Accident--fatal

Definitely older and wiser can account for the vast majority of "what ifs"... BUT there are just some unkowns and freaky type stuff that can happen if you're out doing big trees all day everyday....
IN all my years working with Big Jon I only heard him say "that's a first" one time... me too these days. Very rare to see something unexpected. I just had a 2 times in 30+ years event happen on Tuesday.... It's hard to answer the question though if you are mostly self taught cause you don't know what you might have missed along the way.. I hear Bartlett has an excellent program for training new climbers... it's a system..

Thanks, Murphy. It sounds like Big Jon might have been a good mentor to you. It is good news to me that for the most part you are able to predict how things will happen when you are out there in the field. Freaky things happen once in awhile, I get it. You cannot eliminate all risk, but you can sure try really hard. I appreciate your time.

Tim
 
Two words, Tim...

Zero training!

Wow, Butch. Does this mean that you just jumped into arb work as a way to make a living on your own initiative, with no more experienced hands around you to tell you anything? If it were not for the internet, and all of the kind arbs in the world that freely share their knowledge, I would never have attempted to climb in the first place. I would not have had a clue as to how to even begin.

Back when you started, no such network existed, I would be almost certain. I'm wondering how you even figured out how to climb at all. For you to press on with the work, with no outside help, shows a lot of courage, especially after you've had some close calls. I'm glad you lived to tell the tale.

I've given credit to this guy before, but Daniel Holliday of climbingarborist.com is largely responsible for the fact that I climb at all, because of the comprehensive set of videos he put online that showed the knots, systems and techniques needed. Elsewhere on the web the information is disjointed, fragmented, etc. His series allowed me to believe that it was possible to do, even though I had never ever even met a real live tree climber in my life, at that point. I owe him a great debt, that cannot be repaid.

The online forums, such as yours, were and are also an enormous help. All of the details that can help one to improve a setup or a technique are discussed on these forums. A world wide network of like-minded people, sharing their knowledge and experiences. It is just an amazing capability to have at our fingertips.

Again, glad you made it through, and were able to start this forum. It really is making a difference in the lives of a large group of people.

Tim
 
Lordy, my story is a long one...

I had just gotten out of the Navy, in '77, drawing unemployment benefits. 65 bucks a week.

I was sitting on my front porch in the morning, drinking a cup of joe, when a friend of mine happened to drive down the street.

He was in a Hi-Ranger bucket truck with a chipper.

He saw me, I yelled at him, he pulled over and we re-aquainted (after 4 years).

Turns out, he was the foreman on a 3 man crew trimming trees for the city utility department.

I was fixing to run out of my unemployment checks, and I told him to hook me UP.

About two weeks later, he was pounding on my door at 7 am needing a third hand to fill out his crew.

20 bucks a day as a ground hand, I was down for a hundred bucks a week!

And it took off from there...
 
Self- taught here ( a very scary world ) , amazing I haven't been killed many times over. Once I knew there were rules , was more than happy to follow them. Just about the time I had the basics figured out Gerry published Fundamentals which was huge for me. Same year some one gave me a copy of Tree Climber's Companion , then I was schooling!!
 
Condolences Big Al.
.
i guess i cut class with MB
i was doing straight noLife midnight sanitation in one of the south's largest slaughter houses; picking up more hrs. when i could.
Started helping a buddy part time mostly felling on some days, weekends fer ca$h.
Came to climbing here and there, i did it without any gear as he did.
i was always climbing and tying knots when a kid and some farm work etc.
.
After mebbe a year i had already caught the bug; then saw a guy tied in doing line clearance.
next time i was 50' up roping down limbs with 3/8" hardware store nylon by myself it didn't seem so right for some reason.
.
Fell in with a drinking crew that also happened to do some tree work on the side to maintain supply.
Eventually learned Taut Line Hitch and was allowed some climbs after ordering line and belt(got phone numbers for catalogs at library), and it was noted none of my knots ever had to be cut off.
But, being the sober part of the joke, eventually has it's downsides.
Somewheres along the way 2 books: On Rope and Pro. Timber Falling really got me going
along w/JerryB's poster for inspiration (and humility if i or any other climber thought they were getting good).
.
5yrs or so later found ISA bbs on this thing called the internet with my 25hrs mo. free wallmart internet allotment;
i then found i was different even amongst my own!
i remember my 1st Sherrill catalog with cartoons etc. being like a Christmas toy catalog to a 6yr.old, even drooled on it the same!
 
here's a cut from Friday. Pretty heavy front lean to this massive maple... certainly enough to BBC the trunk... The fibers ripping out slowly actually gives just another second or two for escape and plunge cut guarantees no BBC... there are other methods as well to prevent BBC but this IMO should be the first one taught
 

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I tripped a lightning struck leaning cherry last week with a plunge cut. A trick well worth knowing and a coos bay.
 
Right! The guy who's tree it was was looking me like what the hell are you doing but after it took off he was all like teach me that one.
 
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