How would you remove these Trees?

[pantheraba]

How bad could a 4 foot slide be??

(I saw (and heard the "pop") a girl break her ankle from a 6 inch fall...not tree climbing but broke nonetheless)

 

[dstimber]

Slide wasn't all that bad finding the thorns I apparently missed on the way up was no fun at all. Still have a few I haven't gotten picked out of me yet

 

[MasterBlaster]

Shoot, I tore my arms up GOOD on just a 2-foot slide.

It CAN be done!

 

[rfwoody]

Good info. and great pics, tstimber.

More pieces of the puzzle coming together from all angles and perspectives.

This "Treehouse" is a very valuable (i.e. irreplaceable) "all things tree work" website for somebody like me.

I really appreciate everyone's time and interest in sharing their experience and advice!

 

[rfwoody]

ouch

 

[MasterBlaster]

Tell all your friends!

 

[Merle Nelson]

Denver, good idea just using one snap on that TreeStuff double snap lanyard. For you and Sean, I wanted to pay TreeStuff to pull test a couple but Nick said they had already done a bunch and they consistently broke at 350 lbs. (With both snaps engaged.)

 

[Merle Nelson]

Thanks All!

Sean -- Thanks for ALL the great detailed tips and info. I have heard about boring in vertical with the tip of the bar, but was never 100% confident that it was a safe technique (not compromising the trunk somehow). It is good to know that you use this technique.

Butch -- Thanks. Good idea. I still haven't gotten a saddle, but I'm supposing a full body harness would come with the aerial lift rental.

Sam -- I appreciate your knowledgeable perspective.

Merle -- Thanks for the good info. Yeah, I am just trying to digest everything and make it my own, so to speak. Was it you, Merle, or somebody else I was reading here about a case where the boss insisted he do some positioning in a tree, etc. the bosses way instead of the way he was comfortable with and it almost caused him a serious accident.

Thanks.

Not a serious accident, he broke a limb and went onto his climbing line. It never occured to me he would be walking out on a 4 inch limb with full weight. But, in the back of his mind he knew it wouldn't work, and sure enough - he proved himself right.

 

[murphy4trees]

Most don't, but it IS a safe practice.

SO is learning how to use a saw, to prevent saw snatch.....

 

[murphy4trees]

On a side note , when I look at bidding work like that 100% of the time they have had several bids in the past and didn't go for one or someone said they'd do it and didn't. (If I'm low bid I have failed IMO)

That's kind of like saying anyone can sell for the lowest price. A good salesman sells even when his price is higher. I don't mind being the cheapest price as it is often needed to get the job in this very competitive market. However I have to be able to do the job faster and easier than everyone else with some combination of skill and equipment... More fun that way...

 

[rfwoody]

New information.....

I decided (thanks to murphy4trees idea ?) to go with a power pole saw from my pickup truck (bed or hood) and piece down all overhanging branches/limbs (e.g. next to or over house, street, obstacles, etc.) to get the "crown" safely contained, then fell down the remaining stems.

(I opened another thread asking for advice on power pole saws).

Would anyone please comment on what you might charge to get these trees on the ground?

I am thinking of bidding $500-700 each to get them safely on the ground.
and another $200-300 each to haul off all the wood. (this seems like it might be too much).

 

[Tree09]

It's not too much at all, especially because you are insured (you are insured correct?) While a pole saw will be handy, you need to go to the rental store and rent a lift, and do the job correctly. Standing on the roof of your truck and dropping limbs with a pole saw would not be the professional way to being a tree down, that would be a great way to bust your window out and add some awesome dents. No one does it that way that has a clue about tree work. Rent a pull behind lift, buy a fall arrest harness (you need one, just get and wear one), and drop the trees in a day and get paid. Should cost you around 500 or less to rent the lift for the weekend. You might want to line up some other trees as well, and use the lift on multiple trees to maximize profits.

 

[Mick!]

I stand on my roof with a power pruner!

Not often, but if I have to.

 

[rfwoody]

Tree09/Kyle - Thanks a lot for your comments and advice and perspective (yes, sir, I can proudly say I am insured
Mick - thanks for your reply!

I hope to stand just in the bed... but in case I need another foot of reach I was considering the hood
I think the limbs are small enough and/or far enough away from where the truck would be that it will be all ok... but I'm digesting what Tree09/Kyle said too.

 

[Tree09]

I understand that doing that is handy sometimes, but he has several dead ones to remove from my understanding, and standard operating procedure to remove dead trees can't be park pickup in yard, grab pole saw, and hack limbs off. Can it be done, yes. But thinking that is how it's done isn't gonna do him any favors, and if he just rented a lift he would knock several jobs out in a weekend, and make more money faster. I rent a lift all the time if I have a bigger job, several of them to do, or dead crap ones like those he pictured. You lose some money to the rental fee yes, but he will do several jobs in the same time frame, make more per hour, and probably pick up other jobs because he will look like he's done it before.

 

[Mick!]

I'm only pulling your chain a bit Kyle! I do it in a pinch, like most of us do non recommended stuff.

 

[rfwoody]

I understand that doing that is handy sometimes, but he has several dead ones to remove from my understanding, and standard operating procedure to remove dead trees can't be park pickup in yard, grab pole saw, and hack limbs off. Can it be done, yes. But thinking that is how it's done isn't gonna do him any favors, and if he just rented a lift he would knock several jobs out in a weekend, and make more money faster. I rent a lift all the time if I have a bigger job, several of them to do, or dead crap ones like those he pictured. You lose some money to the rental fee yes, but he will do several jobs in the same time frame, make more per hour, and probably pick up other jobs because he will look like he's done it before.

Thanks Kyle. This is great advice to consider.

Also, I do try to be all about safety, but standing in the pickup bed with a pole saw seemed pretty safe.
But these would be the only jobs I had at the time if I get them.
Anyway, thanks a lot for your advice.

 

[Tree09]

Lol I was starting to wonder hahahahahaha. Yeah sometimes you just gotta do something to keep the job moving, and you find yourself doing stuff where you kinda stop and think to yourself "is this really happening" lol

 

[Tree09]

I understand that they might be the only ones you have atm, and I definitely understand the reluctance to rent a lift. I was the same way, and sometimes get the same way from time to time. But with 3 dead trees, each around 500 for the removal, you could knock all 3 out in a day, and finish clean up the next day. So in 2 days you profit 1000 + cleanup and trucking fees (600), so you will 800 a day profit. Not bad for a weekend, and you will get experience renting, using a pull behind lift, and then cutting easy trees from a lift, so the next time you have to do a stone dead tree over houses and stuff, you have the experience to do so. Renting sucks because it eats into your profits, but you have to think about money per hour working. It might not seen that way now, but if you are fairly bidding, and doing good work, you will have more work than you know what to do with soon, and you will need to know what to do and handle that situation again. But remember, and it took me awhile to learn this too, is that material handling is the name of the game. You are like I was/am, learning the tree work part is only part of the game, the rest is the mundane and back breaking part of moving tons of material around without damaging the yard or flower beds. I focused so much on the tree removal part that I wasn't prepared to do the cleanup efficiently. So keep that in mind when you get going here, that you are gonna want to get stuff to do the heavy lifting for you.

 

[rfwoody]

Thanks a lot for the great post and advice, Kyle!

Yes, I am a little intimidated at pulling a lift behind my truck and then maneuvering it when I get to the job site, especially on one which has a 92" wide gate opening and not a lot of room to maneuver in the back yard.
My truck (2500) is big/tall (to me) anyway and I don't have much/any experience towing anything, especially behind this truck (my son on the other hand is very comfortable with towing heavy stuff... but the genetics/ability doesn't come back the other way

But to your point.... one has to jump in and get started somewhere.
I had planned, when the time came, to hook up a 14' or so trailer and spend a day practicing backing up and maneuvering in a wide open space with cones or something.

Good stuff to think about.

 

[SkwerI]

Or just climb them. You said you wanted to climb trees, right? Those all look small enough. Climb up 10-12 feet, whack off the limbs without cutting yourself or falling out of the tree, then come down and drop the stems. EZPZ

 

[rfwoody]

Yeah, Brian.... but I don't trust those 2 rotten ones to climb (maybe when I get some more experience with more dead/rotten trees I will have a better idea of what I can trust).....
and I still haven't gotten any climbing gear yet....
* I still haven't decided whether I'm too old and overweight or not...
* and I can't decide on the perfect saddle (Monkey Beaver?) and spurs (pole spikes(?) vs. tree spikes) and something not too uncomfortable for a heavier climber, but don't want to spend $500 on supposed top of the line spurs if I don't know how they will do) to get.

"you don't need to perfect setup... just get anything" --- yeah but I need all the help from advanced design and technology I can get

 

[Altissimus]

Or just climb them. You said you wanted to climb trees, right? Those all look small enough. Climb up 10-12 feet, whack off the limbs without cutting yourself or falling out of the tree, then come down and drop the stems. EZPZ

... It's all good w mechanical pole saws and no climbing abilities , until the f'n thing gets pinched and stuck ....

 

[Tree09]

"you don't need to perfect setup... just get anything" --- yeah but I need all the help from advanced design and technology I can get [/QUOTE]

I'm an average climber at best, and that's when I'm back in shape doing it all the time (day job sometimes is really heavy on hours). I am more or less self taught, as you appear to be. I thought the same as you, that I needed the best there was and needed all the fancy gear to climb... Nothing is further from the truth. You need a harness, the money beaver would be the cats ass, but if you don't even know if this is for you then get what you can afford and go with it. You will in time need both kinds of spikes, but for now you can get one or the other and just go with it. They don't have to be titanium alloy, or al or carbon fiber or forged in the fires of mt Vesuvius, they need to be spurs that fit (caddie pads are worth it tho ). I personally climb on a rope wrench, but in doing do i have further complicated everything. You have an extra line to worry about cutting or dropping limbs on, and more gear (foot ascenders go from being handy to necessary, etc) to acquire. If you are just starting, please take my advice and go bare bones, climb doubled rope, possibly even with a Blake's hitch, and practice getting in and moving around trees before you ever think of using a saw in one.

And since you are doing this for money, you need to remember that material handling and trucking soon take over as the hard part. The gentleman that got me started doing this for hire doesn't climb at all. Couldn't if his life depended on it. He has a lift, and heavy equipment to move material, and large trucks and trailers to truck it. In some locations climbing is a must, and imo the true pure way to do this work, but if you want to cut trees for money you don't even have to know how to climb (in most locations). Sure you might turn down certain trees you can't get too, but that doesn't matter.

You will need to learn to pull a trailer at least, unless you will be working 20 min or less to your dump spot. I'm working out of my truck bed as well, and it sucks.

 

[pantheraba]

Good info you are passing along there, Kyle.

Especially about the climbing and saws. Get basic gear and see if you are fit enough for comfortable climbing...and work positioning. Work positioning is uber important...your position must be safe and sustainable. Sometimes the difference between straining to stay in position and not straining at all is only a few inches. You gotta learn where that sweet spot is and work in it.

Kyle is leading you right.