Tree Lopping

[busken]

Having recently read a book about open top buses which had a section on old double deckers converted into tree loppers,(not always intentionally!!), got me thinking, do any companies still do this. If so, do they do it themselves and with what vehicles, or do they contract it out or even get the local authority to do it.

 

[cnjb8]

GoSouth Coast and First Kernow have buses that are converted to tree loppers.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Stagecoach Bluebird just send out the ELC Olympus' and hope for the best... God knows how many upper deck windscreens they've been through!

 

[Geordie driver]

Arriva in Northumberland used to do this, they had loads of contracted school and college runs that needed trimming, Longhurst springs to mind, I did these full time for about a year.

 

[AlbertBeale]

LT (LPTB?) had them many years ago - mostly for the "country area" routes using green buses, not the routes served by red buses. But I think, as a kid, I did see one in the north-west suburbs in the "red" area - maybe around Ruislip or somesuch. I'd imagine they'd still be needed in some areas on the fringes of London - or is it all done by local councils these days rater than by privatised bus companies?

There are still warnings in places in central London about low-hanging trees, so that bus drivers don't drive too close to the kerb. But these are cases where it's not just lack of lopping, but very old trees with a serious tilt, where the main trunk leans out over the road in a way that could conflict with the top deck of a bus.

 

[ChrisPJ]

That’s terrible, the kerb line should be positioned so that it’s not possible to drive a tall vehicle under a thick overhanging branch. Rather than rely on signage

 

[AlbertBeale]

That’s terrible, the kerb line should be positioned so that it’s not possible to drive a tall vehicle under a thick overhanging branch. Rather than rely on signage

The point is that the trees have grown thicker, and with more significant branches, over the years, and in some cases got a bit more of a tilt. So the problem has grown gradually - but moving the kerb line much now would mean losing a traffic lane that's always been there. In some cases the kerb has been moved slightly, to avoid "low tree" notices.

Clearly there's reluctance to cut down a mature tree! [Unless you're my local council, Camden, who've just killed off one of the most magnificent street trees where I live, for the sake of a traffic scheme seemingly designed by planners who're more concerned with things that look nice on a diagram than with the lives of those of us who live here! Sorry - end of off-topic rant...]