That big willow in the park taught me a hard lesson about rigging

I was taking down a huge, old weeping willow in a city park here in Eugene, and we had a big limb hung up in another tree. My ground guy was new, and I told him to pull the tag line 'steady and slow'. Well, he gave it a big yank instead. The whole thing swung out, hit the bucket truck, and put a huge dent in the side panel. My heart just dropped. We had to stop the whole job, call the boss, and figure out how to get the truck fixed. The worst part was the park manager came over and just stood there shaking his head. It cost us over $800 to fix the truck and a whole day of work. Now I do a full five minute talk with any new crew member about EXACTLY what 'steady pull' means before we even set a rope. Has anyone else had a simple command get totally misunderstood on a job site?

3 comments

3 Comments

tessa_murray13d ago

That dent cost more than my last car payment, brutal.

the_claire13d ago

Actually, that's not quite how car payments work. The dent repair is a one-time cost, but your car payment is part of a loan for the whole vehicle's value. It's more like saying a new tire costs more than one month's rent. The scale is just different. A big repair bill still hurts, but comparing it to a single installment isn't the same thing.

kimr7413d ago

Tessa_murray, that's why I call it the "car tax" now, where small fixes cost more than the thing itself.