Grrrrrr!!!!!

[Landguy]

It's been another scorcher today so like a lot of folks I've spent the biggest part of it indoors in the A/C. This afternoon I was going out to get a magazine out of the car when lo & behold I spot someone on a 4wheeler ride up into the far corner of the yard and into my field. There are places in the fence close to the house where you can walk through which makes it easy for a lazy guy like me and that's where he rode through. Since I don't have any livestock, it's not there to keep anything in, just mainly as a property boundry. You can imagine what I thought as I listened to this guy go roaring off through my field. I raced back inside, grabbed my keys, and off I went planning on ripping somebodys a$$. It turns out it was a guy from the electric company checking the power lines. Many people (myself included) lost power last winter because of tree limbs falling on the power lines so I don't have a problem with them keeping a check on things. But couldn't they give folks advance notice? Maybe a note along with the monthly bill stating that they will be riding around checking the lines? I'm sure I'm not the only person that doesn't want to look outside and see some stranger riding around on your place unexpectedly. I know that they have a job to do just like everybody else but just seeing some guy ride up & through my yard and down into the field just didn't set right with me. Whew.....thanks for letting me vent a little. I feel better now.

[leggyarcher]

Call the electric company and suggest that they send out notices or call before they send their guys out onto your property. Explain that some people are not as understanding as you were and the employees could actually be shot at or worse.

[Highbow]

Landguy, this is not a common practice for the power co-op I work for. It sure isn't a common practice at night on a weekend. We always secure permission from the land owner before ever attempting that, if a landowner isn't home and power is off we will at least leave a truck parked nearby so you at least know that we are in the area.

[ez]

how did he know where the hole was......>???????????????been there before???..........ez

[naturalelite]

Was The Guy In Uniform???seems To Me Like He Just Did Some Fancy Talking.that's Why I Couldn't Ever Do Anything Illegal No Way I Would Have Come Up With Something That Good That Quick.

[GSP]

Landguy,

What he did is called Trespassing.
I work for a utility company. That utility company has either an easement or Right of way across your farm. They (we) have only legal access to that strip of land. What he did is wrong!
Before you go across someone's land to access an easement/right of way you must ask the owner. Many deeds call for a detailed "access easment" which gives the utilities defined routes they make take to enter a property.
The Co-ops may have different ones.
Bottom line is you have no right to walk into someone property (out of easement/right of way) just for the Hell of it.

[Landguy]

Well I'm certain that I left the impression that I was a unhappy customer. I did see him a couple of times later in the day at different places scribbling something on a clipboard. Like I said, I don't have any problem with the utility company checking the lines, I would just appreciate a little notice.

[SixPack07]

Something sounds a little fishy about it, maybe just a worker trying to cut a few corners cause he was behind on his work, but you might just want to call in and make sure someone was out performing that task, and let them know that either they should go about it differently for now on, or if he really wasn't working for them, that they have the heads up on someone impersonating one of their workers.

[RUTNUT]

I Work For A Power Co. And I Can Tell You This Is Not The Way It's Done. I Don't Know Of Any Department In Our Co. That Is Allowed To Use A Four Wheeler. I Don't Even Know Of A Subcontractor Thats Allowed To Use Them. Did You Get To See An Id.? We Would Contact The Customer Before Entering The Property For Something Like That. Yes We Need Access To The Lines Through Peoples Property But It Is Handled Better Than That. With Sub Contractors Tho You Never Know.

[quackrstackr]

Could be worse... you could have come home to see trees in your yard painted flourescent pink so they knew which ones they were going to cut down......:( :mad:


They sent out a paper this spring that essentially told us that due to the power outage rate they had decided that any trees in their right of way were fair game and would be cut down, not just trimmed.

My subdivision is only about 12 years old, so I have a hard time believing that at least one of the large maples and probably the pine they cut on me wasn't there when they ran the powerline next to them.

[Art]

I lost power for 4 days in the Feb. ice storm in 03 which was NOT fun. This year I saw some guys in my back yard looking at the trees and it turns out they were checking out what needed to be cut away from the lines. I offered the guys some drinks and told them I wish they would have done it in 02. I guess I could have gone off on them for trespassing, but I didn't see the point since they were there for my benefit.. If some of you guys were to spend 4 days in the dead of winter w/out power, you probably would be a little more understanding.:D

[GSP]

I lost power for 4 days in the Feb. ice storm in 03 which was NOT fun. This year I saw some guys in my back yard looking at the trees and it turns out they were checking out what needed to be cut away from the lines. I offered the guys some drinks and told them I wish they would have done it in 02. I guess I could have gone off on them for trespassing, but I didn't see the point since they were there for my benefit.. If some of you guys were to spend 4 days in the dead of winter w/out power, you probably would be a little more understanding.:D
Try this! I had the pleasure of working 23 straight, 16 hour days during that ice storm and THEN I got to come home to a house heated only by a fireplace (no power).
The boys at KU did a GREAT JOB during that time, even though they got bashed by the local goverment. During that time there was over 650 new poles that had to be set. We re-hung over 12000 service drops during that time.I think I do know a little bit about the ice storm.
With that said, I have no problem with any utility coming onto my property, Hell I make a living out of it. BUT, you DON'T drive a 4-wheeler, track-hoe, Ditch-witch or digger/derrick truck through a persons yard without knocking on the door! If they are not home, you do what you have to do.

[quackrstackr]

That's why you make the big bucks GSP...:D :p :D


If they're going to cut my trees, the least they could do is come back and grind these stumps. Now I've got two great big ones to either let rot, try to burn, or pay for to have someone come and grind down. (Did I mention my trees weren't even touching the lines or have any overhanging limbs, just protruded into the right of way)?

Something about me having to now pay for stump removal is not quite sitting right with me for some reason.

I really do feel for you guys that have to be out in the nastiest weather imagineable to restore power, I just have a burr under my saddle for the blanket order to cut all trees that infringe on the right of way around here.

[Highbow]

QUACK, believe me, if that tree is in the ROW it needs to come down before you end up with the mess Lexington had or the mess we had twice in the 90s up here in my area. I worked 36 straight hours and off for 6 back for 36 more.
We try to do all possible to get and keep power on, it takes a lot to do this.
I love the trees and I'm sure that lost companies are being pressured by PSC to keep more ROW cut since the KU problems in Lexington Ice storm.

[quackrstackr]

One barely had any limbs at all infringing on the ROW (2 feet tops), there was another that could have been trimmed and been fine for years. Like I said, the mandate came down earlier in the spring that if you had a tree that infringed any at all, they were within rights and most likely going to take it down. They didn't have to be presenting an immediate hazard to the lines.

That's fine, do what you have to do.. but finish the job. I'm now left with paying the stump removal or working my rump off to remove the worthless eyesores from my yard.

[Highbow]

They should have taken it to ground level if you requested it.

[GSP]

Quackr, do you know if it is a ROW or an easement? Big differance between the two.
If you had just some limbs sticking out in either the easement or ROW, they should have side trimmed the trees.

[quackrstackr]

Quackr, do you know if it is a ROW or an easement? Big differance between the two.
If you had just some limbs sticking out in either the easement or ROW, they should have side trimmed the trees.

I'm assuming ROW.. I'm the second owner of the house so they never negotiated anything with me. I don't recall seeing anything in the deed about it or an access easement either.

I agree on the side trimming.. but according to what we were told this spring, they evidently are taking it to the extreme and just taking the trees completely out. I know for sure I have stumps about 18" tall standing in my back yard now as do my neighbors. I haven't seen a tree yet around here that they have only side trimmed. They took out one oak on a neighbor that was over 2 1/2' in diameter. :eek: No way that tree was not there before the lines were run.

[Art]

Try this! I had the pleasure of working 23 straight, 16 hour days during that ice storm and THEN I got to come home to a house heated only by a fireplace (no power).
The boys at KU did a GREAT JOB during that time, even though they got bashed by the local goverment. During that time there was over 650 new poles that had to be set. We re-hung over 12000 service drops during that time.I think I do know a little bit about the ice storm.
With that said, I have no problem with any utility coming onto my property, Hell I make a living out of it. BUT, you DON'T drive a 4-wheeler, track-hoe, Ditch-witch or digger/derrick truck through a persons yard without knocking on the door! If they are not home, you do what you have to do.

I never had any problem with KU, other than the fact that they didn't seem to feel the need to inform anybody on the progress. I'll never forget sitting in my basement by the fireplace wrapped in blankets drinking some brews. I'd sit there and listen to the call in shows on AM radio and all the pissed off people. It reminded me of Red Dawn where they were listening to the radio late at night in the mountains by the fire.. I now own a generator.:D One thing that did chap me was that all the "upper end" neighborhoods around me got there power on a couple of days before mine.. That was probably due to the fact that they have underground utilities.

[ecmbowhunter]

those "notes" he was scribbling were actually directions to the tree he's gonna be hunting out of......lol......sorry, had to, lol