Very expensive cherry!

[Wade]

 Hey everyone,
  They're clearing some land on the edge of the neighborhood
where I live for a retention pond. I stopped by and asked the tree service what they were going to do with the logs. He said they were going to grind them for mulch and make firewood. I asked him if I could have some of the nicer ones and he said if I could get them out I could. He showed me the boundaries of where they were cutting and said everything within that area was coming down. That was on a friday. I came back saturday with my chainsaw, neighbor and his tractor. They had'nt finished cutting them all down yet. I spotted a nice 26" cherry 18' long to the crotch and nice and stright 8). It was within the boundaries he showed me. Out comes the chainsaw and down comes the tree. You don't see too many cherry trees that size around here. I milled it up and got some really nice lumber from it. The crotch had some really nice feather figure to it also. ;D
  Well you might be able to figure out where this is going. That was about 2 weeks ago. After I got home from my first paying job ( explained in a previous post) I got a visit from the county sheriff. Seems somebody had cut down a cherry tree that was'nt supposed to come down :-[ :-[. Well, like another great American before me, I could'nt tell a lie ( especially since the lumber was sitting there in my driveway and the mill was still hooked to my truck). The county had tagged all the trees and told the tree service which trees to cut and which to leave. As a consequence the whole project was shut down. The sheriff asked me who gave me permission to cut the tree. I did'nt get the guys name. I told him I was told that all the trees were coming down, and I assumed that one was also.
He said he did'nt know what was going to come of this but there was some unhappy people :-[ :-[. Hopfully they will realize that it was an honest mistake and not take me to the cleaners. I guess the lesson learned here is not to take what the tree service employees say as being valid. Go to the project manager and get it in writing :D
  Anybody want to buy some $40 bd ft cherry? ;D Thanks, Wade God bless the troops

[Tillaway]

Oops...  

[dail_h]

   Lesson # 1

[Mark M]

Hi Wade

Thanks for sharing that with us, I can see how something like that can happen pretty easily.

That reminds me of something that happened about 20 years ago. A new national park was created near my home in Minnesota and the government bought up most of the existing cabins around the lake. There were different buy-out options so some people sold right away while others were able to keep their cabins for several years. The ones that were to be removed were either hauled off or torn down on site. This one fellow went to remove a cabin and sawed it in half with a chainsaw (don't know why but that's what he did), well I am sure you can figure it out from here - he got the wrong cabin. He got the one next door that the park did not own. Needless to say someone was pithed! I nerved did hear the end of the story as I moved away shortly after this happened, but I am sure there was hell to pay!  

[DanG]

I just imagine there was a cabin owner to pay, also. :D :D

[ohsoloco]

If it's a tree service you're getting the logs from, let THEM drop the tree...that's what they're getting paid for.  Oh yeah, and they're much better at it than I am  :D

Hope it all turns out okay...

[swampwhiteoak]

Wade,
Sorry to hear about your unforunate mistake.  As your avatar would say "D'oh"

[Ron Scott]

Did you have to return the wood to the "real owner"?? Be thankful it was only one tree and not valued as a landscape tree.  ;)

[Jeff]

Wade thanks for telling us about this. A valuable lesson here. Most guys would have never said a thing. You my friend are an honest man and we are all hoping things go well for you on this. I'll bet you find a way to square it with the owner outside of the sherriff and come out better for it.

[WV_hillbilly]

  Sorry to hear about the bind your in right now . I hope it turns out allright for you.

  I use a simple motto to try and keep myself out of situations like that . It's called  CYA (cover your a**). I make sure that all changes are documented  on paper that occur in the scope of being a foreman on eletrical constuction jobs. If somebody wants something changed or added to the job        regardless of who they are ( owner, general contractor, architect, or inspector ) I have them sign a paper or blueprint stating their wishes and that they are authorizing this addition or deletion. Then this paper or print is filed and never let out of my possesion until the end of the job , then I turn it over to my immediate supervisor at our company to put in a file for this job should there be any questions on why  this or that was changed at the job. If they won't sign then it doesn't get added or deleted on the job . Sorry about ramblin but it works for me.

 Good luck

[Wade]

 Thanks for the replys,
ohsoloco,
 I thought I would save them the trouble and take it
down my-self :'(. It was actually the first tree I ever fell by my-self. Yes, from now on I will let them do it!
 Scott,
So far I have not heard anything. That is my fear that they will appraise it that way. The sheriff also said they shut the project down. It's been pretty wet here so I'm not sure if that's true or not.
 Jeff,
I've found that the truth usually leads to a better outcome( as well as being the right thing to do). Hopefully we can work it out. I'll keep you informed. Thanks, Wade

[chet]

My 9 to 5 job is to take down dangerous and bad trees for local utilities. A couple years ago I had a slip to take down 3 large white pines in a yard of a wealthy customer. The utility furnishes customers with ribbon to mark the trees they want removed. I arrived on the job finding 6 whitepines 36" and larger on the stump, three of these had big red ribbons around them. 20 minutes after the last tree was on the ground the owner came home. WRONG TREES. He had put the ribbon on the trees he wanted saved.    

[Haytrader]

Chet,

Your ribbon on the wrong trees reminded me of an article I read in the Daily Oklahoman on line last fall. Seems a local high school basketball player had some sort of foot problem. He is 6' 9" and had signed a letter of intent with Colo. I beleive. He went to have some surgery so he would be ready to play ball when his senior season started. The surgery was done at O U Medical Center (Where his mom is a nurse). They put an X on the foot to be operated on. When he came out of anesthesia, he noticed his OTHER foot hurt. The surgeon thought the X meant NOT the one. The article stated that OU was sorry and offered to do the surgery on the other foot. The young man declined.

I would like to know how this turned out but don't ya know there was a lawyer involved.
 ;)