Tree Removal

[heartstrings]

Hurricane Michael wreaked havoc in our part of the world. Many folks lost their homes and some lost their lives. We were fortunate in that, even though the western eyewall passed directly over our home, we had minimal damage, thank the Lord. A big oak tree fell against our house but basically just crushed the chimney cap, bent about 8' of the eve drip metal and tore a few window screens. Our fences were not so fortunate. All along the north and west fences, big trees had fallen from the neighbor's side onto ours, crushing down the fences Since I knew we would be removing big oak trees for awhile(about 18 or so) I searched online and bought a "grapple" to attach to the loader on my tractor. But when it arrived, the thing wouldn't fit my tractor......

Edited December 13, 2018 by heartstrings

[heartstrings]

.....so I contacted the online seller. It seems there had been a misunderstanding about the grapple fitting a "quick attach" system. I had told the seller the make and model of my tractor/loader and that it had a "quick attach" but, since my tractor is an old '96 model, it was not fitted with the newer "skid steer" type quick attach. Anyway, the seller agreed to take it back but, in the meantime, I opened a Facebook ad, a Craigslist ad, and put it out by the highway. I had marked it up some, sold it the next day and people were still calling for more. So I contacted the seller again and he told me that he would sell 4 or 5 more to me at dealer cost.  When I arrived at his facility, almost 300 miles from here, I ended up buying 8 of them and sold all of those in a week. So I went back and bought 8 more. Today, I plan to order 6 more of various sizes, designs, and colors and have them shipped here. There are thousands of acres devastated, millions of trees no doubt, broken off, uprooted and lying on the ground.  I still haven't had the time to clean up my own trees and debris but, obviously many folks are making some progress

Edited December 13, 2018 by heartstrings

[Alan]

Nice photo with some good equipment.

The Lord gave you some wisdom in the midst of a disaster. I am sure that your efforts, hard work, and diligence, are not only a blessing to you but to many others.

[heartstrings]

Thanks brother Alan. I'm nearly 58 years old and won't be able to do much of the hard work for too many more years. So I had been thinking for some time about getting into some kind of retail business. But I am reminded now, as I should have already known from working for others' retail businesses years ago, that I will still be very busy doing this. For one thing I found that most men, as I did,  need help with fitting this equipment to their particular tractors. Fortunately I found a universal adapter for this purpose, online, and am selling these as well. But meeting with lots of customers, spending time on the phone and computer sending/receiving photos, messages and emails, and loading things on trailers with a forklift is not the same as pitching feed and dusty hay to sheep or manufacturing dimensional signs in a dusty shop. I have an appointment to meet with a trailer manufacturer in January so, maybe soon we can add those to our little equipment enterprise as well.