FamilyTree Arboriculture

Yes I’m back, back in the saddle again!

Quite a large pine tree for these parts. It was a victim of the pine beetle, which likely attacked the tree as a result of stress related to the construction activity around it over the last couple years. Too bad, but it was a fun tree to work. It was approximately 110 tall with a trunk diameter of 51 at breast height.

Happy Canada Day long weekend everyone!

Fish pole rigging for a pine with a heavy lean at the top. It diffuses the loading, much like a fish pole, so that the bending moment isnt so severe when the top is cut and drops into the rigging.

Yes Im back, back in the saddle again!

Back at it! What a day to be climbing trees in January. 5c, a little wind, and NO SNOW!

A little collaboration to finish our 2018! Thanks to all our awesome clients, contractors, and special thanks to our awesome team of employees! Merry Christmas!

Been a while! It was a Good Friday, little pine removal, and after the video here we craned the logs out in 3 picks, so for a cloudy Friday we did alright!

A little cold weather tree removal.

Ok, I feel like I've learned a lesson about FB posting. I think... Regardless, the video was done by Jeremy Rempel at Rising Action Pictures, a new Penticton film production company, and I think it turned out great! http://risingactionpictures.ca/ For more info about FamilyTree click https://www.familytreearboriculture.ca/.... https://youtu.be/wqvXsiMJ3i8

The littlest family member out helping Mom and Dad today

National tree day 2017. Planting trees at ours youngest sons preschool!

A couple pics from the Lombardy poplar removal job. Beautiful backdrop to our workday, and a wicked panorama from my perspective up the tree!

Dropping a Lombardy top, just another day at the office! These dead Lombardy poplar trees had to go, and thankfully we had a beautiful sunny day on which to work. We dismantled and removed these trees in a day and a half, even though both of them were pretty well cut and chipped by noon. 1500 kgs of wood chips taken to a vineyard, and over 12000 kgs of wood hauled to the landfill, it was a tough bit of wood hauling, but thank goodness for our 4x4 crane truck, it definitely saved some back pain! Remembering where I started makes me grateful for the equipment we work with today.

Dropping the top of a dead pine. Small landing zone, service drop behind me. Not a huge tree, but we certainly enjoy meeting all challenges, large and small.

A couple removals, one with a nice view, and one which inspired a serious level of focus. Nothing like a stone dead tree with clear signs of fungal decay to keep one on their toes!

A lovely walnut which we pruned a couple weeks back. It's trees like these that make our days fly by, and we love to work on large, mature trees. We performed end weight reductions, with our cut diameter limited to 10cm maximum, removed deadwood, and provided clearance from surrounding structures. What a great tree, and now it is far less likely to experience component failure.

Taking down a 'lil pine in Naramata today...beauty view!

Had a couple little helpers today dealing with storm damage calls. And some great clients who put up with these rascals. The client at this house actually let my kids watch tv for a while as I cut the failed spruce off of the truck and car on which this tree fell.

Half way down the big pine. Upper canopy completed! Sorry bout the chipper noise!

Doing some reduction, windfirming, and deadwood removal on a large pine tree in Kaleden, BC. Great views, great tree.

Now accepting applications for a full time crew leader/climbing arborist position. Wage based upon experience, but candidate must have either ISA Arborist Certification, or level 2 ITA Climbing Arborist as well as a valid driver's licence and at least level one first aid. Benefits and boot allowance will be given to the successful candidate after a one month probation period. We service the South Okanagan, and operate out of Penticton. Come help us grow!

A misty morning earlier this week.

Big....well, Okanagan big, fir top drop! Sometimes going big is safer!

Whew, it's been a while! Here's some catch up pics! A special shout out to my little maniac, may he do well whatever he chooses, but something tells me, and I'm not quite sure exactly what it is, that one day he'll provide some excellent coverage on our crews!

A couple videos of the last two cuts in the large Manitoba maple.

Probably the largest Manitoba maple I've worked on. It has had several limbs fail in the past couple of years, so the clients decided to remove rather than retain. And we were the agents of its demise. Worry not, the wood will be milled for use by Grant and Son's, and all the branches were chipped and hauled to the Summerland dump for use in compost. The tree didn't go to waste!

Some crane work to wrap up the week and bring us to the long weekend in style. Thanks to a hard working crew, and our awesome clients! Now the family and a bunch of friends are heading to Jewel Lake for weekend of camping! Enjoy your weekend all!

A pine removal project in Kaleden. We used a speed line with both a control and in some picks a tag line. We lined the wood from the tree leaning over the tennis court, then tipped the gin pole over. A pic or two of my little guy, Tay, operating the dump controls and standing on the chip pile. Then log loading with our little knuckleboom. What a back saver!!... Hope all is well! Cheers!

FamilyTree Arboriculture loves to give back to the community which has sustained us and allowed us to grow. Sometimes, that means starting in your own backyard! These heavily leaning and declining black cottonwoods (Populus trichocarpa) have been bugging us as we looked at them everday from our backyard. The Boys and Girls club owns the property on which they sit, so we approached them to remove these trees and we were given the green light for the project, which we completed... on Tuesday this week. Given the heavy lean of the trees, it was a fairly challenging project, but we were able to successfully dismantle the trees. You'll notice that we left the lower 4-6 metres of trunks standing; the remaining trunk wood is called a 'wildlife snag.' We carved a few cavities into the trunk and the idea is that these trunks will provide habitat for the diverse flora and fauna we have in the valley for years to come.