I couldn't do it...

[gf beranek]

Just getting to the work can be the biggest part of a job sometimes.

Years ago I helped dead-wood a group of Douglas fir with my buddy Wes Burns. There was about 30 trees in the group, and all of them were tipping-out, plus and minus, 200 feet tall. Well, about 20 foot shy of the top of one fir I looked above me and could see no more dead wood. Ah, figuring I was done I made my exit from the tree. It was late, last tree of the day, and I was tired. Lo! The customer points to the top and said, "You missed one!" Sure enough, right above where I left off. Now that's just F'ing great. I was so pissed with myself. 180 feet, just to go get one stick! Oh, did I mentioned I was tired?

A fitting moral to this story I think would be, "Out of sight, out of mind." Or maybe better, "Double-check before making hasty exit."

 

[MasterBlaster]

Ha! I think we've ALL made that mistake... ONCE!

 

[gf beranek]

Yeah.

 

[Wood Collector]

My advice would be to get a long screwdriver and use it as a probe to see how far you can get it under the root plate if any and also to check how deep the decayed section and hollows are.

 

[woodslinger]

Follow your gut, don't climb the one with the rotten root swell, and follow Tuck's quote, its spot on.

 

[Broncman]

REVENGE!!! Wife did not quite get my crawler parked back into its spot from winching the tree earlier in this post. Came home for lunch and something looked funny. A tree from further up in the woods had fallen and the canopy landed right where the crawler is normally parked!

 

[pantheraba]

hahaha...dodged THAT bullet! Congratulations. Be nice to your wife next time she screws up!

 

[Tim_B.]

If it scares you and you aren't sure of the outcome, always get out of the tree. Fear is good. Not knowing the outcome is bad. You'll gain the ability to know what will fly and what won't with experience. You did the right thing.

If this quotation were shorter, I'd needlepoint it on a pillow!

Buy a bigger pillow!