County Road Easement Cleanup

[Avenger]

Came home from work yesterday afternoon and first thing I saw along the road and my property was this mini-ex with this mower attachment, cleaning up the easement along the county road. Probably to keep brush and whatnot away from the overhead power lines. Hopefully, they are not planning on doing anything with the road, such as widening it, for some reason.
Anyway, I thought it was neat and decided to share.

 

[kenmbz]

They came through here for the first time in a few years. Had a JD and a bit offset Flail.
Nothing quite so fancy as what they use in your area.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm always amazed at how much effort and money is spent in keeping the sides of the roads maintained. 4th of July is when the big push for mowing begins along the roads. We had the 8th wettest May on record and it's gonna be a lot of work to get it all under control!!!

 

[WranglerX]

Good counties that have the resources usually try to keep easements clear for safety and maintaince reasons....

 

[plowhog]

first thing I saw along the road and my property was this mini-ex with this mower attachment, cleaning up the easement along the county road.

In my area both county and utility crews do such work. On no schedule and NEVER with notice, they bring equipment, chainsaws, and chippers and start removing every possible thing they think they can get away with.

6 months ago an entire vegetation barrier along side a road was cut and chipped. It was no threat to traffic or power lines-- yet they obliterated it. The county says "we can cut whatever we want back to your fence line." But if there is no fence-- they act as if there is no limit.

A utility crew took out an entire line of trees near power lines-- up to 12" diameter oaks. No notice. When I discovered that later, I asked: "what happened to the oaks?" Answer: into the chipper. So there went good firewood and most they should not have cut anyway. But they were gone. Complaining after the fact is a total waste of time because none of the officials or supervisors care.

The utility crews here don't respect private property and seem to believe they can do whatever they want. A few years ago a crew let themselves through a locked gate and was driving a heavy truck through my pasture while it was being flood irrigated. They were indignant that I told them to get out of the pasture and back on the road. After that I removed all "utility locks" from my gates.

I have complained to officials, removed locks, put up signs, and informed supervisors their workers cannot be on my property unless they remain within the legal utility easement and right of way. Of course, in their eyes, I am now a "problem homeowner."

If they call to arrange access, I try to accommodate. But if they do even call, which is rare, it is usually a call something like this: "We're at your front gate right now, can you open it so we can get through?"

 

[ericm979]

Are you PG&E? We are. I hate them so much. They contract for ROW clearance. The contractors are usually very lazy and cut only a little so it will grow back in a year and need to be cut again. Some of them have parked at our place and goofed off for days. They're supposed to chip the small stuff but PG&E's "small" keeps getting smaller. It's now 4" or less. But they often don't even do that. Davey Tree took down a couple PG&E trees on my property recently and for the large one they felled it, made two bucking cuts, and left the entire thing. At least it was easier to pull the trunks up the hill with the tractor using cable and chains than to carry the rounds up, and I'm turning it into firewood.

OTOH I have found the advance guys that PG&E sends out to mark trees to cut to often be knowlegable about forestry and willing to work with me within PG&E guidelines. If I can catch them. Like the contractors they sneak onto the property. I can understand not wanting to talk to homeowners but I wish they'd make themselves known so I could talk to them.

 

[plowhog]

Are you PG&E? We are. I hate them so much. ... OTOH I have found the advance guys that PG&E sends out to mark trees to cut to often be knowlegable about forestry

Yes we are PG&E. It's a total mess.

After getting sued and losing billions due to starting CA wildfires, they knee-jerked and went overboard on tree removals and trimming. About 3 years ago, one PG&E advance man spent 4 days examining my property, and marked 39 trees for removal. All along my entrance driveway. Average 24" diameter but going up to 36" diameter.

His qualifications? He had looked at some videos on the internet. Yes, I asked him his qualifications and that was his answer.

When I complained, they sent out a 4-man team including a licensed arborist. Their conclusion was not a single one of the 39 trees needed removal-- just a trim here and there.

If I didn't complain, they would have taken them all down.

The tree crew people who do the actual trimming and removal are total animals. They'll butcher anything to get the job done. If they trim limbs or fall a tree, and it's too far from the tree to their truck and chipper-- they chop stuff up and drag it in the forest and hide it instead.

I had one crew drag trimmed limbs and throw it all into the culvert and street. They put an orange cone out, as if someone else would come by to deal with it, and drive away. It stayed there for 6 months until I finally went and cleaned it up. I repeatedly complained and refused other work on my property until it got removed but no one .. ever .. would touch it.

I will stop ranting now, because if I didn't I could keep typing for hours ...

 

[Diggin It]

A mini?

Our state highway department uses full sized Cat trackhoes with forestry heads. They'll close a lane along the interstate highways to allow room for them to work and fling debris.



But as far as power lines go, that picture shows the problem. They'll clear 20' either side of the power lines, but leave 60-80' trees beyond there. One good blow and they lose a lot of lines.

 

[lman]

Yes we are PG&E. It's a total mess.

After getting sued and losing billions due to starting CA wildfires, they knee-jerked and went overboard on tree removals and trimming. About 3 years ago, one PG&E advance man spent 4 days examining my property, and marked 39 trees for removal. All along my entrance driveway. Average 24" diameter but going up to 36" diameter.

His qualifications? He had looked at some videos on the internet. Yes, I asked him his qualifications and that was his answer.

When I complained, they sent out a 4-man team including a licensed arborist. Their conclusion was not a single one of the 39 trees needed removal-- just a trim here and there.

If I didn't complain, they would have taken them all down.

The tree crew people who do the actual trimming and removal are total animals. They'll butcher anything to get the job done. If they trim limbs or fall a tree, and it's too far from the tree to their truck and chipper-- they chop stuff up and drag it in the forest and hide it instead.

I had one crew drag trimmed limbs and throw it all into the culvert and street. They put an orange cone out, as if someone else would come by to deal with it, and drive away. It stayed there for 6 months until I finally went and cleaned it up. I repeatedly complained and refused other work on my property until it got removed but no one .. ever .. would touch it.

I will stop ranting now, because if I didn't I could keep typing for hours ...

Are you saying that they actually come onto your property. Around here they only cut or trim trees near power lines along the road and you are responsible for maintaining your trees on your property near any power line. All of my power lines are buried here.

 

[plowhog]

These are companies that PG&E subcontracts with. Yes, they come on my property with no notice. Then fell trees or chop other things up, and leave. They are required by PGE regulation to leave a tag with their company name and phone number, but often they do not. So you have no idea who to call. If you call PGE, that is a total bureaucratic run-around.

There are 33,000 miles of power transmission lines in CA, and PG&E owns most of them. If they are not properly maintained and cause a wildfire-- they are liable. So they must do maintenance.

On my property, I have the many inspectors and inspections, all of them separate from each other and they rarely communicate or coordinate. Annual inspectors, semi-annual inspectors (separate), "enhanced vegetation management" inspectors, pole inspectors, line and support arm inspectors, infrared camera inspector, and a helo sometimes flies overhead doing inspections as well.

 

[TheMan419]

A mini?

Our state highway department uses full sized Cat trackhoes with forestry heads. They'll close a lane along the interstate highways to allow room for them to work and fling debris.



But as far as power lines go, that picture shows the problem. They'll clear 20' either side of the power lines, but leave 60-80' trees beyond there. One good blow and they lose a lot of lines.

Yep. Our neighbors have a wooded area that goes right up to the road. The power lines are on the otherside of the road. Trees are tall enough that when they fall they take out the power line. Every time we have lost power at this house has been because of one of those trees.

 

[bcp]

...The contractors are usually very lazy and cut only a little so it will grow back in a year and need to be cut again. ...

A contract tree crew told me they can't cut more than 2 feet distance from the lines.

The power company crews (before contractors) did a great job.

Bruce

 

[Thomas]

Wish they would do same in our area.

 

[lman]

These are companies that PG&E subcontracts with. Yes, they come on my property with no notice. Then fell trees or chop other things up, and leave. They are required by PGE regulation to leave a tag with their company name and phone number, but often they do not. So you have no idea who to call. If you call PGE, that is a total bureaucratic run-around.

There are 33,000 miles of power transmission lines in CA, and PG&E owns most of them. If they are not properly maintained and cause a wildfire-- they are liable. So they must do maintenance.

On my property, I have the many inspectors and inspections, all of them separate from each other and they rarely communicate or coordinate. Annual inspectors, semi-annual inspectors (separate), "enhanced vegetation management" inspectors, pole inspectors, line and support arm inspectors, infrared camera inspector, and a helo sometimes flies overhead doing inspections as well.

So you have a power line running through your property? I would fence and gate your property. They can inspect your 2.5 acres from the neighbor's.

 

[RjCorazza]

Our County road crews are really good in my area. They did go overboard on the road easement in front of my neighbor's property a few years back... They cut trees and brush way into his property that he likes as a buffer. The crew actually came back and planted the trees of his choice as a buffer.

 

[plowhog]

I wish I could keep them out except with permission. But this particular property is roughly 100 acres with multiple entrances. None of which I can see from the main house. They just come on the property whenever they want.

They *do* have a legal right of way to maintain the power lines. But it's only a few feet to either side of the lines-- just a narrow strip through the property.

I can play hardball by not letting them have any access except their tiny narrow strip. Which is darned inconvenient on them. But they can respond by refusing to do any post-trimming cleanup, saying "we can't get our truck in here ...."

 

[ericm979]

The easements PG&E has lets them inspect and work on the power lines. You can't lock them out. They only cut trees (or more often, branches) that will affect the lines. It's not like the huge powerline ROWs you see for high tension stuff. I want them to do it, I just wish they did a better job of it.

 

[ericm979]

Anyhow to get back to the OP's topic, the county road crews here use a rotary cutter on a boom, mounted to a good sized tractor. It's pretty rough on the big trees. A lot of them have large scars where they got chewed up by the cutter. But it's a lot faster than hand crews.

 

[dodge man]

The county and township roads around here get a similar cutting, sort of a brush hog on a pretty good sized excavator but with wheels instead of tracks. They only do it when the trees really crowd the road. Any mowing that is done is by the landowners, which might be weekly, monthly, once a year or never depending on the owner.

 

[Diggin It]

Our county road department mows all county roads. They're mowing every day, all summer and move from road to road. They make each circuit about twice a year. They use two tractors with rotary cutters, one cutting close to the road and the other following behind reaching a few feet off the road. They also have a larger cutter on a boom for vertical brush cutting but only get around every two to three years.