Final Week With MBTS: Weekly Reflection

With my Senior Project now complete, I can officially say that I acheived all my goals, and put them all to use in my last week with Murphy Brothers Tree Service. I put in a total of 45 hours this past week, with Monday threw Wednesday being extremely long days. In these three long days I got a lot accomplished because it was just Linus and I. I was able to drive a truck with the chipper on the back consistently throughout the day, get a lot of climbing in and operate and cut from the bucket truck. This week seemed to fly buy because we were jumping from one job to the next and just pumping out the jobs. By the end of the day came, I would come home, shower, write my blog, study my CDL book then go to bed and do it all over again the next day. Friday was the best day of my senior project. Kevin and Linus were both unable to work that day due to other commitments, so they put me in charge of running MBTS for the day. They gave me a huge responsibility and had faith in me that I would respond to their challenge, and I did. Running the crew for that day made me apply all my three goals into all the jobs. Driving the large CDL trucks, tree climbing, and bucket truck operation.
I think I have come along way in just three weeks. The first day I started, I was unsure of what to do and what to expect. The last day of my project, I had all the weight of the company on my shoulders. In just three weeks, I earned a great deal of trust, responsibility, and respect from both owners, Kevin and Linus. On the first day, I would have never even thought they would ask me to do something like this. This senior project has really opened a lot of doors for me and I also found out a lot about myself as a person from doing this kind of work. I feel honored that Murphy Brothers Tree Service Inc. gave me the opportunity to be apart of their company for three weeks, and I want to thank them for that. These last three weeks with the MBTS is something that will stick with my forever.

Friday: May 23rd: Last Day at MBTS

Today was my last day of my Senior Project with Murphy Brothers Tree Service Inc, and I went out with a bang. I started the day at 7:00 am and ended at 1:00pm. I was in charge of all the jobs that Steve and I were assigned to do today. Our day consisted of two removals and two large pruning jobs. I successfully drove all the trucks today, operated and did all of the cutting from the bucket truck, and did a quick climbing job. I was extremely successful at running the MBTS crew today and we got all the jobs accomplished. All three things I did today were my three overall goals for my project. Unfortunately, I was unable to get any pictures today because the digital camera was out of battery.
These past three weeks of my Senior Project have been awesome. I want to thank Kevin and Linus for being my sponsors and giving me this great opportunity to be apart of their company. Everyday was a new adventure with this group of guys and most of all great learning experiences. At the end of the day today, Kevin and I were reflecting back on these last few weeks. Kevin offered me a job working with MBTS for the summer months, and I couldn’t resist but to accept his offer. All my hard work these last few weeks must have paid off. This has been an extremely long week, we putting in over 30 hours by Wednesday. It is now time to rest up and work of my presentation for Tuesday.

Thursday: May 22nd

Today seemed like only a half a day at Murphy Brothers Tree Service Inc. We started at 7:00 am and ended at 3:00pm instead of 5:30pm like it has been the last few days. What a great feeling it was! We had our full four man crew back, Kevin who is the owner and tree expert, Linus who is also known as “Ali” is other owner and head of all personal relations, Steve who is a chipper technician and ground worker, and myself, the intern. Today we were back up in Hampton, NH to a large limb removal over a tree and house. That was our first job. I was introduced to yet another new lowering system called a speed line. I have never seen anything like it before. The best way to describe it is like a zip line. All it consists of if a rope, sling, and a carabineer. Kevin would make a cut, and the branches would zip right down the rope, over the pool and right to the end of the chipper. I was very impressed with this lowering devise. The second job we did was the cut back of all limbs hanging low and growing into the owner’s house. We went right around the property and lightened things up real nice. Tomorrow, I will conclude my project my putting together all my goals and see how well I achieved them. I will be doing all the driving, bucket truck operation and climbing. I am going to have to be on top of my game tomorrow in order for the Murphy Brothers to write me a good end of project evaluation.

Wednesday May 21st: Hampton, NH

Today was yet another long day at Murphy Brothers Tree Service. I got to the truck at 7:00 am and got on the highway to head up to Hampton, NH where I met Linus with the bucket truck. The last few days, Linus has been keeping the bucket truck at his house in Amesbury to try to save on fuel since diesel fuel is now almost close to five dollars a gallon. At Murphy Brothers Tree Service, we are all about fuel conservation. Today we did mostly large pruning jobs, and also removed a good size Cherry tree as well as a small Pussy Willow tree. The two jobs we did today were very long and tedious work. There was not good access to the trees, so we could not use the bucket truck and had to drag brush around a pool and then throw it over a fence. It was no fun. I was able to work on my climbing on the small Pussy Willow tree, and then Linus took care of the rest of the climbing. When I was on the ground today, I learned all about a new pulley system called a 2:1 ratio. (Picture Below) This system gives your extra strength when you are pulling. For example, we used it today to pull over the but of a tree that was leaning way back onto another piece of property. This system worked great and we were able to pull it over easier than ever. At the last job of the day, I was in charge of trimming all the over grown hedges around the property. When they were all done, they looked beautiful. Tomorrow, I am now sure what is planned. One thing I do know for sure if that we will have Kevin back on the job site with all of his professional expertise in the tree business and hope to finish up at our normal time, between 3:00pm and 4:00 pm. Today was another late day at MBTS; we finished up at 5:30 pm.

Tuesday: May 20th:

Today was another great day at Murphy Brothers Tree Service. It was just Linus and I again today. We started at 7:00 am and ended at 5:30 pm. Today we did four jobs, with two of them taking a good amount of time because either the tree was dead or because we had to lower and hold different sections of the tree. Today, I learned some more new lowering systems and techniques and am becoming very good at it. I also learned different types of knots for different situations. Today I learned a few different types of knots for tying either a lowering line or a throw ball onto the climbing line and even learned how to make a quick figure eight loop so clip a saw onto a climbing line to be pulled up into the tree. The last job of the day we did was taking a few liters off a Norway Maple tree. This job was in Newburyport where the houses are practically right on top of each other. We maneuvered the bucket truck into the driveway first to do all the cutting a lowering and stacked all the brush in the back yard until we were done. We then backed the chip truck into the tight driveway and chewed up the enormous pile of brush in a timely fashion. We stacked the brush ahead of time, which made things much easier when it came time to chip. In this situation, other tree services would just drop all the brush and have it intertwined, which makes it a nightmare to chip. I have experienced this first hand, and it is no fun. By just taking a few liters off the Norway Maple, it was amazing how much of a difference it did for the backyard. The homeowner was extremely pleased with our work like always. Tomorrow, I will be going to pick up the chip truck in the morning to dump all the chips from today then meeting Linus up in Salisbury, Ma. Once again, it was a great day at MBTS Inc.

Monday: May 19th: Windy Day

Today was a long day at Murphy Brothers Tree Service. It was only Linus and I. We started at 7:30am and ended at 5:30 pm. I drove the chip truck and chipper, and Linus drove the bucket truck. For the most part we motored through the jobs we had to get done. It was a nice day out weather wise, but it was an extremely windy day, which made things very difficult for climbing and lowering. The first job of the day we did in no time. It was just a brush pile. We have been getting a lot of these jobs lately because of spring-cleaning. The second job we did was the removal of two Pine tree, a small Maple tree, and a Cherry tree. This job went fairly quick because all of the brush was staying. At this job, I work on my saw skills on the ground and cut up all of the big wood for firewood for the homeowner. The next job we had was the biggest job of the day. We had to climb and remove a large Hickory tree behind a pool. At this point, the wind was really whipping and it was a bit shaky being up in the tree as the tree rocked back and forth. This job did not have good access so we had to drag all the brush to the side of the house to be chipped. For only two guys, this job was a lot of work. The last job of the day was an average size job, but took us the longest. At this job, we had to cut the dead wood out of a few Maple trees and then do a hazardous removal on a dead Elm tree hanging into the yard from the woods. This time Linus got up in the tree because the tree was dead and he had to rig up a lowering system from up in the tree to keep the tree off the fence. From the ground, I was feeding Linus up several different lowering lines and throw balls to tie off the tree. I also watched closely from the ground the different ways he was tying himself into the tree so I can learn different ways. We successfully got this dead hazardous tree down to the ground without any damage done to the yard or fence. When we were all done and had the yard and driveway all cleaned up, I went and dumped the truck for the day, then headed back to the shop. I successfully back the truck into the parking space all on my own when I returned to the shop. Hopefully, the wind will die down for tomorrow, but it does not sound promising, which is no big deal. Hopefully, a lot of trees will fall with the wind over night and we will get the call to remove them. Tomorrow, Linus and I are back at it, and look forward to completing another successful at MBTS.

Two Weeks Down With MBTS: Weekly Reflection

With my second week now complete with Murphy Brothers Tree Service, I feel as though I have come along way from the first day. This week was not just a five-day workweek. In fact, it was a seven-day workweek. Altogether I put in 53 hours this week, which was Monday through Sunday. Kevin informed me that this past week is what they like to call a full workweek. We learned this week not to listen to the weathermen, and work whether the forecast said it was suppose to be sun or rain. Because we did this we were able to get tons of work done, actually more than Kevin and Linus expected.
This week I learned several new skills and techniques in the tree business. Many of these skills and techniques I learned were extremely beneficial to me achieving my goals, but also furthering my knowledge in the tree business. I learned about all the different hand signal for when you are backing up a truck with or without a chipper on the back. This was extremely helpful for me as I am starting to become more comfortable behind the wheel of the large trucks. I learned about hazardous tree removal and different types of lowering systems and knots for when I get up into the tree this week. Knowing about all of these whether you are up in the tree or on the ground are crucial, especially for safety purposes. At the beginning of the week, I learned how to stabilize the bucket truck before going up in it by putting out the outriggers, two on each side of the truck. Without the outriggers down, the bucket should never be operated. On Wednesday, I finally got up in the bucket to remove dead limbs from an Oak tree. It took a little bit to figure out the controls of the bucket, and which does what but towards the end of the day I felt much more comfortable up there. It is quite the feeling to be 65 feet up in the air. Kevin and Linus both told me that it takes a lot of practice to become and expert up in the bucket like they are! I also learned about truck and equipment maintainence. On Friday, it was time for the blades on the chipper to be changed. Depending on what kind of jobs you have been doing, where you have been chipping from, and how much thick wood you chip, the blades should be changed or rotated every two to three weeks. Linus ‘loves’ his Woodman 15 X chipper and has been talking a lot about making an up grade to the Woodsman 18 XX. Jobs always go a lot quick when all the equipment is in tip top shape. The Murphy Brothers pride themselves on this, for example, always having sharp saws, and always have the trucks looking real nice and in great running condition.
I have thoroughly enjoyed these last two weeks with Murphy Brothers Tree Service Inc. I feel as though I have been catching on quickly to all I have been being taught and try to apply it on the job whenever I can. All the activities that I have been doing consistently have been helping me work towards reaching my goals. I am looking forward to another great week of learning with MBTS!

Friday: May 16th Truck and Equipment Repairs

The week came to a real good end today at Murphy Brother Tree Service. I got a start on my day at 6am and got to the shop early to go dump the chip truck to continue practice my driving. Once the truck was empty, I headed back to the shop to meet the rest of the MBTS crew. We started the day off with a tailgate meeting, and discussed what we had planned for today and what we had accomplished this week. Today, we only did tree work until about noontime. We started off by pruning a large Maple tree. This took no time at all. The second job we went to was a removal of an Ash tree. This job turned out to be a mess, mainly because as the limbs came to the ground, they splattered every which way. As always, MBTS prides ourselves on spotless clean ups, and left the customers yard better than it looked before we got there. As we were wrapping up the job, we attempted to chip a beat up piece of plywood, which we lay down when we need to driver trucks on lawns. This piece of plywood had seen better days so we cut it up and put it threw the chipper. Unfortunately, the plywood jammed the shoot of the chipper, and we then had to take the shoot off the chipper and use handsaws to cut out the plywood. I learned never to put plywood through a chipper. We over came the adversity and kept on with our day. The third job we did was another small removal of a Japanese Maple. This job was the quickest of the day. We chipped all the branches and cut the rest up for firewood for the neighbor. After this job, it was time to fuel the trucks before diesel prices go up again, and then head back to the Murphy Brothers Tree Service Headquarters. At the head quarters, we cleaned out all the inside of the trucks, fixed up saws and hand tools, and most importantly, I learned how to change the blades on a chipper. The blades should be changed or rotated about everyday two to three weeks. Our chipper, The Woodsman 15x was well due for a blade change after the crane job on Wednesday. Wednesday we were chipping in gravel and sand, and little rocks and pebbles went through, which dulls the blades terribly. I also learned how important it is to always have sharp blades on your chipper because if they are dull, it will be a lot harder to chip the wood, and it will put a lot of strain on the engine. We finished up at the headquarters around 4pm, and brought the trucks back to the shop. Yet again had another, I had another real good week at Murphy Brothers Tree Service Inc with a lot of great learning experiences to go with it. Tomorrow morning, weather permitting, I plan on going to help Kevin was the trucks.

Thursday: May 15 Lot Clearing

Today was yet again another great day at Murphy Brothers Tree Service. We started at 7:00 am and ended at 4:00 pm. Our job for today was to clear the perimeter of a homeowner’s property so that they can eventually put a fence up. I never realized until today about how curious people are about tree work. In fact, the person next door to the people were working for was an old man, and he stood there all day today and took pictures of us as we worked for some strange reason. We started removing trees at the side of the yard closest to where the street was. For the most part, we did not need the bucket truck on this job. Instead, most of the trees were able to be felled, which means you make a cut at the base of the tree and the tree goes right over. I learned and watched today about the proper way to fell a tree. First you put a line in it to pull it over if needed, and then you make a pie cut in the base of the tree, which the face of the pie cut locates where the tree will land. Then you make you back cut on the backside of the tree slowing and the tree will fall over. At Murphy Brothers, they are professionals at this. Most of the time if the tree is tall they will tie a line into it and have a few guys on the line pull it over just to be safe. I got a chance to try to fell a small tree towards the end of the job. I was successful at doing so! I am starting to realize how many different aspects there are in the tree business to make it run smoothly. Tomorrow, I hope to get back up in the bucket truck after it was just had its yearly inspection on the Ariel lift this afternoon.

Wednesday: May 14 Crane Job

Today at Murphy Brothers, we did one big crane job that took us the whole day. We started at 7:00am and ended at 4:00pm. We used the crane to remove several large Pine trees over 100 feet tall. The crane was set up in a good location so that it could boom out and reach all the trees we needed to remove. The trees come down in large picks on the end of the crane. The section of the tree you want to take is attached to the crane by a large choker. The best way to describe a choker is a like a large elastic band, but it this case it not stretchy. Since the Pine trees we were removing were so large, we were not able to chip the whole tree. Instead, we chipped the tops of the trees by using the wench to pull them to the chipper, and then had the log truck come and pick up the rest of the tree. The log truck saves a lot of time because you don’t have to cut it all up into firewood size and throw it in the back of the truck. Today I finally got up in the bucket truck. It was a great experience! Kevin guided me through the different controls in the actually bucket itself, and then I headed up into the air to remove the dead branches from a large Oak tree. At first when I was going up in the bucket, it took me a few minutes how to figure out the control. If you move the hydraulic levers too quickly, the bucket will jump all over the place, and you don’t want that. You want to be steady and slow on the levers. Kevin and Linus both told me that it will take a lot of practice to become a master like them in the bucket. On the way back to the shop, Steve and I had to go dump the truck to get ready for tomorrow. At the dump, Steve taught me a trick about backing the truck up to the chipper when you are trying to line it back up. You put two rakes down and make a "T" with them at the back tire. When you are backing up you want to stop the truck right where it meets the truck. This is a very good trick if you have to go dump the truck by yourself, then hitch the chipper back up. I was very pleased with what I accomplished today. Tomorrow is another day, and I hope to improve on my skills and learn more!

Tuesday: May 13

Today was another productive day at MBTS. We started at 7:00am and ended at 4:00pm. Today we did three different jobs, and all consisted of tree removals. We were back to our crew of four today and we were cruising through the jobs like always. All of the jobs today for the most part had a good setup, which means that you can practically set the bucket truck and the chipper up side by side. This always makes life a lot easier because you don’t have to lump a lot of brush. On the first job, Kevin climbed two small Maple trees behind a shed, and removed them completely. While Kevin was in the tree, I was on the ground watching the different ways he ties his safety line into the tree, and also made sure that his lines did not get caught or the fence or any branches he was cutting. We were in and out of this first job in no time. The second job we went to was right down the road. Again, we had to remove a Maple tree, but this time it was a lot bigger, and we were able to use the bucket truck, which makes the job a lot easier. When we pulled up to the job, Kevin positioned the truck the way he would like, and then I was in charge of putting down the outriggers, with pads underneath, and then making sure the truck was stable. The last job of the day we did was another Maple tree. This Maple tree was the biggest tree of the day, and was going to be the most difficult because of how windy it was out, and because there were power lines down below. This meant that we had to set up a lowering system with two different lines off the back of the truck, with a man on each line. Lowering limb by limb is never an easy or fun technique to use, but in today’s situation with the wind and power lines, it was a must. Once Kevin had the whole tree limbed out, and everything was lowered to the ground, Kevin began to chunk the rest of the tree down, and luckily we got to leave all the wood there for fire wood. This was the last job of the day. We headed back to the shop, to prepare for tomorrow, which is going to a big day because we have crane jobs. Kevin sharpened up the saws, I got my practice driving in by driving to the farm to dump the chip truck, and Linus headed off to do estimates. It is now time to rest up for tomorrow!