angle of the dangle

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For sure. I just rarely (and I mean rarely) get to toss a tree. Maybe once or twice a year. I almost always have to set a pull line anyway, so tossing the top isn't really any extra effort.
 
I remember my first time working for a real tree guy over 20 years ago, he used to make me climb trees to set ropes for him. These days I just use a throwline and my BigShot. I'll have the line set before you get your gear on. ;)
 
Honestly, I'll leave my BS in the truck most of the time. For me it's just as much trouble climbing as setting up for a shot.

I don't mind climbing.
 
Thanks, Burnam, for the trig lesson. I use an inclinometer too. Though in the eye piece mine is scaled to read height in feet at 66 feet out, and percent grade. The outside scale reads in degrees. The best of 3 worlds!

And more than one time it has proved my suspicion about fitting a tree into a tight spot. Though still you have to be smarter than the tool. Grade most certainly has to be accounted for.

Taking sightings of a tree standing on a steep downhill slope can give some serious erroneous readings.

They start growing mighty tall when coming up the hill.

While the math may say one thing your gut feeling and practical experience can tell you another.

Certainly not disputing what you have added to the thread. Only adding a little more to it.

Thanks for the good input, always
 
Use to be on big conifer wreck jobs I could work out of the spurs and safety for 5 or 6 hours. Not a problem. Now I preset a climbline and work out of it, and the safety. Much easier on the feet.

In setting the climbline I often use the big shot because my hand throwing never was all that good.
 
Burnham said:
OK, kids...here's how it works. All this take far longer to write out than to do, and it's easier than it sounds by a long shot.

We'll start with the simplest example, flat ground. Pin your logger's tape into the face of the tree at your eye height (you DO have a long horseshoe nail bent onto the loop at the end of your tape, don't you? :) ) Back away from the tree until you can see the top. This is easy with excurrent form trees. With concurrent form mistakes are made by misjudging a side of the crown for the highest point...so be careful with the hardwoods. The farther away you get, the more accurate you are likely to be. Note the distance you are from the tree.

Now use the clino to read the percent slope from your position to the top in percent slope. Keep both eyes open so you can see both the scale in the instrument and the top of the tree simultaneously. In the model Suunto we mentioned the percent scale is on the right side and the degree is on the left. Note the percent slope.

Multiply the distance by the percent...say you are 82 feet away from the tree and you get 48%: 82 x 0.48 = 39.36 feet

Almost there, just add the height of your eye above ground, which should be the same as the height you pinned your tape to the tree...39.36 + 5.5 feet (for me) = 44.86 Easy peasy.

This is the approximate height of the tree, mighty darn close if you are careful and accurate with your measurement and instrument use.



Advanced lesson :D.

On ground where the base of the tree is above your eye level you need to find the distance from the BASE (if you want to eliminate the addition of the eye height like you did before, but you can do it the same if you like) to the point where you can see the top with your tape. Note it. (With most locations you can figure a way to keep the slope distance you are measuring close enough to level that you can get the tape level by lifting your end to get a near level distance measurement. If not then you have to get into corrections for slope distance. Let's dodge that one for now. Carl can teach us how to figure it :))

Read the percent slope from level, which is of course 0% (this will be into the slope below the tree somewhere) to the base of the tree. Note it.

Read the percent slope to the top of the tree. Note it.

Subtract the percent below the base from the total percent and calculate as before. Say you note that level is 15% below the base, and the percent to the top from your location is 65%. Subtract 15 from 65, get 50%.

If your distance was 94 feet, multiply that by 0.50 and get 47 feet for the tree height.


Advanced lesson #2 :\:.

If the tree base is down the hill from the position where you can see the top, you measure a distance on the level again...this will be somewhere up on the trunk above the ground. Let's say you get 81 feet. Note it.

Read percent slope from that point on the trunk (at 0 percent) to the base...this will be a negative percent on the scale, but no matter, ignore that. Note it.

Read the percent slope to the top of the tree. Note it.

Add these last two numbers together, ignoring the negative aspect of the first value. If you got -12% from level to the base and 44% from level to the top, add 12 + 44 = 56%. Then multiply total percent slope times distance for tree height: 0.56 x 81 = 45.36 feet tree height.

Nothin' to it ;).
Click to expand...


Excellent post B-man! You are bring up memories when I was in school and the countless inventories we had to do. I remember we would use the clinometer for a little while and then we would say the hell with it and just start guesstimating the height (not recommending this by any means!). When we were using the clinometer, we would use 100ft from the base of the tree when and if applicable to make the math easier. If you don't have a calculator on you this might help you out.


I like the nail at the end of the tape ... I'm going to try that out next time :)
 
FJR said:
Excellent post B-man! You are bring up memories when I was in school and the countless inventories we had to do. I remember we would use the clinometer for a little while and then we would say the hell with it and just start guesstimating the height (not recommending this by any means!). When we were using the clinometer, we would use 100ft from the base of the tree when and if applicable to make the math easier. If you don't have a calculator on you this might help you out.


I like the nail at the end of the tape ... I'm going to try that out next time :)
Click to expand...

Here's how you set up the horseshoe nail. Get as long a horseshoe nail as you can find. Hammer the head flat so you can comfortably push it with your thumb. You can pull it free with the tape as long as it's not kinked up.
 

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I am soooo late in this ... I just learned the stick in the hand method (again, as I was taught in boy scouts with sticks and shadows). Walk out from tree, where thumb at base of stick meets the base of the tree and top of stick matches the top of tree... hold stick (about a 2' stick) horizontal from you at arms length. Match top of tree to top of stick bottom of the tree at thumb. Rotate stick 90 degrees to ground level. Measure from trunk base to point the top of the stick referenced .... you are pretty close to where the stick points to at the 90 degrees to how high the tree is (measure from base at tree to point stick came to). Have not tried this on a slope yet... but its with in a foot or two.. It is like making the right triangle with out doing the math.
 
Two methods ,old as the hills .Sight up the top of a tree using a framing square held at arms length level sighting the tree top at 45 degrees .Walk backwards until you sight the top of the tree ,add your highth to that it .

Hold a mirror at arms length at a 45 .Walk away from the tree until you just see the tippy top,add your highth .

Both work fairly well but you must maintain that 45 degree thing .. Of course if you just happened to have a transit and know how to use it you can get real accurate .A laser range finder works well also .
 
thanks for all that wonderful math...now back to my twigs....
ive been using the stick trick, but my crane co uses a hilti tool ...some sort of laser range finder worked great knew height angl...etc.....im thinking of buying one....just for bids and arb reports......thanks for the insight guys
 
squisher said:
Stick trick works damn accurate for me. Frig all this math.
Click to expand...

Yup and back to the original question....


I think the angle is inversely proportionate to the heat of the meat.....but I suppose that is dependant on which direction is baseline...whether it's hot or cold....
 
Thanks Mr. B for the math lesson, I hated trig at school. I will print it off and try it out!

As for the stick trick...
I was taught to get a good long straight stick, hold it in your hand, hold your arm straight out 90* from your side, rotate the stick so the end goes in your armpit, adjust your hand so the end is in your armpit, arm is straight...rotate the armpit end up vertical (still holding your arm 90* to your body), start walking backwards and eyeball your fist to cover the base of the tree and the tip to cover the top of the tree.

Put the stick in the ground, a coke can on the tip and start the book...:)
 
I stick tricked a 80' pine today and was dead on, level ground helps for that. Construction dudes thought I was gonna have to top it out and drop it I said nahh she'll fit, and fit it did. Easy money.
 
Really? You'd just climb it and top it out rather than measuring to see if you had enough room to flop it? Today's tree was within 20' of the neighbors nice chainlink fence and everyone there thought there was no way it would fit, except for me.
 
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