why do tree trimmers for utility companies...?

Question

trim trees in summer when they are in full leaf and then have the trees look like crap the rest of the year? why not trin in the fall or spring ??? plus its cooler out !!
the electric company juts came and hacked my neigbors prized tree in their front yard,
so now it looks like a tornato hit it!
why do this NOW? it may have damaged the tree as well.

Answer 1

"because they can" is probably the simplest answer.



if the trees are in the easement they can do whatever they want. they probably *do* trim in the spring and fall but i'm sure their workload doesn't allow for them to just sit out during the summer. in other words, your neighbor was just unlucky, her number came up at the wrong time. of course, if she'd forked out the bucks herself and had the tree properly taken care of all along she *might* have avoided a scalping. the tree trimmers are cutting hard so they don't have to come back right away, mostly because they can't come back right away.



but can you imagine the outrage of TAX PAYING CITIZENS when the winter storms bring the limbs or whole top-heavy trees down and knock out their electricity for weeks or months. they'd be screaming for their hides, saying the lazy basturds don't do a thing during the summer.

Answer 2

Trimmers seldom if ever take the time to trim with a good plan for the landowner, or the tree.

In fact, I'd argue that they cut some species exactly the way that is detrimental. For instance, silver maple, box elder, willow, etc. are cut to encourage sucker growth...and that means 'job security' and repeat work year after year.

But utility line clearance on a large scale does not lend itself to high quality, but rather efficiency.

If we didn't have it that way, you could forget about reliable power.

So, it's a trade off.



Judicious pruning done early in a trees life would preclude a lot of maintenance trimming later, but that seldom occurs.

Answer 3

Tree trimmers for utility companies generally work year-round, trimming trees pre-emptively, and responding to storm emergencies. They don't take a lot of time off. So to answer your question, they do prune trees in the spring and fall, (as well as winter and summer). There's a lot of work to be done, and they need to work year-round to get it done. So you may just be seeing them in your neighborhood now, but that doesn't mean they weren't working prior to that, they were just in a different area.



Your neighborhood just happened to be on the list for work at this time.



There are different schools of thought on when is the best time to prune trees, but many arborists, including myself, feel that the time of year trees are trimmed is not critical. The techniques used matter more.



Most utilities require their line clearing arborists to adhere to generally accepted arboricultural standards, although the training and enforcement of those standards vary widely from utility to utility and contractor to contractor, and in fairness to them, if there is a conflict between electrical safety and reliability and the well-being of the tree, safety and reliability wins out. These contractors typically are paid by the mile (or other productivity standard) as well, so they have to work quickly, and sometimes don't do the best job.



In any case, utility easements give them wide berth to pretty much do whatever they feel is needed to ensure safety and reliability of power, so there's not a lot of recourse for the property owner. If you feel the utility trimmers did a poor job on your property, I don't know what state you're in, but in some states, the town tree warden has enforcement authority over any tree work done in the town. You can also complain to the utility.

Answer 4

they wouldn't have trimmed a private property tree unless it was growing through the power lines. they clear the power lines, they aren't going to ornamental trim the whole tree. if the tree was under power lines, it

was probably growing on property that was a utility easement, it didn't belong to your friend. there are too many trees, they don't have the luxury to trim everything at a certain time and you don't want to trim trees

growing through power lines if the weather isn't good.

Answer 5

small correction to the ceeli story........if the tree is not on your property then it is not your tree and therefore you would be legally liable if you touch any part which is not on your property.

Answer 6

What ceeli said