How they trim trees in West Virginia

[Marie Hass]

These are snaps - not too carefully planned. The day has been cloudy but hazy. Shot with either my 70-200 2.8 or my 70-300 4.0 as I changed up mid-stream.

1. Trimming by the power lines.


2. Heading back for another pass.


3. Trimming the higher branches.


Feel free to comment. I was having problems with choosing my settings well.

Marie

[Shadowman]

Nice.

[deetheturk]

You would need to be a good pilot for that Marie,i saw this once before in a James Bond movie!

David

[ST1]

Well I've never seen anything like that before. It seems they are concerned about the trees contacting the power cables, I wonder if they have ever clipped the power lines.

[bnnrcn]

Very strange operation indeed Isn't it dangerous with the power lines ?

[Marie Hass]

John, thank you.

David, I had no idea that they did this till I moved to West Virginia. The power lines climb up out of the river valley below. I cross underneath them as I cross the ridge line going home.

Peter, the power company is concerned about just that very thing. Vegetation that touches electrical wires can spark wildfires.

Binnur, lesser developed parts of West Virginia are treed, mountainous or hilly, and difficulty to get to. In order to trim the trees around power lines, it takes a helicopter and that free swinging saw.

Marie

[Digital]

I maybe wrong; however since the helicopter is not grounded there is no danger around those power lines. Ever seen birds sitting on high voltage lines without harm since they are not grounded.


Bruce

[Marie Hass]

Bruce, just in case, here's hoping the helicopter never sits on the high voltage lines.

Best in laughter,

Marie

[Stagecoach]

Fascinating Marie, it's the first time I have seen trees trimmed this way. I wonder how often the saw gets jammed and they need to do a quick release from it?

Grahame

[Marie Hass]

I dunno. I saw the guys work the saws as if they were an extension of their own arms. Fascinating to me as well.

Marie

[Colin Southern]

Bruce, just in case, here's hoping the helicopter never sits on the high voltage lines.

Best in laughter,

Marie

I'd encourage folks to watch this short video about high-voltage line maintenance by helicopter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIjC7DjoVe8

[Marie Hass]

Colin,

That clip was really cool!!!! Thanks for sharing it. That is some job to have. They deserve to get paid the big bucks for that.

Marie

[Downrigger]

Pretty interesting, Marie. Must have been interesting to watch. Having lived in West Virginia, as well a the northeast and north central parts of the country, (and now the west) I find the mixed hardwood forests of West Virginia the most diverse and beautiful of all. The timber industry has used copters to harvest cut logs from inaccessible terrain in WV for a good while - I wonder if this approach to trimming for power lines grew out of that experience.

[Colin Southern]

Colin,

That clip was really cool!!!! Thanks for sharing it. That is some job to have. They deserve to get paid the big bucks for that.

Marie

You're welcome.

Have to say though that you wouldn't catch me doing that job EVER!!!

[Colin Southern]

Update: Just found a high-definition version of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy81YP-q8R4

Even more impressive full screen!

[Marie Hass]

Colin, very interesting. A related thread showed up called "Trimming Trees from The Sky" as I was watching your HD version of high line maintenance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW2UvW6xLP8

It was a clip of exactly what my images show.

Marie