Do It Yourself Tree Care Is Not Recommended

by Kevin Smith Author

Most of us have seen the Darwin Awards on the Internet. They memorialize someone who proves the concept of only the fittest surviving, but in reverse. As tree trimmers in Lawrenceville, GA, will attest, doing your own tree work beyond the basics can qualify you for a Darwin Award if things go awry; here is why.

Trees Are Dangerous

Trees are heavy and each one contains a lot of latent energy that can be unleashed if handled improperly. When that happens, the person on the brunt end of all that energy release can get severely injured or even killed.

Examples of this are trees or branches falling on people, trunks and large branches splintering and sending shards of flesh lacerating wood flying through the air or not behaving as expected. The first two can be reasonably controlled by using the utmost caution, but when that last happens, there is very little you can do

Working at Heights

Ladders, if not used properly, are dangerous and amateurs trying to use a ladder to trim a branch, let alone top a branch is perilous. A ladder has to extend three feet beyond the top of the branch being cut as when the rest of the branch falls, the stub will tend to rise up once the weight is relieved. If the ladder is not long enough, it ends up being supported by nothing. This is just one way you can injure or kill yourself with a ladder.

Chainsaws Can Be Deadly

Chainsaw accidents happen even in the hands of pros, so you can imagine how much more likely it is that someone not familiar with using a chainsaw can do damage to themselves. A chain snapping and becoming a missile, the guide bar shooting back at the handler, all the moving parts, not to mention they are gangly to handle make chainsaws unpredictable and dangerous, even if you know what you are doing.

Proper Safety Gear Is Uncomfortable

The leggings are hot, the harnesses cut into you, the gloves are hot and hard to get used to, the goggles steam up, the hard hat cuts into your head. These are just a few of the excuses used to justify not wearing the proper safety gear. Pros are used to the uncomfortable nature of the safety gear and have their own coping strategies to get through it; you, as an amateur, probably do not know them.

Lack of Knowledge

Tree physics is difficult to master and sometimes it seemingly makes no sense. An example of this is how branches fall sometimes, defying all predictions because pressure on part of the branch was not obvious. When that happens, anyone in the vicinity can get hurt or killed.

For anything but the simplest tree care jobs, you should consult tree trimmers in Lawrenceville, GA. Doing it yourself is dangerous and can be deadly. It also can get you on the Darwin Awards list and none of us want that.