Favourite Mistake

[Nate]

Foremanning last summer I forgot my plot cords one day and asked one of my more conscientious planters if I could borrow hers, knowing her quality wouldn't suffer for going the day without it (because every planter throws plots on themselves three times a day, right?). I did my rounds and quality was looking good, so I returned the cord to her at the end of the day, no issue.

The next day we moved blocks and I walked into her piece as part of my rounds. It was immediately apparent something was wrong, as the eight spacing we were going for looked more like eighteens. I threw some plots and ended up with an average of fourteen. It was the first time all season quality had been an issue with her, so I was surprised by how incredibly far off it was. When I asked her she said "yeah it felt like I was planting alright, but when I threw plots on myself I kept on getting super low numbers so I bumped up my density."

I couldn't figure it out, so we threw some plots together and then the problem became apparent; when I'd borrowed her plot cord I'd run over it with the quad and returned it to her not realizing I'd snapped off a solid 1/3 of it, so she was throwing plots with a 2.6m cord instead of a 3.99m one.

[Mike]

Ha, had something similar like that happen. There were 5 of us finishing a block, converging, and of course, it got a little hazy (early in the season, we'd only been planting a week and a bit, and we're rookies). Foreman comes in starts throwing plots and getting 18's and 20's, so we go back and replant while he goes and checks a vet's piece nearby. We're plotting and getting lots of 10's and a few 11's, so we pull some trees and replant them.

Foreman comes back half an hour later. Apparently his plot chord was two feet too long. How, I'm not certain.

[Nate]

Lol, yeah I've seen those plot cords, they've got a mark at 3.99, then they go to something longer. Not sure what type of survey they're used for.

[jono]

...

[Scirolli]

The plot cord would have been 5.64 meters long, which represents 100 meters squared. A 3.99 meter plot cord represents 50 meters squared, that is why we use a 200 plot multiplier when calculating the stems per hectare. The 5.64 meter plot cord was commonly used for spacing and brushing plots, and may be used in silviculture surveys.

[Captain Slashpile]

I used one of these cords, doing precommercial thinning in the abitibi. While perusing this thread I thought maybe it was a quebec thing. Upon reading, I realize its more of a cutter tool as opposed to a quebec thing. Thanks for the info.

[Kelley]

haha! I remember that one Nate. Once the mistake was uncovered I think I remember you helping out that planter with fixing the piece which was nice of you.
What a greaaaaat contract that one was eh? Remember the block Dusty pants, Jric and I had the walk in to? That one was fun... great prices too.... hahaha Oh well, I guess we a least got a good name for our truck out of that one! MO MUFFINS MO PROBLEMS BITCH

[kingjames_2nd]

We had a rookie one year who thought that things like "free work" and "reefer duty" were voluntary. However nice that would be, they were not.

When informed that we were as a camp, unloading the reefer he replied by saying something like "Oh no thanks, you guys go ahead with out me." He stayed in camp that night playing his x-box which he had purchased the first day-off. That night interestingly, was also his last.

[L'Amour]

Let's have a story about our good friend Mr. Krahn, shall we? Now, I'm a little fuzzy on the details for a variety of reasons, so PK, feel free to fix up any gaps/embellishments in my memory/Jesse's story (speaking of stories - need ideas for this year's erautical).

Now, I just graduated from highschool last year. Because of school, I was only able to get out to plant for the last month of the season in 2007 and 2008. So I have little in the way of experience; I've never been through a full season, though that ought-a change this summer. Anyway, during that last month of the 2007, I met Mr. Krahn while planting... shit, I dunno. Somewhere in Saskatchewan.

Fast-forward to the beginning of the 2008 season. Krahn is planting with my older brother Jesse, a six-year vet at the time. Krahn bags up, does his thing, and returns to the cache at the exact same time as my brother. Krahn, being rather on the fast side, is surprised to see my brother keep pace with him, and compliments Jesse on his speed. Same thing happens the next day, and the day after that, and... well, before ya know it, a couple of shifts have gone by.

And one day, Krahn turns to Jesse.

And Krahn says to Jesse, "Hey, you're not Luke!"

[Mr. Amazing]

We had a rookie one year who thought that things like "free work" and "reefer duty" were voluntary. However nice that would be, they were not.

When informed that we were as a camp, unloading the reefer he replied by saying something like "Oh no thanks, you guys go ahead with out me." He stayed in camp that night playing his x-box which he had purchased the first day-off. That night interestingly, was also his last.

So this guy got fired for opting out of working for no pay? What company was this?!

[TheHamsterizer]

We had a rookie one year who thought that things like "free work" and "reefer duty" were voluntary. However nice that would be, they were not.

When informed that we were as a camp, unloading the reefer he replied by saying something like "Oh no thanks, you guys go ahead with out me." He stayed in camp that night playing his x-box which he had purchased the first day-off. That night interestingly, was also his last.

So this guy got fired for opting out of working for no pay? What company was this?!

Yeah, hate to say it, but that rookie was right... It's your right to refuse unpaid labor.

[kingjames_2nd]

So this guy got fired for opting out of working for no pay? What company was this?!

I agree we should be paid for duties such as camp set-up and un-loading truckloads of trees, however that is a discussion for another thread. In this case he was not opting out of doing free work in a good for everybody sit-in sort of situation but just being lazy as usual. He also planted many very bad trees and showed no improvement or enthusiasm as a rookie. The situation I was refering too was probably the straw that broke the camels back. It was funny because he bought an X-box on the first day off and then went home prematurely with said X-box in tow.

The company was Coast Range. Ever heard of em?

[barnbill]

back to topic...favorite mistake...not mine but a planter on my crew.
second day of the season , and as per usual I had totaled the number of trees left in the caches and compared them to the totals given me by the crew. next morning i informed the crew we had a 800 tree overcount from the day before and that as a planter i hated paying for trees that some lowlife claimed without planting and that because of that i would not put up with this as a foreman and then of course reminded people not to count trees you actually had not planted yet (rounding up etc etc). and had a short talk on the importance of being honest when you plan on spending the next 60 days with a diverse group of people.
One leatherlunged individual proceeded to berate me along the lines of "you can't prove anything, this is just the company claiming crap to take overcounts off our pay , no one here would lie etc etc"
We had another 600 tree overcount the second day so the next afternonn ( the third day) after THAT individual moved to new ground , i took the time to survey his piece, get the size and ran plots......found out that according to the plots i ran there should have been 1200 LESS trees in that area than what he claimed. (survey took about 1 1/2 hrs out of my day) Sorry this story is taking so long but needless to say we also had a 600 tree overcount this day as well.
To be safe the following day , I counted ALL his trees in the first area he planted and verified the massive overcount and immediately went to where he was working and fired him on the spot.
The reason I post this as a favorite mistake is the mistake was his. This contract was without a doubt the most lucrative I ever saw either as a planter or foreman, people on that show talked about it for years after and this guy's mistake cost him not only his job but 6 weeks of awesome money.....all for the stupid act of overcounting which any foreman worth his/her salt can catch in no time

[Saffa]

My personal favourite mistake: Brinkman, worked for them for two years, was planning on doing another early start with them on the coast, after a bit of hassal I got a spot only to be informed that I actualy didn't two weeks before the start date, I turned down offers from Zanzibar and Celtic for a coastal season... and now all there crew's are full. Thanks Brinkman!!

[steve]

i remember that james! that guy deserved to be fired, at least that's what i heard from the people that had to replant his piece the next day!

[jules]

I used one of these cords, doing precommercial thinning in the abitibi. While perusing this thread I thought maybe it was a quebec thing. Upon reading, I realize its more of a cutter tool as opposed to a quebec thing. Thanks for the info.

I had the same thing happen to me when I borrowed a plot cord from a friend who had just come off of coastal work. I was checking (I was substituting for the real checker who left for a couple of days; the days before that had been so shitty that even on day rate I was still making almost as much money as the crew highballer.) and I'd been an idiot and left my plot cord in my bags, safe in the motel room. All day, I went around telling people they were planting too tightly, except for one rookie; even in a 200 sq m. plot, he still managed to get fours instead of eights.