company will save the cost of trimming the trees and removing the cut limbs, and you will have less aggravation from the tree trimmers entering your property.

Well you won't believe this, but the stuff they bush hogged was sprayed and dead from last summer. These guys can't find their butt with both hands and a flashlight. Ellis

I suspect the rub is your phrase "to my satisfaction" and I suspect that is a standard quite a bit above the industry standard. Not that there is anythning wrong with that, but you are likely to be frustrated much of the time. A huge company like Duke cannot afford to go around making landowners angry as a matter of routine so they set a standard and expect their contractors to work to it. They do not have to satisfy each and every individual.

It's raining again, so I have a few minutes to post. About ten years ago the power company came thru and done the trimming. I talked to the field supervisor and told him not to cut down an apple tree I was trying to tame. He said no problem if it was under 15 foot they'd leave it alone (it was). They lied. Three years I was carefully pruning that tree and it was about to bare a good crop that year, and those IDIOTS mow her flat. I made the mistake of going into town for a couple hours and when I got back the deed had been done. Pitch a .. to the crew foreman who claimed the other guy hadn't told him. I called a couple lawyers but nobody wanted anything to do with it. Eminent domain blah blah blah.

So this summer they come by again this time everything to the ground fifteen feet either side of line. Well we had I pole that sat right off the corner of the house and after the last time they trimmed, it became a shooting lane for road hunters. I would fine beer cans and potato chip bags etc. from people sitting on the road watching down that lane. Well some of you may recall that I live off grid, as in the electrical grid (have to specify that these days as some now used it to denote off the world wide web) so since it was never energized I told them rather than cut a new shooting lane straight back towards my house for road hunters, just take the darn thing out. They did and I couldn't be happier! To be honest that first crew was a pretty shabby looking outfit, while the crew this year was truly impressive. Have a row of pine trees right about at the fifteen feet, they missed every one of them. They had these little bobcat looking tracked vehicles with a big drum on the front with cutters and it just chewed everything to bits. The way they were riding around on those things it almost looked like more fun than work. So that's my power company and trimming experiences.

Starting to let up outside (still cloudy as heck) so I'll sign off and check up on all you good folks tomorrow.

JD

Why not bulldoze the tree line back another 30 to 50 feet, and not have to worry about the trimming crews needing to return for many many years?

That takes me back a bit. When I was younger and my Mother was still alive she would always tell me that I was too fussy. Thanks for the memories. Ellis

You know, that ain't a bad idea on my neighbor's property. He never goes back there and I could just bush hog it from time to time. Why didn't I think of that? Ellis

Sorry, I missed the part about the trees belonging to a neighbor.

Your last two sentences seem to contradict each other. TDF