Remembering that week we had to clear storm damage from the old oak grove in Springfield

It was about five years ago, after a bad ice storm hit the town. We had over thirty big white oaks down or split, and the city hired three crews to work for a full week. What made it stand out was how quiet it was, just the sound of saws and the smell of fresh cut wood in the cold air, with everyone working together without any fuss. We didn't use any fancy gear, just our regular saws and a lot of old school rigging to get the big pieces down safely. By the end, we had moved more wood than I'd seen in years, but it felt like real tree work. Does anyone else miss those big, straightforward cleanup jobs sometimes?

4 comments

4 Comments

ryanm603mo ago

Read an article a while back about how those big storm cleanups are getting rarer. They said towns now just call in the big national companies with their cranes and chippers, and it's over in a day. Takes away that kind of crew work you're talking about, where everyone just gets it done. There was a real skill to the old rigging and hand work that kept things safe. Makes sense they want it fast now, but it does feel like something's been lost.

terry8353mo ago

Man, you hit the nail on the head. I saw a crew last year taking down a huge broken oak limb over a house. They had this massive truck with a grapple arm, just clamped it, cut it, and stuffed it in the chipper in maybe ten minutes. It was wild, but it felt like watching a machine, not a team. I remember my uncle talking about how they'd have to tie ropes, set blocks, and lower pieces down by hand with guys on the ground guiding it. That was a real craft. Now it's just pure speed.

blair_nguyen3mo ago

Ugh, yeah... it's like that everywhere now. They just bring in the big machine and skip the whole human part of the job. Feels like we're losing all the little skills that made things interesting.

max_brown1mo ago

Is it really faster though, or just cheaper for the company?