The last two weeks, the guys have been killing it. Today was great even though it started out by putting down 60 mats for the crane access. Big silver maple gone and mats loaded back up by lunch time. Then a nice sized storm damaged pin oak in the afternoon. I had to leave with a 15’ spar left to drop and a few small broken limbs in the tree next to it.
The youngest woke up puking around 1:00 am. He was the one I suspected to be ill. I got a call ( reason I had to leave the job) that my middle child threw up at school. Wifey is still miserable, but at least not blowing up the toilet and trash can at the same time now. That brings my house to 60% plague. Things are not looking good for me escaping this. I’ll most likely end up falling ill on the weekend. 🤬
Windy day. Climbed and pieced out the only tree that was in the lee of a group that have to go.
House, power lines, porch on one side, trees on the other.
Everything had to go straight down. Had to climb right to the top and brush out the top with a silky, wind would have blown it onto the power line otherwise, top was about 5" dia. Butt was 20". Silky at the top, 462 at the bottom, 150 in between.
Short tree though. Not like Stephen's!
Played around with my new Notch Flow rope wrench with Fusion tether today. I managed to dial in a setting that worked well enough to climb on the first attempt. After climbing, I think I'll open the bollard next go around.
A curious neighbor walked by with his two dogs and planted himself there for the show. We had an interesting conversation. He said he did rope access work on the glass walkway over the Grand Canyon, cleaning the glass. I showed him what rope walking looks like and it was my first time doing it with that rope wrench. Much smoother pulling it up with my neck tether than with my Rope Runner Pro.
Overall, I loved it, but I have one complaint: When I feed my standard oval carabiner through the eyes of the hitch cord with the attachment point in between, it's a very bulky attachment point and so everything is crammed in there to the point where it doesn't really look safe. It probably is, but why would they do that?
I decided to order a locking pear shaped carabiner. One issue with this is that now I'll have to do a super awkward dance to disconnect myself. I wish they made oval carabiners with pear shaped ends. Why isn't that a thing? Probably a really niche market for it.
EDIT: Don't mind my hitch cord. It's probably too long, but it got the job done. I tested a variety of different cords today.
EDIT. Am I losing it? Is that not a pear shaped carabiner? That's just a regular HMS, isn't? Meaning my attachments will experience off-centering. Yes, no? I can't tell. Looks pretty symmetrical to me.
interesting day with the repo man trying to nab my dump trailer, im paid up on it, they got the name wrong on the paperwork and the person with the name on the papers missed a payment I guess
about 45 minutes with the dude going over payment receipts and stuff, he left without a trailer and said "I wont come back for it"
who knows, its chained to a tree now (supposedly they cant touch it if its locked to something or has a hitch lock on it)
"Though laws vary by state, in most situations, a repo man can’t legally enter a locked gate or other locked property to access a vehicle unless he has permission from the property owner. This means that a repo man can’t repossess your car if it’s inside a closed garage, fully enclosed fence, or other completely closed-off, private area. In most states, using physical force to cut a lock or chain or otherwise damaging property is considered a breach of the peace. Repo men are not allowed to do anything that counts as trespassing or breaching the peace to get to your vehicle."
A repo man can’t legally enter a locked gate or other locked property to access a vehicle unless the property owner (you) have given them permission to do so.
My female apprentice decided to become a climber.
It is not part of the the Nature management line she follows at forestry school, but neither is hard core logging.
She has deviated SO much from what she originally started out doing, after apprenticing with me.
So we had her do the apprentice climbing test: SRT up a 40 meter Beech, then do a canopy walk.
She passed with flying colors.
So last week we went and had her outfitted with climbing gear.
I have a Linden at my place, that needed a crown lift.
So today she did her first work climb.
On a saturday, no pay, no stress, but an instructor at hand ( Me!).
I don't let apprentices run a chainsaw in trees till they have passed a logging season, so the saw is no longer something to be feared, but a natural extension of their body.
She is already there, so no problems with a saw aloft.
In fact, no problems whatever, everything went smooth.
Afterwards we went down in "my" forest, and rec climbed a beech, just for the hell of it.
That is where I screwed up badly.
I was so focused on her safety, that I didn't realize that I was on a too short ( almost) rope.
So when I rappelled out, I ran out of rope, no stopper knot, just 2-3 feet before landing.
Wasn't looking down, so a complete surprise.
Fortunately she didn't notice, but I felt really stupid about it.
As in REALLY stupid!!!!
treestuff party today, did a tree to tree traverse on 2 climbing systems, both SRT and ropewalking, apperently my traverses are an event themselves, the whole party would go silent as I ropewalked my ass to the other trees (never seen someone ropewalk a traverse but I do see people use a foot ascender), 40ft traverse in under 30 seconds, as soon as I get to the end everyone would clap, was great
zigzag and chicane is smooth as, tried the roperunner pro some but it wasnt dialed in, didnt really like it a whole lot to be honest
they also had a local dealer bring out a GiANT 1200HD tele to play with, im going to see about demoing it for fridays crane job since its on a parkinglot and lots of pine to get smooshed into the nice clean concrete, plus since its a larger lot I might be able to use the giant to move brush between picks vs moving the chipper closer to the tree, cut down on the noise
It's been fun to follow Mine's progress, she's doing a great job flying the flag for the ladies
Giving her such a range of experiences will only give her a wider range of choice down the track.
Great stuff Stig.
(except falling off your rope, focus ol mate, focus!) I can just picture the quick look around, did anyone see that, no whew, carry on.
It's a good day when no emergency services are involved 👍
I got home the other day and said to the Mr., Job's done and nobody is dead. That usually means it was a bit tricky and less than ideal methods might have been employed. 😎
Twas a great day yesterday. The wife and kids were feeling better and I only had a very short time of stomach issues. I spent most of the day outside. I mounted the tool box to the trailer and got my firewood wall rebuilt. Hoping to get everyone outside for a while today.
Didn't do much today. Cleaned my 2511 was basically it. Killing season's started. Spot left me an unidentifiable piece of fuzz and meat on the back step. No idea what it was. Neighbor's cutting up the fallen branch next door. Electric saws sound awful. I should go over and offer to do it for him just so I don't have to hear his saw :^D It isn't a huge branch though. He might be insulted if I offered to do something so trivial.
Got some stuff done. Moved a bunch of stuff from one place to another while slightly organizing it. Shortened the grass. Stopped by my parents and told my dad happy birthday. He’s 70 now. Also re-measured the deck. The numbers came out close enough to confidently order materials now. Loaded up and ready for tomorrow.
Created a new garden yesterday after our “Scorched Earth Day” the day before. The new garden is in a swale, so water-loving plants- reeds, swamp iris, etc…
The day before on Earth Day we dug up three large bushes (viburnum and winterberry) from a garden which had gotten infiltrated with Bishop Weed - nasty stuff!! We removed as much of the weed from the root balls as we could and moved them to a holding site. Dug them in and covered the root balls with heavy leaf mulch. Bare-rooted a few plants we wanted to keep and potted them do we can monitor for any remaining Bishop Weed. Then used the backhoe to rip the soil out ten inches deep in the affected garden, sifted and pulled out as much of the roots as we could, and tarped it to let the warmth of the sun get whatever might remain to grow. Once it ‘cooks’ for a few weeks we’ll destroy any of the weed and reassess.
This evening we will host a family of four from France. They are riding their bicycles (les biciclettes, non?) from Miami to Montreal. The kids are 5 and 7, so I’ll have some interesting items and puzzles out to entertain them.
We have hosted long distance bicyclists off and on over the past fifteen years. It is a great way to meet people.
We are listed in a worldwide directory of hosts.
Check out this link: Warmshowers
Stig, I just think it is the coolest thing ever that you have trained your apprentice the way you have. I wish we had programs like yours in the States. None that I know of anyway.
Thanks!
I have had some 20 apprentices over the years.
Some better than others, but most have been a pleasure to teach and work with and watch grow into the profession..
The present 2 are really good, which is a fine thing, since they will be the last ones.
Emil will buy into the company once he finishes his education and eventually take over from me, when I retire.
Mine is probably going to hang on and work for/with him.
Not for trees really, but apprenticeships are alive and well here in the states for other trades. I went thru one for the steamfitters, and a 1st year hired in today for me to work with.
8 tree day, and got the Giant on demo for fridays crane job, so I will have the skid, mini loader, crane, and bucket truck/chipper running, understaffed but oh well
some rigging, some sending, and everything inbetween
wedged over my first tree in a long time, normally I have a rope in it and wedges following the saw but decided to change it up
no cleanup day!
Went to look at a blow down stump for my wife’s long time co worker. She wanted it removed. I was skeptical but said I’d look at it. The thing was bigger than my truck and full of dirt and rocks. I told her she needed a tree service with a full size skid steer. It would still be cheaper than paying me a friend rate for 20 hours and the cost of several 28” and 36” chains. A shame I couldn’t help her though. At least she knows what she needs.
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