How do you guys decide which trees to climb?

I just received a call from a customer who will be putting in a new sidewalk in front of his house this summer. He'll need to remove a Green Ash for this project. When I get on that job I'll post a video. We're still waiting for Spring up here. More snow in the forecast for tonight, along with some winds in the 50 mph range.

Joel
'
 
Same here Joel, I'm biting at the bit for winter to end here. Still getting -27C in the mornings and snow on the way.
When everyone gets their income tax return checks in the next while my phone will be ringing off the hook again.
Funny how that goes with treework, I found that never call a customer a month before Christmas saying that I can now do their job, they just say do it in the spring as they have plans to spend their money on Christmas. Come April tax time you're swamped with work again, summer comes around and in town it gets quiet as most customers are away on holidays or at the cottage. Then I'm busy in cottage country.
 
HolmenTree,

I can't help but wonder how far apart we are. You're likely my nearest neighbor, as far as site members go. I'm looking at buying a piece of property right on the Canadian line, near Bottineau. We have a lot of requests for tree work in that area, near the International Peace Gardens. I don't have a base of operations anywhere near there, so I'm looking at about 5 acres as a place to set up camp.

It would be very easy for me to make the trip to see you. We could have a cup of coffee and shoot the bull.....but I won't be able to get back home. My country won't let me back in.

Joel
 
Joel I'm way up in northern Manitoba, about 750 miles from the North Dakota border. About a 12 hour drive.
Last time I was up in the Black Hills in S.Dakota I believe I past through your town on the way back home.
I think Underwor a member on here is from Bottineau.
 
HolmenTree,

Even at 750 miles from here, you might still be my closest neighbor as far as site members go.

Yep. Underwor is a good friend of mine. We chat on the phone quite often. Though I have been doing tree work for some 30 years, on and off, he was the one who got me interested in the climbing end of things.

We've climbed trees for years using equipment and techniques that just got us by. Nick Bonner made the trip to Minot a few years back and I was introduced to some fancy SRT stuff. Underwor invited me over for that demonstration. We had a blast.

Joel
 
Joel, I'm going to have to take another basic climbing course and get upgraded to SRT. Still climb with a Blakes split tail, that I learned almost 20 years ago. I can tie the Blakes blind folded and served me well over the years, but change is good.

We had another member on here from the south west corner of Saskatchewan, name was Brent with a handle Tree Dimensional . He ran a successful tree service on the flat bald prairie. If you drove through that treeless country you'd wonder where the heck his trees are. But there's a major river system that runs through the area and there's huge hardwoods growing there.
You don't have to see the forest for the trees, haha.
 
I'm sure I would too Dave. I'm glad I learned the basics.
But how many guys here can footlock efficiently on double rope in both static and dynamic with no mechanical ascenders?;)
 
HolmenTree,

I've tried the SRT I use it once in a while, but most guys who climb SRT switch over to Ddrt once they are in the tree......or at least that's how I understand things. Ddrt provides for better position control once you're in and working the tree. Since the trees around here aren't too tall, I prefer to just climb Ddrt and work with it.

The hitch climber pulley is a great device. I use it in conjunction with a DMM swivel on the Tree Motion saddle. This setup provides for a second climbing line, or a long lanyard. I actually use my long lanyard far more. I've tried several hitches, but I really like the Distel, or the Schwabisch. Same thing....with the only difference being the direction of the wraps on the 4 over 1.

I really like the new climbing gear, and I want to personally thank Bob Underwood and Nick Bonner for helping me out. Climbing is so much more enjoyable now.

Joel
 
I have to disagree on the switchover. I use SRT all the time. When I was using a unicender, fine position adjustment was a bit difficult, especially on limb walks. Now that I have my runner, everything is smooth as silk (once I got the rest of my climbing system dialed in of course). I climbed drt twice, just to make sure I knew how to do it in case I needed to, but I have never used it for a work climb.
 
Woodslinger,

I'm going to take your advice and give the SRT thing another shot. I wasn't happy with the chest ascender I had. There were other small things that bothered me, though I must admit that this was largely due to a lack of experience with the system. It's not something I'd switch to immediately.......because these new techniques and methods have a learning curve associated with them. Changing climbing techniques requires practice and I admit that I didn't commit heavily enough to it when I first tried it out.

Joel
 
Thanks for the drawing! I think I get what you're up to there-Just never tried it that way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You're very welcome, BeaverMonkey.

You won't need to drop the block after each limb removal on every job you take on. This is just a great trick to use when working at greater heights. Managing all of that rope on each tip tie quickly begins to become a PITA.

I hate to even admit how old I am, but back in the days before the internet, guys like me had to figure out these tricks on their own. Either that, or go to the library and check out a book. I live in a very rural area. Libraries in this part of the country are filled with cook books and novels. Not much available on the science of rigging with ropes.

By the way........I want to thank every person who contributes to this great site. I've learned more here than I was ever able to figure out on my own. You folks have contributed greatly to my own bag of tricks. More importantly, these discussions have allowed me to focus more on safety, rather than just the rigging methods we use in this trade.

Joel
 
candoarms said:
Woodslinger,

I'm going to take your advice and give the SRT thing another shot. I wasn't happy with the chest ascender I had. There were other small things that bothered me, though I must admit that this was largely due to a lack of experience with the system. It's not something I'd switch to immediately.......because these new techniques and methods have a learning curve associated with them. Changing climbing techniques requires practice and I admit that I didn't commit heavily enough to it when I first tried it out.

Joel
Click to expand...

I think you can find that SRT is fantastic. Hate is a strong word, but unless I'm just working my way down from the top, at the end of the climb, I hate climbing DdRT.

Get a rope-walking set-up and get it dialed in. Way gentler on your body, IMO, than anything except a Wraptor or bucket.
 
candoarms said:
Ddrt provides for better position control once you're in and working the tree. Since the trees around here aren't too tall, I prefer to just climb Ddrt and work with it.

.

Joel
Click to expand...
I cannot say I agree with you here Joel, about the first sentence.....SRT is a very efficient way of climbing...not end all for sure but a damn good tool to master....
 
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