Beginner Tree Climbing Tips

Pretty distinct wall 4 at the original diameter of the injury. Not much inward spread of decay at all. Tree is compensating on either side of the injury, 'ram's horns' rolling in to try and include the wound.

Looks a hella lot worse from the outside...but the location on the tree and targets below would contribute to the decision about removal of appropriate bits. If it wasn't in a critical location or over the kid's paddling pool, I'd be inclined to clean it up, remove the loose bark and decayed wood (by hand, wee bit of scraping) and see what happens.
Disclaimer: I don't know the insect that caused this so implications bearing on that are something I don't know.

I love cutting open stuff like that, great picture.
 
Interesting you say it happens a lot in maples...got a Japanese Maple in a garden here, same sort of thing, wounded vertically up and down several branches.
 
I'm running on 7 cylinders on this one. I want to say there is some sorta fungal canker that does that a lot. Maybe 6.5 cylinders.
 
If you need a tag line for a rigged piece, just tie the piece however far down the rope you need to have as a tagline, rather than anchoring the wood at the end of the rope. If you need a 30' tag line, just tie at 30' down the rope.
 
Top-side friction, passed to the climber/ held by the climber, helps you have extra length on your rigging rope.
 
Isolating a crotch with two throw lines for doubled rope climbing system. If I can't hit the crotch I want for whatever reason but can get the line over the crotch I will sometimes use this technique.

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You might need two people for this part, one to hold the throw ball line with the ball on it and another to pull it up.
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Once you pull the second throw line over the crotch you want you can let it drop. The line you just dropped is want you will pull your rope up with.
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Make sure you use a small enough ring that your climbing line will pull out the first throw line. You will probably want to remove the throw ball on that line before you try to recover it if the tree is gross enough for this technique.
 
That is a great tip! I got my throwback stuck in a crotch today very similar to that. I tried to pull it back over the unwanted one and it wedged in. I used a 1 1/8" wrench tied to the other end to rethrow!

Oh, and a newbie tip for the other newbies... Pick one style locking carabineer and consolidate all the ones on your saddle to that style. I have 3 different pairs , with gloves on, I can't tell the difference between two of them. O e set has the button you have to push before you can turn and unlock them. Very frustrating when you are tired.
 
I agree. Keep them all the same. Also keep a spare in your vehicle or by your TV chair to mess with while driving or watching the tele. Helps with the muscle memory.
 
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  • #672
Dirt.

I was working in a nice yard the other day removing one tree and some lower dead branches on other trees that were dead or in the view corridors. The bushes underneath the trees were a big concern for the customer and in spite of trying to be careful I broke a single one inch branch. No big thing for these bushes but, a one inch cut would have been glaring as she walked out her door. I reached down and grabbed a little fresh dirt and wiped it across the cut to dull the fresh white shine.

This reminded me that I often do that trick to dull the glare of fresh big cuts low on trees when the customer is conflicted about removing a limb or something and is concerned about the finished look.
 
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