Jerry Beranek's Fundamentals

  • Thread starter Thread starter Burnham
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 310
  • Views Views 38K
Be hard to do a revision of the climbing part.
As fast as new stuff is being developed right now, it would almost be obsolete as soon as it was published.

A revised edition of just the falling part, with some of the Euro boring tecniques added, would be a fine book in itself.
 
It would be nice to read about some of the Euro boring techniques Stig. Too many people still are clueless about them. I think that Jerry could still have an updated climbing section without it being quickly outdated. Especially SRT.
 
If I might voice my thoughts, I'd like to see some collaboration on an updated climbing section. There's no need to go into specific devices too much, as I agree those are changing year to year at this point, but the fundamentals of climbing on a single line, redirects, setting anchors, ascent, friction, movement, force multiplication ext. won't change.

It would be cool to have some of the current industry icons contribute, but really anything that would get this book back in print I'm all for. It's such a wonderful resource. I had to buy a friend a copy recently, cost be dammed, and I'd do it again.
 
I get orders for the Fundamentals practically everyday. That should tell me something. At present I'm finishing up the last book in a series about the 3 northerly premier redwood parks. Been working on that for about 3 years now. Should be complete by spring.

Also, I'm working on another project: a plant ID guide for North coastal California. It's been a project I've been working on for a decade now. Way too big for a book, but it will fit on a DVD. I have over 40 gigs of images to draw from. If that gives you any idea about the size of the project. It will be much more than a simple plant ID book. Many of the pictures I took while clearing right of way, 40 years ago, will be included.

The Fundamentals, from concept to print, took 18 years. A revised / updated version wouldn't take so long. But it would be a commitment of at least 2 to 3. Today there's thousands of excellent images on the internet to draw from that would make the work all that much better. We'll see.

Thanks for your support, all.
 
gf beranek said:
I get orders for the Fundamentals practically everyday. That should tell me something.
Click to expand...

Jerry, does that mean that you still have copies of the book available for sale, or are these just orders that you are unable to fullfill because there are no copies left anymore?

Thanks in advance for any answer you choose to provide, and for your patience with me in asking the question.

Tim
 
I have a few books left, Tim, but surely not enough to fill all the requests I get for it, and the few I have left already have a special place. It was inevitable to happen.

I recall having many cases of Fundamentals left over from each printing, that were culled because of blems. Ink spots or crooked pages. Minor stuff. The printer would toss'em if I didn't take'm. So I took'em, and I offered to send such cases of books to people for the cost of shipping alone. A few people seized on the opportunity, but many more declined. I had cases of books taking up storage space that I could not even give away, and so I burned them.

It's so damn ironic.
 
Interesting, btw, Tim's question. I assumed you meant you were still filling orders for books ever day, but I assumed wrong.
 
Reprints are not a viable option, Jer?

If you need an investor class to make that a go, I'd bet cloud funding like Jaime has done with his SRT tool could be successful.
 
It certainly would be! New/used copies will be $100 or better here in no time.

It's the best book ever written on the subject.
 
I wonder what sort of numbers from predicted sales, be it volume or revenue, would have a publisher consider it?

I showed my copy to the guy that taught the saw certification I was recently required to take for prefectural contracts. He was all over it, still hasn't given it back. I thought there might be the possibility for a translation funding.

By the way, Jerry, I'll certainly be watchful that no parts of your text will be used without permission, or whatever your requirement would be.
 
So long as I get some credit for it, Jay, I'll let anyone use the contents of my works for free, anytime, and for whatever reason they want to use it. I've always figured it's just good and free advertising.

Now, funding for an up-dated revision of Fundamentals really isn't the issue. It's time, storage space and commitment. I'm going to be 70 in a couple years and taking on another publication requires more long term storage and commitment that I'm not so sure I really want to take on right now.

A far better plan would be to sell the rights to the book to someone younger that can take on the commitment.
 
I remember in my first term of apprenticeship school, the Vermeer dealer stopped in to take orders for gear from SherrillTree. This book is what I ordered. Everyone else was getting ropes and saddles. When the order finally came in, I can just remember the other guys looking over and rolling their eyes, like to say, who orders a book? This guy, that's who. The original and still the best. Thank you Jerry.
 
... loaned mine out and it never came back , dog eared and well worn. Just fit the dashboard of the Dodge and went with on the job for years , had been loaned before and worst thing was a folded page where he had a question but it got returned. After a few years of no return ( last guy is still in the biz in N.H. , forestry ) I figure deliberately absconded. Easy to accept in the long run as every single page is sort of "embedded" in my head anyways.
 
In review I've used just about every method except taking a big slice out of it with a snipe like shown on those big Douglas firs and redwoods .On those I wouldn't have a clue how to put one on the ground safely . Fact being I've never even seen trees of those sizes .
 
The Fundamentals was in print for near 20 years.

That's a long time running without any updates or revisions. But really, the only thing that truly changed significantly through the years was the more recent innovations in climbing tools and techniques. Thanks to people like Paul C.

The rest of the information in the Fundamentals, about cutting, rigging and understanding wood fiber is still applicable, and will likely never change. Our understanding of it all, however, is bound to keep on improving. Thanks to people like Reg and August, who keep us titillated with their outstanding work videos, the level of professionalism in the trade can not help but keep on improving too. Thank you!
 
I have said it before, but the perfect companion to Fundamentals is Jerry's Working Climber DVD series. It gives you a visual of so many of the topics that are covered in the book, that are just fantastic to see in the work environment.

Thank you again Jer for all that you have done for us in the tree care industry!
 
Thank you, Chris. You've always been such a great supporter.

There's no irony in the fact that the Working Climber DVD Series is the Fundamentals incarnate. All taken out of the book and put in video format. 720 native unfortunately. It's the best there was at the time. As a consequence though, on big screen TV's today, it's fuzzy pixelated. The whole series views much sharper on smaller screen. Tech is always changing. But the info is there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Eric H-L
Communication Linework in VietNam
Replies
6
Views
505
Cobleskill
Cobleskill
Brock Mayo
Adjustable Rope Swing
Replies
13
Views
506
Brock Mayo
Brock Mayo
MTforester
Good books on felling?
Replies
12
Views
855
davidwyby
davidwyby
Knotorious
"Ashley Book of Knots" Free Download (Full Book) Courtesy of Knotorious!
Replies
12
Views
1K
Knotorious
Knotorious
lxskllr
How Much Lean Can Be Overcome By Pulling?
2
Replies
48
Views
810
Burnham
Burnham
Back
Top