Protect Your Home: Essential Tree Safety Tips for Hurricane Season

Ever wondered if that towering oak in your yard could be a ticking time bomb during hurricane season? Join Kim Chapman in this vital episode of Money Matters, featuring Ricky Vincent, the expert owner of Tree Surgery by Ricky Vincent. Ricky shares invaluable insights into identifying hazardous trees, emphasizing the particular dangers posed by red oaks with shallow root systems. This episode promises to equip you with the knowledge you need to protect your property and loved ones from the devastating effects of a storm.

We'll explore the crucial importance of timely tree assessments, especially for pecan trees which can show signs of life as late as June. Ricky gives us a no-nonsense guide to recognizing the warning signs of tree death, exacerbated by recent droughts, and offers practical advice on hiring licensed and insured tree service contractors. You'll learn to spot unreliable providers and verify insurance coverage, ensuring you avoid financial pitfalls during emergency situations. 

Finally, we address legal rights concerning overhanging branches and provide clear cost considerations for tree removal services. Listen to Ricky's harrowing experiences dealing with neglected trees during hurricanes, highlighting the real dangers they pose. With hurricane season fast approaching, this episode is packed with essential advice on maintaining tree safety, ensuring you’re prepared for whatever Mother Nature throws your way. Tune in and arm yourself with the expert knowledge to safeguard your home and family!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Welcome to Money Matters, the podcast that focuses on how to use the money you have, make the money you need and save the money you want. Now here is your host, ms Kim Chapman. Welcome to another edition of Money Matters. I'm your host, kim Chapman. Are we ready for hurricane season? I know it's a little early, but maybe there's something you really haven't given a lot of thought to, and that's trees. So, whether it's identifying dangerous trees looming over your property or navigating the risk of hiring an unlicensed tree cutter, we're going to talk about that today. Joining me is the owner of Tree Surgery by Ricky Vincent. It's Mr Ricky Vincent himself. Welcome, mr Vincent.

Speaker 2: 0:41

Thank you, Ms Kimberly. Glad to be on the program here.

Speaker 1: 0:44

I tell you, I think this is going to be a really good topic to cover. Just the other day, I saw a tree in the neighborhood that fell on somebody's house I don't even remember if there was any wind or rain blowing and I thought to myself if we're having trouble with trees falling already, what can we do in terms of preparing for hurricane? I know they come on the news and they talk about, you know, getting debris up, getting sandbags, all these other things having a game plan to flee, but you know, trees are a big thing, especially here in Louisiana, we have these big, tall oak trees, and I think this is something that we really need to know. So let's just start with the basic. How did you get started in the tree cutting industry?

Speaker 2: 1:25

and how competitive is it really? Well, actually I started when I was going to Bible College in San Antonio, texas. They had a pastor of a church that called the school and asked if anybody wanted to come help him do tree work. And he asked me if I knew my knots and everything. Of course I was a former military at the Coast Guard, so I knew all my knots. He said, well, look, I'll hire you. And so I went to work for him and I worked about three months and then I used to come to, you know, baton Rouge in the summertime and trim trees in the summertime. But that's how I got started about 44 years ago and been doing it ever since.

Speaker 1: 1:57

I have to ask you how did you craft that neat name tree surgery? Because I tell you, you know we'll talk a little bit about how expensive it is, but it almost feels like you're having real surgery when it's time to pay the bill.

Speaker 2: 2:09

Right, it's fairly expensive because tree work is very dangerous, so the price reflects it. Very laborious, very dangerous. In fact, we lose more people in trees than firemen and policemen combined. Every year we lose an average of one person per day throughout the 50 states. That's how dangerous it is. So it's pretty, pretty dangerous.

Speaker 1: 2:32

All right. So what are some of the most dangerous tree species to have near your home, and why?

Speaker 2: 2:37

The most dangerous is a red oak. Some people call it cherry bark oak. They have very shallow root systems and you really don't even need a hurricane. Just a few weeks of hard rain and some strong wind and they fall like dominoes. In fact, the only clients I've ever lost in 44 years was from red oaks falling across the house and crushing them. Yeah, and the sad thing about it is that you know I gave them a price. They said hey, we'll get back with you. A hurricane, gustavav, hit and it crushed their house and killed them.

Speaker 1: 3:09

Oh, wow.

Speaker 2: 3:10

Two different customers, but I've got about 40,000 clients. The law of averages. I'd probably be the one that was going to lose a customer, and the sad thing is they did want them down, but they just never got around to it.

Speaker 1: 3:28

Well, I tell you, I think you've definitely. You don't have anybody else's attention, you have mine, red oak, and I know some of us are out there listening. We've been procrastinating about taking care of those trees. Um, what are some warning signs? You know if, because the tree that I saw the other day it was a dead, looks like a pine tree and it didn't have any little pines on it or whatnot, and then the next day I just remember passing by somebody's house and it was leaning up against it. So what are maybe some warning signs that this particular homeowner missed that's important in terms of this tree could be a danger?

Speaker 2: 4:00

Right. Well, we just come out of a drought from last year. We've only had two droughts. I was born and raised in Louisiana a Louisiana swamp rat and we've only had two droughts in 68 years I've been here. One was 20 years ago and it took about six months to a year before the trees slowly started dying and then they died for four years continuously. Oh, wow, yeah, that was about 20 years ago, official drought this time.

Speaker 2: 4:27

The drought started back last year around August and it lasted until the beginning of January before we started seeing some heavy rains in Baton Rouge. And what made this drought worse than the other drought was that it was over 100 degrees every day for at least six weeks, maybe two months. 100, 105, 110, 100, 100. It never dropped below 100 for over six weeks and it was just too much for the trees. I mean, in Louisiana we used to monsoon rain seasons, but Sahara drought, no, the trees couldn't handle it and so the trees started dying. Within six weeks they started dying, and there's some now that went beyond the point of no return. So the dead trees. That's obvious Right now.

Speaker 2: 5:15

If a tree hadn't budded out by now, it is dead. The last tree to bud out is pecan tree, which is I get calls every year. Hey, ricky man, my tree didn't bud out. I said, and it's usually around this time. I said, wait till June 1st. We're talking about pecan trees because every other tree has budded out except a pecan. Pecans is the late bloomer. I always tell them wait till June 1st. If I don't have any buds at all, then you call me back. 99% of the time they don't call me back because the tree's live. But right now, with that drought, if you don't have any green buds on your tree, your tree is dead. Don't let anybody try to fool you. Hey, I'll save your tree or bring it back. Injection, be 2,000 or 3,000. No, they're just taking your money because the tree's dead, it ain't coming out. So definitely, if it's dead, you want to cut it down. If it's dead, that means there's no green leaves on it, no green buds. And then, like I mentioned, the red oak if it's on a northeast corner of your house, okay, all the hurricanes come in from the Gulf of Mexico, right, okay, so they're going to suck toward the Gulf of Mexico. So the worst trees we're talking about red oaks now, of course, any tree, but a red oak is a killer. It killed three of my customers. So I got a personal vendetta against red oaks right If it's on the northeast corner of your house.

Speaker 2: 6:30

Out of the 11 hurricanes— okay, it took us 40 years to get six hurricanes to affect Louisiana and some of them affected Baton Rouge. Hurricane Laura that wiped out Lake Charles we had five hurricanes that one summer. We broke a record. So we that wiped out Lake Charles. We had five hurricanes that one summer. We broke a record, so we upped officially. Now I'm talking about since I've been in business 45 years. We had Hurricane Amelia, but that mostly hit Biloxi years ago. A few other hurricanes, but mainly in the last 45, since I've been in business, we've had 11 hurricanes affect Baton Rouge or mostly southern Louisiana, and about a half of them In fact.

Speaker 2: 7:05

Hurricane Laura the hurricane that passed right after Laura hit Jennings and I was taking down trees that fell in River Bend from the hurricane that hit Jennings, almost 100 miles away. So of course River Bend is very—they've got the high Mississippi River and, as I always say, it's kind of soggy. So the trees didn't have no good roots, they just fell over what you want to do and the most dangerous trees is the red oaks that you're 40 foot up before you get to the first limb. I mean, they're like 100 foot tall, but people, for some reason, they're not informed. And hey, I like my tree raised high to make it look pretty. And of course, most tree companies have either new or, you know, not ethical. Oh yeah, we'll raise as high as you want. Well, you just signed your death warrant because those are the trees that killed three of my customers. Raised way up, it's like a fulcrum All the way at the very top and when they flip them back and forth they just flip right out the ground.

Speaker 2: 8:08

So the real okay, say, on a red oak, a one to 10 scale, if your first limb is 40 foot up, that's a 10. Cut it down, don't even get somebody. Oh, let me trim it or make it look safe or whatever, just cut it down. Now, if the limbs are like from bottom to top, you know. And then the age. I'm going to say, if it's probably a young red oak, which may be 25, 30, well it's probably fairly safe. But it's the older red oaks, that's 40 foot to the first limb. That's on the northeast corner of your house. Nine of the 11 hurricanes went southwest, so you're in a kill zone. If you've got a tall old red oak 40 foot to the first limb northeast corner of your house, there's a 90% chance it's going right across your house and wiping out your house and if you win it you're going with it. So you definitely want that cut down ASAP.

Speaker 1: 8:58

So I'm sure there are a lot of listeners that are saying well, first of all, I have no idea how old this tree is, so is that a service you provide? How can somebody determine how long a tree has been there? This may be family property. Like I don't know, I'm only 23. Maybe it's been here, it's always been here, as far as I know.

Speaker 2: 9:15

Usually the circumference, like you know, a 24-inch tree that's only about maybe 20, 30 years old. But then if you get one six-foot circumference then you know it's pushing 89 to 100 years old. So the bigger the diameter of the tree, the older it is. And of course, to be honest, with all the hurricanes that affected Baton Rouge, we don't have that many tall, old red oaks. They all fell, most of them. There's a few here and there, you know, but they kind of spread out Because we lost thousands of red oaks in 45 years with 11 hurricanes out of 11, at least about six affected. Even the one that hit Jennings affected Baton Rouge, at least it affected River Bend. You know the far west portion of Baton Rouge. So the bigger the circumference, the older the tree is. If you can't wrap your arms around it, you've got an old, dangerous red oak, especially if it's the northeast and you're 40 foot to the first limb. But you won't see too many of those because they've all fallen.

Speaker 1: 10:11

And if it's on the southeast or just some other area, should I say, whew, I just dodged a book.

Speaker 2: 10:18

Exactly If it's on the south side or southeast or anything. Not on the northeast or the north side. Yes, you're about 95% safe, unless you know. Sometimes they throw off tornadoes and then it goes any which way. But generally speaking, the hurricane sucked south toward the Gulf Hurricane Katrina. All the trees went southeast. In fact I counted 12 pine trees in one house in Mandeville. I took care of my customers here locally which we had some trees on the house. I took those off and then I went to 12 pine trees. Why? Because Mandeville is like a tree hugging thing. You've got to get permission from the city so they look like a war zone. They had so many pine trees snap so all the trees fell southeast. That was the only one actually. All the trees went southeast.

Speaker 2: 11:02

Then Ida was like a wild card Because it came ashore in Houma until the trees started falling southwest and then it wiped out La Paz, hit I-55, wiped out La Paz, then went up 55, knocked down hundreds, if not thousands, of trees in Mandeville. Covenant knocked them all down like there's nothing and it did a whammy on Baton Rouge because it came right underneath Baton Rouge and then like there's nothing and it did a whammy on Baton Rouge, because it came right underneath Baton Rouge and then it went northeast. So that's out of 11. Due to statistics you can't prepare for that one, because it started southwest and ended up northeast and all the trees fell from southwest all the way to northeast because where the hurricane is, that's where the trees are going to go, you know, fall toward. So really you just got to trust god on that one.

Speaker 2: 11:46

But the other 10 were just like gustav. You know they're saying on the radio t hey, gustav is coming for seven days straight it's coming, it's coming to us, it's tracking, it's tracking this way. And uh, man, everybody's buying food, water generators. Of course, my men, we're working from daylight to dark taking trees. Finally, sunday at 12 o'clock I said, hey, I need to go to my house because I've got four pine trees. So I took my crane. I didn't have time to cut them all the way down so I just topped them in half. Two o'clock my men said, hey, we're going to get water generators. So they all jumped ship. At 7.15 the next morning when Gustav hit and I kind of I do this for a profession, right, but I see my pine trees kiss the ground for Katrina and Rita Said go back out. I thought man. So my nerves ran out for Gustav. I said, man, I'm going to at least top them. So thank God they couldn't crush my house.

Speaker 1: 12:40

So what do you mean when you say top them?

Speaker 2: 12:41

Well, I just cut them in half Now. Usually they die when you do that, but I only had until the next morning, 12 hours away from Hurricane to hit and I was doing all my cut my clients trying to take care of them. I go oh, I need to take care of mine. So usually they do die because of the sap. Well, actually, in May you don't want to trim any pine trees, because the pine bark beetle is when they find around mating season and so they smell that fresh pine. They're going to kill your pine tree. So don't ever trim pines in May, because that's the worst time to do it. Any other time of year you could probably get away with it.

Speaker 2: 13:12

But what I did to save the remaining of my trees, I didn't have time to cut them all the way down. I just wrapped oily rags and set them on fire a few times and it killed all the beetles and they never came back. Now, of course, I live out in the country. You could do that, but you can't do that in a city, that's right. So, yeah, that's the main thing with trees, and I will say this if, for some reason, of course, trees are very expensive, at least prune your trees. And I'm just going by my track record and I'm going to go way back to Hurricane Andrew, when everything was kind of normal. Back then I probably had about 20,000 clients.

Speaker 2: 13:48

I didn't lose a single tree that I pruned prior to Andrew and they had trees falling all over Baton Rouge, on Charles and everything during Hurricane Andrew because it went right up to New Roads right there. So all the trees fell west. That was due west. So we had one southeast was Katrina, and then one due west which was Andrew. It was due west. It came right up the Chappalai and it hit New Rose and all the trees fell west.

Speaker 2: 14:13

90 miles sustained winds for four straight hours. All the week. Rotten trees fell over. But I didn't have a single customer back then that lost a tree that I had pruned prior to the storm, which was a miracle because they had trees on houses all over the place. But that just shows you the beneficial and say just a light prune because it cuts down the wind resistance, because you know if you've got a thick tree, the whole tree is swaying back and forth during the wind. But if you open it up just slightly you don't have to open it a lot. It goes through the bough and it's less likely to topple over during a windstorm, and that's why I didn't lose any trees for any of my customers during Hurricane Andrew.

Speaker 1: 14:51

So at what point? Since we're looking at hurricane season right around the corner, when would be the optimal time to prune them? Because of course, we typically don't start getting those hurricanes, the big, dangerous ones, until late August, early September?

Speaker 2: 15:04

That's right. Anytime is a good time to prune them. You can prune them anytime, except when in the wintertime they lose all the leaves. So you kind of guess if you want to get a thorough job doing the spring, summer or fall, because that way you know what's dead. Because when you prune a tree you automatically want to get the deadwood out too, because you don't want to fall on any clients once you prune the tree out. But anytime except the dead or winter, because then you're kind of guessing what's dead and what's live. You get more for your money if you do it now. You know spring, summer, fall, when it's full of foliage, because not only can you aerate the inside crown, you know, take the little suckers out to let the wind pass through. You could also, if there's any deadwood that major did take that out while you prune the tree. So now's a good time to do it.

Speaker 1: 15:44

And sure than having you come and actually cut the whole tree.

Speaker 2: 15:47

Oh yeah, a lot, it's a fraction of a call, and I'm going by my track record. I pruned big bad red oaks number 10, like cut them down and they didn't fall, they stayed up.

Speaker 1: 15:57

So pruning seems to be the key.

Speaker 2: 15:59

Yes so earlier you mentioned that, because of the drought, some of these trees have died but it can take up of four years, because we stayed in the drought for four years so they kept dying. It took about six to eight months before they initially started dying and then they continued slowly dying for four years and then we finally got rain, broke the drought this time the drought with the heat index over 100, they just couldn't handle it so they started dying within six weeks. So if it's not dead.

Speaker 1: 16:36

It's not going to die Right Right now.

Speaker 2: 16:38

I think we passed that Because it usually takes about a month or two because the roots go first. Like you won't know, the top of the tree it's still green, but the roots are gone because they shrivel up. So the roots will go first and then slowly the top will start to go on. With about a month it'll start to turn brown. About another two months or three months it'll be completely dead. So once the roots go on during the drought, then it takes about a month or two to affect the top of the tree and then that slowly starts dying. I always tell my customers let's see, we've been out in the drought well since January. So, like I said, if you don't have any green buds on your tree now, it died from the drought last year and so that's a no-brainer. If there's no leaves on it, if not a green speck of leaves, it's dead.

Speaker 1: 17:28

Are there other dangers? We should be looking for a warning sign. So even if the tree came back and it has some greenery, what might be some other visual warning signs that this tree is a danger?

Speaker 2: 17:38

You might. Some of them. You know they're kind of, they are stressed out, but as long as they really fully greened out, that means they probably recovered. You know, if they fully greened out, because some of them that didn't fully recover, you probably recovered. You know, if they fully greened out, because some of them that didn't fully recover, you're going to have a lot of dead limbs. You might have a lot of green, but you're going to have a lot of dead too. You might get by just trimming the dead out and the tree might survive.

Speaker 2: 17:59

But if it's put it this way, if it's over 50% of dead limbs, in 45 years of field observation I've never seen a tree come back. If it's over 50% loss of green foliage In other words, if it's above 50% green leaves you've got a 50-50 chance. It's going to make it. But if it drops below 50% on its green foliage, it just starves to death. Because, unlike popular belief, fertilizer does not feed the tree. It's like a shot of B12 vitamins that make the leaves darker green through the process of photosynthesis.

Speaker 2: 18:36

Chlorophyll, sunlight all that good stuff that's what manufactures the sugars and starches for your tree is the leaves is what feeds the tree. The fertilizer just enables it to make darker green leaves to make more chlorophyll and feed it better. Just enables it to make darker green leaves to make more chlorophyll and feed it better. So if there's a lot of trees that's kind of stressed out because of the drought, they didn't come fully green. But if it's over 50% you've got a 50-50 chance to make it. But if it drops below 50% like 60% of the tree is dead you might as well cut it down now, while it's still fairly safe to cut down, because the more dangerous a tree is, people don't realize how tree companies price trees. The more dangerous, the higher the cost.

Speaker 1: 19:21

And what makes it more dangerous.

Speaker 2: 19:23

More dead, More dead. The more dead the tree is, the more if it's. You know, like I said, if it's over, okay, say, if it's 60% dead but 40% green, well, that tree is going to die right, Because I've never seen one if it loses over 50% of the green. I've never seen one in 45 years come back, Even though I remember stopping this one guy on the album. He had a huge, gigantic, probably 150-year-old live oak but he lost over 50%. I said, sir, would you like a price? I do a lot of work to cut it down. Oh, no, man, I got some PhDs come from LSU. I got some real high-end arbors. They're going to come out, they're going to save my tree. I don't want to hurt his feelings. Good luck with that pal, because it ain't going to happen and I've been seeing this for 45 years. If it loses over 50, it's not, and sure enough, too much later the tree was gone.

Speaker 1: 20:13

So why is a dead tree more costly or more dangerous than a live tree?

Speaker 2: 20:17

Because as you climb up the tree those limbs can fall and hit you in the head and kill you. A climber, okay. And we pay, like some of the highest workman's, compensation for that reason Because, like I said, we lose, it's about 360 men a year, which were 365 days in the year, right? So almost one person per day in one of the 50 states gets killed. The only higher number to that is homeowners that try to do it themselves.

Speaker 1: 20:42

And we'll talk about that in a minute.

Speaker 2: 20:45

Well, I'll never forget knocking on the door one time in Lakehead, white Oak Land. I said, sir, would you like me to trim? He said, yeah, I tried to trim mine last time. I put the ladder on the limb. I cut the limb. The rest of the limb jumped up, the ladder went down. I cracked seven ribs. So yeah, I want you to do my tree now. But anyhow, like I said, even professionals we lose. It's dangerous. I mean, I always pray God protect me, because I know I'm in danger and if I die I want to get to heaven because you know, like I said, it's a dangerous, very dangerous profession.

Speaker 1: 21:20

And, aside from whether it's alive or die, what are some other things that make it expensive for a tree? I know that there is a family. I know the tree sits between two homes versus. You know, you see a tree that's in the front of the house or in the middle of the back and it just seems like you can just go chainsaw it and get rid of it.

Speaker 2: 21:33

Well, not only okay, the price is. There are various factors. One, how dangerous it is to my climber or my men. Two, how dangerous it is to the house around it. Of course I'm insured for $2 million, but, hey, I don't like using my deductible right. So if a limb hits that house while you're cutting your rope snaps or whatever, and then wow, well then you're out a few thousand dollars right there, 10, 15, 20, whatever and you don't make nothing. So danger to the men, top priority. How dangerous for men. And usually I leave it optional If I can't get the crane or bucket to it and it's dead, hey, totally optional.

Speaker 2: 22:07

Do you feel like doing this tree? If they say no, I tell them look, I'm so sorry, but this is a dangerous tree. You'll have to find somebody else with a longer crane, because usually, okay, I got a crane, but it's 100 foot. Sounds like a lot. But if it's a dead tree in between two houses, like over 100 foot, you need to get the ones with 200 foot. That's about $10,000 a day just for the crane. Wow, it's expensive. So that. And then if it's close to wires, like how long it's going to take you to do the tree. If you're next to primary lines like okay, energy, they will only cut a tree if it's within 10 feet of the primary, that's the exposed wires, not the service line going to your house. They will cut it for free of charge. In fact, I just had several customers I said well, in fact, one this morning call Energy, they will cut it no charge, which will beat my price. Oh, thanks. So they're going to get Energy to do that because they're obligated by law as long as the homeowner because it's your property but it's Energy's right away. So that's if it's touching. Well, no, it don't have to be touching, it could be 10 feet, their line.

Speaker 2: 23:07

In fact, John Dean, he's the head division of Baton Rouge for tree cutting and once a year we got to get recertified as arborists and he was the host that year. He said look you tree guys. If you have any trees within 10 feet of a primary, do not touch it, call us and we'll do it. I probably gave him 500 to 1,000 jobs the past 20 years because it's within 10 feet. And why risk to 1,000 jobs in the past 20 years? Because it's within 10 feet and a lot of risk. Well, it's actually illegal, a private tree company. Of course some people risk. But they made an OSHA fine, $250,000, prison time, whatever because you're not supposed to cut that close. Because a lot of times after rain or something, if you climb in a tree with spikes, the only time you use spikes you know low climbers is when you cut down a tree. But since it's made out of iron, right, you use that to help you climb up a tree. If you get closer than 10 feet, that primary could arc out and electrocute you without even touching the wire. That's why they don't want you closer than 10 feet of any primary. But that's a boon for the homeowners because they'll get the tree cut for free.

Speaker 2: 24:06

Oh yeah, one of my repeat customers. I said you hit the lotto. You just saved you about $7,000 because you and five feet and he had a big red oak that half of that split off and I told him, probably because of the drought, he had one of those number 10 trees that hey, cut it down now and a third of it, probably about 10 tons, fell off in his front yard. Luckily it didn't hit his house or anything and he didn't want me to cut the rest of the tree down. But when I got there it was like five feet from the primary and it was about an 80 to 100-year-old red oak. I said, look you saved you about seven grand Call Energy. They'll beat my price, they'll do it for free.

Speaker 1: 24:40

I'm sure a lot of people are happy to hear that.

Speaker 2: 24:49

Oh, I'm sure. Okay, red oak's the most dangerous. That's the number one tree. I take off a house during hurricanes a red oak. The second one is a water oak, and they are so prolific, they're all they grow. Well, you got the red oak, your white oak. Now the safest tree is the live oak.

Speaker 1: 25:05

Okay.

Speaker 2: 25:05

In 45 years, going through 11 hurricanes, I've never taken a live oak off a house. In Baton Rouge Now, I've never seen one made a fell, but I've riden all over that and I've never seen one on top of a house and I've never taken one off a house. So that would be the only tree I want to have next to mine is a live oak because it's so safe. I mean the one that finally fell on Avery Island. I remember Avery Island Swamp was 1,000 years old. Wow, look at all the hurricanes it went through and I think it probably weighed 500 tons. It just couldn't support itself. It probably just fell over.

Speaker 2: 25:39

But the water oaks, that's the second most dangerous, even though they got root. Okay, the reason why red oak is so dangerous they hardly know roots at all. When they fall over Customers call me Ricky. They'll be standing by this massive, gigantic oak, where's the roots at? And I'll walk right up to the very base of the tree. I said there you are, and they're horrified like there's hardly no roots at all. I said well, that's why I fell.

Speaker 2: 26:03

In a forest you got trees surrounding and so they're stay up 200 years because the wind shear factory. You got it. But in the subdivisions. They're like the lone ranger they expose and they fall like dominoes. And now water oak just a fence. It's got roots, like most trees, out to the drip line. The drip line is your furthest out of your limbs, right underneath it. It's called the drip line. A water oak's got roots all the way out there.

Speaker 2: 26:29

But my own field observation for 45 years I came up with the conclusion of all the oaks the live oak, the water oak, the post oak, the red oak. The water oak is the fastest growing oak tree there is and because it grows so fast it don't have time to develop good, strong wood cells and it just falls apart when it gets about 40, 50 years old. So it's dropping limbs and a hurricane boom knocks them over because they don't have strong. You know they got a good root system, but it's a weak root system. So a red oak is your most dangerous.

Speaker 2: 27:01

Now I'm just going by my own statistics. You know, taking trees off of houses in 45 years. Now, of course any tree can go on top of a house, don't get me wrong, but the most prolific is the red oak, that's the number one, then the red oak and then everything else, even pine trees tap roots. Like I said, I've seen 12 in Mandeville in one house, but your red oak's the most dangerous and your water oak's the second. Those two trees that's what you see on top of housing on a hurricane more than any other tree.

Speaker 1: 27:25

All right. So if we go outside and we miss that 10-foot gauge for energy, to do it free, what should a homeowner be looking for in terms of contracting with a tree service? What are we looking for, and what are the dangers, too, of getting the ones that kind of fly by passing your neighborhood, handing out their little flyers saying, hey, I can do it by half of what the tree surgery guy can do it. What are those dangers?

Speaker 2: 27:47

Okay, you mainly want to be fully protected. Okay, you want somebody that has general liability. In fact, if you're a licensed arborist, it used to be now. They might have changed the law a few years ago, but we was the only company or profession in the state of Louisiana mandatory that before they issue your arborist license you have to have proof of general liability insurance with the Horticulture Commission. That's still the case now. You've got to have proof. You can make one phone call. Well, what you could do a lot of times. I'll give you inside information. Right, okay, they'll pay their premium. You know down payment and after two months they'll stop paying it. Well, just like cars, you stop paying it.

Speaker 1: 28:29

That's what I was going to say.

Speaker 2: 28:30

They just cancel you, but on the certificate insurance it'll have a whole year when you started and a year and they'll say, oh, look, it's current, oh, yes, dated from January to December. Yeah, okay, you must. Okay, we'll go do it. And guess what? They're not covered because they didn't pay the premium and insurance drop. You want to call the agent that's listed.

Speaker 2: 28:52

If they give you a certificate, you want to call on that. It shows you the agent and you want to call them personally. Hey, is this guy currently insured? An agent will say either yes or no. And then not only that okay, is this guy currently insured? And the agent will say either yes or no. And then not only that okay, because if you get somebody that's not insured and they've taken out a dangerous tree by you and smashed your house oops, sorry, and they just walk away, guess what, you're stuck and a lot of times your homeowners will say, hey, you should have hired a reputable company that had insurance. So, guess what, we're not going to pay the damn and you're out $20,000, $30,000. So I'm not saying that's all the case. It all depends on what insurance company you got, but you definitely want to make sure the insurer to bypass that drama there. Okay.

Speaker 2: 29:33

Now the second thing you want to make sure they got work must come, because after they smash your house, if somebody gets hurt, they will own your smash house. Oh, wow, if they don't have workman's comp there again, it'll be on their certificate and you want to call. Usually the agent does the workman's comp for them too, so you can ask them hey, is their journal liability in effect now and do they have current workman's comp? If he says yes, bo, you're good to go. Except one more little hurdle. You want to make sure on that certificate that at the bottom of the certificate there'll be a little box saying certificate holder. You want your name and address on that and then you're 100% safe for anything that happens. But the agent will do that. Hey, he'll put your name, your address and then you fully and then with him verifying, yes, it's current liability, yes, it's current worker's comp, and you the certificate holder. There's no gray area at all. They're 100% liable if something happens to anybody One of the workers or they smash out whatever. They got to pay everything.

Speaker 1: 30:36

What are some other warning signs? So let's say they've got the insurance, they've got the workers comp but, they come up with a crane that looks like it was made in 1922.

Speaker 2: 30:44

What are?

Speaker 2: 30:44

some other visible signs that this might not be who you want cutting your trip that they pull up with an out-of-state pickup truck that's about to fall apart or something, because usually out-of-states don't have anything, you know, they don't have no liability or nothing. Because Louisiana, we are the strictest, that we're the only, unless they just changed it recently. We're the only company in the United States that's required by law to attend an eight-hour seminar every year. I've been having to do it ever since I was licensed, 40 years. No other state requires that. Some require to have a license. Well, in Texas, you just need a chainsaw and you're in business. No license, no insurance, nothing. You've got a chainsaw and you're in business in Texas. Most states some of them want you to be licensed but you just pay your little $20 and you're licensed, but none of them require you mandatory to attend an eight-hour seminar every year. Louisiana is the only one. Unless they just change that recently with some other states, we're the only state that requires that every year.

Speaker 1: 31:42

Is that because of the type of trees we have?

Speaker 2: 31:44

Well, I think it's fees. You know, I didn't want to go there. Right, get a little extra income coming in. But why do they just pick on us? But I learned a lot of stuff in it, so I'm not knocking. I mean a lot of stuff we learned. They have some safety seminars, so it's a good thing really. I mean it keeps you educated and what's going on and you know the current stuff, you know laws and all that stuff, so it I can't complain all right.

Speaker 1: 32:10

So when the news is on they're talking about a hurricane. You know, they tell us we can put some plywood up in front of our windows, tie down debris. Is there anything that a homeowner can do, like just days ahead of a storm, that can provide any level of protection for them?

Speaker 2: 32:24

The best thing is just to prune your tree quick. You like pruning, you don't need a heavy prune Anyhow. You're not supposed to do a heavy prune anyhow. I mean almost everybody does it. But the guy that trained me taught me hey, because leaves feed the tree. When you skin out all the leaves, you hurt the tree. In fact you can go to any subdivision after any little storm. You'll see like eight-inch water oak boughs snapped in half, perfectly alive, perfectly healthy. But people stripped it and just left a little green on the ends. Let's call it lion's tailing, the official term. I don't know why people do that. They go to the same seminar I do every year. But if you've been doing something wrong for 30 years and you change, the people think, hey, why you've been doing the other way for 30. You know what I mean. So you don't need a heavy prune for a tree.

Speaker 2: 33:13

Mainly the only time, actually the only time I will quote over prune a tree or what everybody else does for all the other trees, is when the homeowner can't afford to cut down a large red oak then, because you're going to catch 22,. Right, if you don't prune it. It may be on top of your house, but you don't want to prune it too much, but I usually go about maybe three-quarters out, like normally any other species of trees. I'll go about halfway out, just light suckers, just open up and let the wind pass through. But a red oak, knowing that it might fall and kill these people, I'll go three-quarters of the way out. I don't go all the way out, but I go three-quarters. So I go a little extra further just to make sure the tree is going to be standing and I just thank God that all the trees I've ever pruned prior to the storm, none of them has ever fell on my customer' house, so they're happy.

Speaker 1: 34:00

Well, that's good to hear. Are there other warning signs? For example, let's just say, a little mild storm comes through, like we had a couple weeks ago, and you start seeing branches falling in your backyard. Is that just nature or is that a sign that? Hey, if these branches are falling with just a little wind, imagine what might happen with a bigger wind.

Speaker 2: 34:19

Yeah, and forestly especially. Like water oaks even red oaks, mostly water oaks they'll fall at any time. I've had customers tell me limbs hit their roof, attic ceiling and land in their bed. Forestly is the middle of the night time where they've been dead. Water oaks drop limbs all the time, it don't have to be wind, they can be sunshiny. No crack Crack.

Speaker 2: 34:38

That's just the nature of a water oak because they have weak wood cells, right Red oaks. Usually the only time you've got to worry about them is the whole tree coming down to a hurricane. That's about it. But yeah, you really can't gauge like, okay, what should I do? Well, it's Mother Nature really. I mean whatever limbs she decides to break off, you know. But water oaks are the worst.

Speaker 2: 34:57

I will say that they usually almost any little wind you're going to have some water oak limbs come down. There's nothing you can do except cut the tree down. But if it's healthy I say healthy if it's young, like under 50 years old, it's fairly kind of okay, except a hurricane, of course. You know you really can't plan for that. I mean, hurricanes are going to hit Now the older water oaks. I would definitely cut them down too, just like the older red oaks. That's real tall, 40 foot to the first limb. I would cut those two, I'm going to say over 50 years old, especially if they're on the northeast corner. Now, if they're on the south side of your house you're probably okay, but your neighbor might not be because it's going across the street to your neighbors there. But at least you'll be all right. So, anyhow, take it for what it's worth. If you're good friends with your neighbor, you, like your neighbor, cut your tree down All right.

Speaker 1: 35:43

So for you know, there's always going to be that group of diehard. I'm not going to pay somebody to do this, I'm going to do it myself. What recommendations or advice would you give to somebody that's you know they're determined I'm going to do something myself.

Speaker 2: 35:56

Well, just like I mentioned statistics, the only people that get killed or injured more than professional tree cutters is homeowners that do it themselves. I mean anything else you could probably handle, but, man, do you really want to? I mean, I can tell you about that one instance. The guy put the ladder up. He cut half the limb, went up, the ladder, went down, he cracked seven ribs. I'll never forget the guy that trained me. He was talking to a gentleman that was trimming his tree outside. One time he said look, man, would you like a price I could do it professionally. Oh no, I can handle myself, man. I think he was cutting down the tree Anyhow. Okay, he came back about maybe two months later and the guy that trained me noticed the tree was like halfway cut down but not finished. So he thought, well, maybe the guy got too hard, knocked on his door. The guy came to his front door in a wheelchair. He fell off his ladder, broke his back, invalid the rest of his life. So that's extreme.

Speaker 2: 36:55

But still, even during storms, I wouldn't want to do this. But that's my job, right? Because you could be cutting on a tree and you got so much tension because you got other trees on top of it. You don't know which that where's that's going to go. And I've seen trees if I wouldn't as soon as I cut. Well, actually what I do is I hold the saw away and I put and once it goes free, I've seen them pop up 10 feet in the air. If my head would have been right there, like when you cut and you look away, I've been decapitated. I mean, they got so much.

Speaker 2: 37:32

Now maybe under normal circumstances you know I still wouldn't try but definitely a storm damage tree. You don't want anything to do with it because they got so many twisting factors. You don't know which way it's going to go. When it breaks free from the rest of the trunk it might just fling and knock your head off or kill you. I mean it'll get smashed into them or roll on top of you. I had another customer tell me that he was cutting his and the whole tree rolled on him and crushed it. Luckily it didn't kill him, but it just smashed his ribs and everything. Anyhow. Well, just go by statistics. We lose one on average per day, year-round every year, 360 approximate a year. So if you want to play the lotto but I wouldn't recommend it- Definitely not.

Speaker 1: 38:17

Earlier, you mentioned talking about being a good neighbor and taking care of your trees for your neighbor? Have you ever been in the middle of a dispute you talked about earlier, for example, if the tree is in one person's yard? But, it's hanging, for example, over your roof.

Speaker 2: 38:29

Right.

Speaker 1: 38:30

Who really has the right to do it. If I call and say, hey, I'll need you to come cut this limb because it's over my roof.

Speaker 2: 38:36

Right.

Speaker 1: 38:36

But the tree is actually belongs to somebody else. What happens if you have one person says yeah, go ahead, the other person says no, leave my tree alone.

Speaker 2: 38:45

Well, but the law reads well. Like I said, it might be updated, but last time we had a lawyer tell us what the law was. If it overhangs your property or top of your roof, you got legal right to at least cut it off your roof. You may not be able to cut all the way back to the property line because it might kill the tree, right. But be able to cut it all the way back to the property line because it might kill the tree, right. But at least it don't matter what the other person says. The law says if it's encroaching on your property, especially if it might be a danger to you or your roof or your car or garage, you can cut it off your building there. You just might not be able to cut it all the way back to the property line, but you've got legal right that you can cut it away from your structure. And the other person, even if they own the tree, they can't say nothing, they can't do nothing legally.

Speaker 1: 39:26

So I'm going to do a play on your business title the tree surgeon. Obviously, nobody goes straight to surgery. They see the doctor first, they get an evaluation. So do you go out to homes and do evaluations?

Speaker 2: 39:42

just to say, hey, yes, this tree needs to go, or no, this tree is fine. Yes, ma'am, usually I'll get a lot of people call me to evaluate and, look, I really want to trim the tree. But if you think that it's a hazard, a potential hazard, like it might be hollow on the inside or something like that, mushrooming drawn, that's a sign of root rot. Your roots are destroyed. The tree's going to topple over. Yes, I recommend cutting it down. Yes, I do that as a service of my business Evaluate and then give them a price.

Speaker 2: 40:04

If they want to keep the tree, if it's going to be safe, I just trim it. Or they want to? Hey, if the tree's dangerous, then I'll go that route too. Cut it down. So they leave it up to me, hey, and then I'll show them hey, it's hollow, I'll stick a stick almost all the way through the tree. You got mushrooms. That's a sign of root rot. The whole top of the trees, little bitty dead limbs dying Root rot. That means your roots are destroyed. And you got a 40-ton tree and half the roots are gone. Yes, cut it down. Don't just trim it. You're just delaying what's going to eventually fall over one day and crush your house or your car or whatever you know. So they usually take my advice, because I've been doing it 45 years.

Speaker 1: 40:42

So let's talk prices just a little bit in general, and I know it's going to be different, it's going to be different for every yard, but what's a best-case scenario, what's the least expensive a person can get away with in terms of having a tree cut down, and what's the most expensive job you've ever had to do? All right?

Speaker 2: 41:00

Well, I'm going to give you a ballpark figure. I get that answer all the time. Usually carpenters is $50 a foot, electrician $50. Plumber $50. You know they got industry standards With tree hunting. The sky's the limit. I mean, if you call around long enough you might find some will cut it down for the firewood. And I'll tell you what Aaron's Tree Service. Years ago he had a contract with Podness for barbecue and they specified red oak and if he didn't have his quota he would go cut a $5,000 for free just to not lose his firewood. So if you shop around Lone, you might find somebody cut it out just for the firewood.

Speaker 1: 41:36

That's some good information. So, we got Entergy and now we have firewood.

Speaker 2: 41:42

But okay, ballpark $100 to $15,000.

Speaker 1: 41:46

Oh wow, I want the $100 job $100 to a small tree.

Speaker 2: 41:50

$15,000 was the one that killed one of my customers Lived in the second file in the Apollo Estates and he had me come out and he said, ricky, I'm thinking about cutting out. I said well, yeah, yeah, good, it was on the north side of his house. He had the biggest two-story house in Apollo Estates but he was landlocked. He had these big bricks. So I said I'm going to have to boom over your house, cut little four-foot piece that weighed about 5,000 pounds with my crane and swing it over and lower it down, even though I got quote a 28-ton crane and a 100-foot boom. That's a little tonka toy for most tree work. I mean, I got the bare minimum, anything less than that, good luck, you'll probably bend the boom or whatever. And he said okay. He said I gave my price $15,000. I know that's a lot of money, you know, but I figured with nine men it would take me probably a week to get that tree down, wow, and so that's why I bid that. And he said, okay, well, let me think about it, let me get back with you. He called me back, I guess about two or three weeks later. He said you know, he was talking about cranes, what size crane do you really think I need? I said, well, to be honest, you need a 100-ton crane with a 200-foot boom. That would be ideal. He said well, man, can you find one for me? I said okay. So I called all the cranes, because mine was only 28 tons. It goes to take a week, I think either Deep South or any of them. One of them, I think back then, was only like about 2,800 a day. We're going back what? 15, 20 years ago? And I said I found you a crane. I said do me a favor, you ain't going to hurt my feelings if you get somebody cheaper. But hey, I found a crane for rent. That's where any tree company can rent it, right? I said if you get a little price, hey, main thing, get that, because I knew what trees do to houses, right? He said okay and we got to talking. I said do me a favor, if a hurricane hits before you get a chance, don't stay in your house. Okay, ricky. I said well, I'm going to get back with you, man. No-transcript.

Speaker 2: 43:51

Another neighbor that I did his father to live across the street when he seen that massive in fact I told him. I said you got the biggest red oak I've ever seen. Now that was what 20, 15, 20 years ago it's been 30 years. I said I've never seen that. I said you got the biggest red oak in all of East Baton Rouge, paris. That's a killer tree man and he knew it because it's on the north side. So it because it's on the north side, so you know it's going to go somewhere south where his house was two-story house. But when okay, when Gustav hit his neighbor across the street seen that massive it was like 130, 140. Usually it's supposed to be 110-foot tall mat. This was like 130, 140, probably weighed about 150 tons. When he seen that tree start to fall 50 tons. When he seen that tree start to fall, he ran out screaming at the top of his lungs but with 105-mile winds, nobody heard nothing.

Speaker 2: 44:42

Now took my advice. He was actually working for Wildlife and Fisheries just down the street. He was actually on the coast evacuating people. But his mother-in-law and father-in-law came up from Abbeville to get safe from the storm right, because Abbeville's right on the coast and his wife was in the house too. When that tree hit it crushed it like a love bug, hitting a windshield, 90 miles an hour all the way to the slab there was like both his father-in-law were killed instantly. They were just his wife, I think, survived. She was under the staircase somewhere in the back corner, whatever, and she survived. But I mean it just like I said.

Speaker 2: 45:20

My other customer lived in the backside of Baton Rouge Country Club and she had a big red oak tube on the other side. It leaned over. I said let me take that treat. No, I can't afford it, just trim it. So I kept trimming it, but every few years I'd say you really need to. Well, just solve it. Okay, it crushed her house. Now, it didn't kill her instantly, she was like in her 80s, but it broke some.

Speaker 2: 45:42

Okay, they had so many red oaks. I took down about 50 red oak trees at Baton Rouge Country Club because they had so many red oaks. Every time a storm came they'd fall across the greens. So I took all their Red Oaks at the Baton Rouge Country Club but ringing Baton Rouge Country Club, red Oak Alley, right, the ambulance. When they came they had so many Red Oaks that fell across Fairview and that other side street, everything surrounding Baton Rouge Country Club. There's three streets around it. So many Red Oaks, they had to get the stretcher, jump out and jump across all the trees for two blocks to get put on the stretcher, jump back. Well, she died three days later because of her injury. So, but I just don't like red oaks.

Speaker 1: 46:20

So, other than making sure you're safe, should a tree fall in your home, what advice? What should a home? Is there anything that a homeowner should do immediately other than making sure they're safe?

Speaker 2: 46:32

Well, what you want to do is well, the news. They usually good on tracking, just like Gustave For seven days in the van. They say it's coming to Baton Rouge, it's coming to Baton Rouge, it's coming to Baton Rouge, it's coming to Baton Rouge. So, remember, they suck south. So say you got a big house and you're on the northeast side. You want to be probably on the extreme, like, okay, northeast is going to fall southwest. So if you're on the northwest corner, that would be the safest place to be. If it's on the opposite end of the house, because, remember, it's going to fall, there's a play to the statistics. There's about a 90% chance it's going southwest, or about 80%, because we never had nothing go straight south. Well, except Ida, that was all the way around, but anyhow, the other 10 hurricanes Okay, andrew was due west, 90 miles straight west. So if it's going that way, then the tree you know well is going right across your house. So I don't know if it would be safe to be anywhere around there. But if it's southwest, if you know it's going to come southwest, come to court, like lake charles, whatever, then you can get on a northwest corner because it's going to go southwest or even south. I don't know if I'd say you want to get on the southeast side because the trees, you'd be on the same side. But it's a little tricky, you know, and well you got to judge the distance too. Like if it's just the top's going to hit your house, well you can get in a far corner and probably be okay, but if the tree's tall enough that it's going to go across your house, really you don't want to be in your house at all. I mean, you know, and there's a way, plain trick-or-treat my brother-in-law used to be an engineer showed me you can get a stick or a tape measure and measure. You put the top of the measuring tape on the top of the tree and then hold your thumb at the bottom of the tape, where the trunk is at the bottom, and then just lay it down and look at the end of that tape and that's where the end of that tree is going to fall, and then you could judge if it's going to hit your house or not. In other words, if just the brush hits it, you're okay because it's not going to kill you, but if it's close enough for the truck that you know, 20 tons coming down Another of my customers.

Speaker 2: 48:46

They had a water oak doing. Actually it was doing Andrew two-story, big two-story house. Made it a duplex. Yeah, it made it a duplex All the way, I mean, to the slab, made it a nice neat duplex, I mean down the middle. You know Trees are dangerous. Don't take a chance. If you live in a little house you don't need to live in a mansion, it's better just to go, even a hotel. It'd be safe than sorry. You know what I mean, because I mean trees are dangerous. You're playing with your life there, I mean.

Speaker 1: 49:17

Well, I tell you for half our listeners, you probably made them feel better. I think the other half might be terrorized. So if they need to reach you and get more information, maybe have you come out and do an evaluation, or they're ready to go ahead and open their checkbook up and say get it cut. How can you be reached?

Speaker 2: 49:33

I'm on the internet RVTreeSurgerycom. Rvtreesurgery or you can just Google tree surgery by Ricky Vincent. Either way, they get a hold of me there.

Speaker 1: 49:46

One last question. Is there an off-season. What's your busiest time of the year?

Speaker 2: 49:50

That's a good question. Actually, the best time to do heavy tree work is in the wintertime because all construction slows down, even tree work. So if you want to get the rock bottom cheapest price of the entire year, wait till the winter.

Speaker 1: 50:03

So if we can survive this hurricane season. Wait till November December.

Speaker 2: 50:07

Yeah, that's right, because everything well, one thing, the yards are wet and a lot of people want to wait till it's dry, and then of course, people's not. Once hurricane, okay, we live. They say we're the heart of hurricane. The only other one is probably Florida, but still, I think, louisiana. They always call us the heart of hurricane country, so take it for what it's worth.

Speaker 2: 50:31

But okay, from June 1st to November 1st quote, official hurricane season, even though when Rita and Katrina hit they had a hurricane hit Miami, florida December 8th. Yeah, so it's been straight. And then we had a hurricane one year. That was May 15th. So don't wait till June 1st, but anyhow. But yeah, the off season. I'm going to say December 1st, it's Christmas time and all that December, then tax season. People tell oh Christmas, oh tax season, and so it gets a little slow right for everybody. Construction, but mainly for trees. So if you want to get the rock bottom price, you wait until December 1st, until probably the 1st of February is the cheapest time of the entire year to get any tree work done.

Speaker 1: 51:09

Well, some good information we know to call energy. Maybe find a barbecue place that is in Needlewood, or wait till December.

Speaker 2: 51:17

All right, Mr.

Speaker 1: 51:17

Vincent, thank you, you've shared a lot of good information. I definitely hope this will save some homes and some lives. Well, thank you, Mr Vincent. We'll have to have you come back after hurricane season and see what we need to do again.

Speaker 2: 51:29

Okay, no problem, ms Kimberly, enjoy being here.