Written by Chris Smith · Illustrative case study
The situation
After a week of heavy rain, a homeowner at a property in Sovereign Islands found his back fence line buried under leaf litter and bark, small stumps and hedge trimmings. His green bin takes about a wheelbarrow at a time, and the council bin day was a fortnight away.
Why the customer needed help
A skip bin was the first thing they looked at, but there was nowhere to put one without a permit, and nobody to fill it. What they needed was tree Branch & Prunings Removal where someone else does the lifting.
What was at the property
By my count there were leaf litter and bark, small stumps and hedge trimmings, along with the usual loose odds and ends that build up around a job like this. It's typical of what we see from homes after storm season.
Working in Sovereign Islands
Sovereign Islands is an exclusive canal estate of large waterfront homes. Sovereign Islands homes often back onto water, so we carry loads carefully past pools, pontoons and landscaped gardens. We protect paving and lawns on the way to the truck and work within bridge and street access limits.
The initial assessment
When I got there I didn't start with the rubbish, I started with the customer. I asked them to walk me through what was staying and what was going. Twice they pointed at things I'd assumed were rubbish and said "not that". It's why I never quote from photos alone on a job like this.
How the job was planned
We agreed on an order of work. Heavy items first, while we were fresh and the truck was empty, then the loose material packed around them. Anything worth donating would go in last so it wouldn't get crushed.
Preparation
I parked the truck so the tailgate lined up with the shortest path, laid ply over the garden edge so the trolley wouldn't chew it up, and set out a tarp for the donation pile.
Step 1
Step one was the bulky stuff. My offsider and I took the largest items out first, tilting them through the door frames rather than forcing them. With leaf litter and bark, small stumps and hedge trimmings in the mix, there was no point clearing small things while the big ones were still blocking the way.
Step 2
Step two was the heavy lifting. Anything over about forty kilos went on the trolley or got a two-person lift with straps. No hero stuff. A strained back on the first job of the day ruins the week.
Step 3
Step three was loading the donation pile carefully, strapping it separately at the front of the tray so it would arrive at the charity in one piece.
Removal, sorting and loading
I'm fussy about the load. A well-packed truck means one trip instead of two, and that's the difference between a fair price and an inflated one. We netted the top before we drove off.
From the truck it went to a licensed transfer station, where recyclables were dropped off separately, and anything usable went to a local op shop before the tip run.
Challenges we ran into
The palm fronds were wet and full of spikes, and a lot of the cuttings were tangled with old wire and garden edging.
How we handled them
Heavy gloves, long sleeves and a lot of patience. We stripped the wire out first so the green waste could be recycled properly as mulch.
Completion and final result
When the last load was strapped down, the space was empty and swept. The customer walked through with me, signed off, and paid the price we'd agreed at the start, not a dollar more.
What I learned
The lesson I keep re-learning: always walk the access before you look at the load. The rubbish rarely causes the trouble. The doorway, the step or the gate does.