By: Thalen Zimmerman - Ottertail, Mn
A little over a year ago I made a decision to leave my office job. I was a writer for a local newspaper. I met a lot of amazing people, learned a lot about the community and I was good at it. I loved it -- most of the time. There were days where I sat around all day long twiddling my thumbs until a source called me back or a story fell in my lap. I was getting bored and I also realized I didn’t want to be in the news industry anymore. So I started looking for something different, something I could do with my hands, something outside. That’s when I saw a position posting for Carr’s Tree Service.
I started in June of 2023 as a ground guy. My job was to send all the twigs, branches and logs that the tree trimmer cut into the wood chipper. Now I am at the operator level which means I do the cutting from the aerial bucket (I still do a fair amount of chipping, too).
At Carr’s Tree Service there are power line and private crews. The private guys work with residents who wish to have a tree removed or trimmed. Power line guys are contracted through power companies to maintain clearance from trees to power lines. Trees can fall on power lines or have its branches grow to the lines which could take out power to hundreds if not thousands or people. I’m a power line guy.
Each day starts off the same -- meet the crew at the yard in Ottertail, load up with the necessities for the day, fuel up and head out to the first work spot. When we arrive we go over the job briefing -- which trees need removal, which need trimming and what is the safest way to do so. The ones that need trimming are brought back to the minimum distance decided by the power company. Some trees we need to climb, some we can take from the ground, some can be reached with pole saws and some need the aerial bucket that can send a line clearance trimmer 40 to 60 plus feet in the air.
I spend most of my day in the bucket. It can be challenging. You have to maneuver the bucket to keep a safe distance from the power lines or crashing into a tree while making sure the pieces of the tree being sent down don’t damage the equipment or someone's private property. All day long in all rain, snow or sunshine, we work our way to give the lines the breathing room they need to continue powering homes, businesses and schools. To continue powering our community.
All in all I have grown to truly enjoy what I do. I feel like I am contributing to the community by helping to keep the lights on. Some days it's tough, but it sure does beat twiddling my thumbs in the office and now I have a valuable skill.
I remember telling my editor that I was leaving to go cut trees and him saying something along the lines of- “will you even have work to do in the winter?” Well, I’m nearly through my first winter of work and let me tell you, the job has not slowed down.