How'd it go today?

We chipped 30 yards of various gum trees on our property for dad, did another 30 yesterday, he was on the tractor moving the bits that were too big to be chipped. Got the grinder parts in, fixing to go slap them on :)
 
How'd it go?
'orrible. I'm an idiot. Wrecked out a Cottonwood today-About 70 feet but not huge-20"dbh(and flopped a little walnut). I priced when things were slow. ....and priced it as if it were in the front yard. It was at the back of big lot. Every bit has to be carried 200 feet.:whine: Got the CW topped and flopped and the Walnut flopped and all the brush chipped but I still have to haul out the wood and rake. I'll probably wind up with 11 hours in a couple trees priced for 6.:banghead:
 
Stumper, that one gets me every so often.

I shaped 11 Holly Oak trees at the local "Quality Inn", I do these every six months. It 's kind of monotaneous, like glorified hedge trimming.
 
Had a rotten Cypress to take out. Hanging over a fence and into a horse paddock and Hot Walker (automatic device for walking out horses after they have been run or excercised).
Anyway, the base was too rotten for climbing so I got this local guy with his bucket truck.
I flew it. It was a very old High Ranger. My helper and I were calling the owner (behind his back) Cleetis.
that truck and bucket should be cut up with a plasma torch!
the controls were sticky and lurched. Also their was some kind of big leak. the damm thing would sink down.
so I would get positioned and start the saw and have to cut really quickly or the branch would rise up and be too far away to cut.
but all in all got the job done.
 
Sagging lift huh? I here that happens when you get older.

We had a maintenance/yard work day. My neighbor had some small trees to deadwood, so I put my groundie/climber trainee to the task. He's not ready for a chainsaw yet so I let him knock himself out with my Zubat.

I bid a large cottonwood for removal at the end of a cul de sac. Its easy but time consuming. I almost need a second dump to chip into to keep the work progressing while the truck gets dumped.

I met my lovely wife for lunch and spent the afternoon buying plants and soil for the yard with her. She has been planting like crazy recently. In a few years we should have tons of strawberries, raspberries and grapes. I have never trained a grape vine before, looks fun.
 
I helped a friend yesterday take down 3 pines near his house. He returns to Baghdad on Saturday for his 3rd tour as a protective services operator and didn't want to have his wife (or him) worrying about them being a problem during storms. Two of the three had a slight lean towards the house...topped all 3, took about 15-20 foot sticks out of 2 of them and then dropped those 30-40 foot spars. The last one we topped and then dropped the 60 foot spar.

I did use a top rope to help direct the tops (it was pretty windy yesterday here) and to help overcome the lean. I also used wedges to help control and direct the biggest leaner (thanks for that advice, Burnham).

The trees were all on the high edge of a steep slope and I threw them downslope...first time I've gotten to see what a great sled pine trunks can make.

No_Bivy...the fiction saver you made for me works great...thanks much.

Oh...and I actually finished BEFORE dark!!
 
Nice work Gary!


I limbed out about half of an 80 ft albizia this morning. After lunch I just didn't feel like climbing back up, so I asked my boss how attached he was to some of the trees in the lay of the albizia. He said that they were all important in some way or another and couldn't be damaged, but that if I could somehow squeeze the trunk through a 6 foot gap between a couple of trees 40 ft from the butt of the albizia that I would be good to go. The albizia was leaning about 10 degrees away from the gap and had just barely enough clear trunk to clear the target trees, but being the lazy (and full of too much lunch) climber that I am I used a tapered hinge and layed it out perfectly right down the middle of the gap. Man, I love that.
 
Now I'm getting tipsy on some homemade cranberry-apple cider. I just bottled it a couple weeks ago after aging for a year and a half and this is my first taste of it. It's yummy!
 
THAT is way cool...and can only be done by someone ballsy (or nutsy) enough to lay down in that big honkin' notch you cut out of the avatar tree.

Did you use a pull rope or was it all controlled via the hinge?
 
No pull rope Gary. All hinge. The tree was about 28" DBH. On the thin side the hinge was about 1.5" and on the fat side was about 4".


And this ain't no stump brew buddy! It's a fine liquor for sure. :)


of course I could be making that up...
 
No pull rope Gary. All hinge. The tree was about 28" DBH. On the thin side the hinge was about 1.5" and on the fat side was about 4".

And this ain't no stump brew buddy! It's a fine liquor for sure. :)

of course I could be making that up...

Good answers, good lies :P , good night. :)
 
Went fine here, dropped the truck off for a tune up etc, figured since I had a couple hours to hang out I would go play in a tree at my parents place. screwed up the install on the friction saver so I had to go and get it, by the time I was done farting around it was time for lunch. but I got to clamber about a bit and got to do a clumsy 20 or so foot rappel out of it for giggles. :)
edit: maybe I should call it descent rather than a rappel? not sure if its the right term.

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Leon, nope, got my line set inthe friction saver and descende on the knut. funny, I could really feel it getting warm on the 6 to 8 foot jaunts groundward. it was a learning day. I actually ascended Srt with a pantin and one hand petzle hand ascender, to try something new, it was awkward feeling, thats for sure. sorry about the sideways video, the wife has already been asked to remember that I dont have software to flip video around next time..
 
I tried having my feet kinda looped in the tail wasnt so smooth, the last 'hop' or whatever was the best chunk of the descent, except for the abrupt stop before I hit terra firma, oh well, practice makes perfect. :D
 
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