How big can you go?

[Mr. Sir]

Haha.

No, he had the piece right up against the flatbed. He should have boomed down toward the back of the truck and pulled the top of the log over until it just laid down parallel to the crane. No need to even pick it up off the ground, just tilt it over. Cabishe?

 

[squisher]

Aye, eh.

 

[Bodean]

Is that Deva pictured inside the front cover of the '08 Wesspur catalog, taking down a redwood?? That's a great picture.

That's my old boss/friend Shamrock in the Wesspur Catalog.
I was the guy on the ground, two heads taller than the other
two guys on the ground that day.

All that wood decked to the side was rigged down and
positioned to the side there, stacking them sucked.

 

[cory]

That's cool. Got anymore pics? It looks like a real interesting job!

 

[MasterBlaster]

Haha.

No, he had the piece right up against the flatbed. He should have boomed down toward the back of the truck and pulled the top of the log over until it just laid down parallel to the crane. No need to even pick it up off the ground, just tilt it over. Cabishe?

One crane guy here does that all the time for the trunk cut. I'll start cutting on the backside (sans any kerf cut or underbed) and leave 6 to 12 inches of holding wood and he'll ease the snag over.
If it was my crane, I wouldn't do it.

 

[PCTREE]

Just to continue with Bernham train of thought about stuff happens. Years ago when I had the business up in DC I had an awesome groundie named Ron. Ron was solid, could drag brush all day in 100 degree heat,load wood run a saw and he was great at roping. One day we were taking down a fair sized oak that grew at a 45 over the house due to a huge tree in the front yard. I set a block in the top of the big oak to swing everything away from the house. Only problem was there were the huge primary wires by the street so if he held pieces they would have slammed the wires. I offered to put a block on the tree we were working to slow the swing but Ron said Na I got it. He let them run into the yard. As I came down the pieces got bigger and bigger as he didnt have to hold them much as they werent over the house much. As he was letting a honker run the rope hockled up and wrapped itself around his leg. Next thing I knew he turned upside down and started up the tree!! When his head was at about 10 feet the rope let go and he fell to the ground and the honker landed right beside him. I was young and laughed my ass off, but I still think about how close Ron came to getting F'ed up

 

[Bodean]

Ropes and lines are no joke.

Holy smokes, people can get smacked quick.



These are the only two other pictures I have, Cory.
First one is me, going up to brush it out and top it.
If you look that garbage can has 600' of samson 3/4 in it.

Second one is the whole tree.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I've seen a guy pulled maybe 25, 30 feet up a tree. He held on and came on back down, hand over hand, and learned to take another wrap.

Another guy (I wasn't there) did the same kinda thing, but on the ascent a 'lil stub thingie hooked in his mouth and ripped his cheek open. He sports a nice scar from that.

 

[jomoco]

There's something peculiar about that pic, is there a second climber behind the falling log?

jomoco

 

[SkwerI]

No. The sawdust blowing off the top of the log may cause it to appear unusual. Just a log with a tag line.

 

[cory]

Ropes and lines are no joke.

Holy smokes, people can get smacked quick.



These are the only two other pictures I have, Cory.
First one is me, going up to brush it out and top it.
If you look that garbage can has 600' of samson 3/4 in it.

Second one is the whole tree.

Good story, PC!

Nice pics, Bodean. It looks like real thick woods around there, huh?
When you are taking apart a 200' tall tree, how do you handle verbal communication near the top? Yell? Limit it AMAP? Walkie talkie? Hand signals?

 

[Bodean]

um we were pretty low budget.

We don't like to yell too loud.
It's way harder to hear the ground amongst lawnmowers, traffic and such.
Easy to hear the climber usually.

So basically hand signals and short commands.
If need be cell phones for a discussion.

Alot of it is routine. So just "headache" and a responding "clear"
"ready on the rope" "crank it up"

 

[cory]

Cool!

 

[Stumper]

When I was a kid I watched a ground man who thought he could take fewer wraps than he was told get yanked around a tree, ski across the yard and start flying. He let go at about 30 feet with a great forward trajectory-he and the Hickory chunk hit the pond about the same time a few feet apart. He had pretty bad rope burns on his hands but no other injuries.

 

[squisher]

No wonder my uncle always takes so many wraps.

Man those are some funny yet scary stories.

 

[sotc]

I'd never hold on that long. Just isn't worth it

 

[thattreeguy]

cool pics bodean,
our out fit does a god amount of that type of work except up here we can usually pound the ground and send pieces down, people dont really like to pay ro rig em out unless you have to

 

[Tucker943]

I'm a little late on the matter but I'll say what many others have said. Depends on the groundman. I had a ground man a little bit back that was confident and had a good understanding of physics. I wouldnt think twice about butt-hitching some fat wood. The other guys that have filled the void he left arent as good as him and as a result I keep things a good bit smaller. I have a young man on baord for a year now that has the brains to rope out some hefty stuff but he gets skittish at the moment of truth. That being said I dont put much weight in his hands. I think with more experience he will get his nerve up.
Now, me personally, I get off on working the ropes for other guys and LOVE having some big stuff on the line. I have a veteran climber that works for me on saturdays and he is very skilled and talented. Him in the tree and me on the ropes, we go big. Not because either of us are incredible but because we are both confident and on the same page every step of the way.

 

[thattreeguy]

sure helps to have a great rope man, mine knows by looking at me and my tone whats up