Newer to group (than Blair Glenn) and question
- Thread starter walden
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Mick!
TreeHouser
gf beranek
Old Schooler
Oh, back in the day... there were a few trees around Ft. Bragg I took the young bucks to, that wanted to prove their mettel with the filp-line and spurs. Most of them failed miserably. Couldn't make 20 feet! Total crash and burn, running sweat, exhausted, bleeding knuckles, hung up in the bark, the full F-ing Monty. Truth, I had to go up to get a couple down out of the predicament they so willingly got themselves into.
But then a few of those young'uns that failed went back to those trees I introduced them to, and they tried and tried until they conquered the trees, and lo' they became qualified old growth climbers using the filpline and spurs, at a time when there was no more call for old-growth climbers. Heck of a note.
The moral of the story? Well, it's a tale of human spirit and the will to take the knocks to get the reward. I guess. Ouch!
On a side note: no spur points pierced the cambium on any of those old-growth practice trees. Your welcome!
But then a few of those young'uns that failed went back to those trees I introduced them to, and they tried and tried until they conquered the trees, and lo' they became qualified old growth climbers using the filpline and spurs, at a time when there was no more call for old-growth climbers. Heck of a note.
The moral of the story? Well, it's a tale of human spirit and the will to take the knocks to get the reward. I guess. Ouch!
On a side note: no spur points pierced the cambium on any of those old-growth practice trees. Your welcome!
Blair Glenn
Treehouser
Learning to spur-- catching your foot or leg with a sharp spur is one of the big hazards of potentially getting hurt. The other is not getting your spur seated well enough and having a leg slip out. A slide down a pole can be really painful, even a short slide. Don't go for speed, go for secure spur plants in the wood. A thick bark tree can sometimes be an issue if the bark breaks off or you slip out.
walden
Treehouser
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #38
Thanks Blair. I’ve been ‘round and ‘round and up and down the bottom 25’ of my tree and I’ve found my spurs more than adequately sticking in the bark. In fact, I’ve ordered some pole gaffs for my spurs to see if they improve the experience. Oh and by the way, l’ve enjoyed the You Tube videos.
walden
Treehouser
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #39
So I received the pole gaffs for my steel Gecko's and tried them out - a great improvement over the tree gaffs. I found that it was easier to remove the points from the bark but it was also easier to gaff out. On Saturday, I climbed the tree to within 30' of the top, limbed using a pole saw and hand saw and with a power saw (Makita 4300) felled the top. I rappelled down and limbed and bucked the top and took the rest of the day off - I was spent. On Sunday, after 9:00am at the insistence of my wife, I high stumped the spar (about 6' above grade) because I was concerned about the condition of the base of the tree. I confirmed it was not solid with a few plunge cuts with an 18" bar. My sons joked that if we were to start a band, we'd have to name it "Sunday Morning Chainsaw" because of my propensity for running saws on the sabbath. We spent the next two hours or so bucking the spar up into manageable pieces (372 w/ 28" bar and skip tooth, hand filed square chisel). I've placed a call to my local tree service asking for a visit from his chipper. Now my wife has her eye on a broad leaf Maple of similar size. What have I done?
gf beranek
Old Schooler
Kicking out is part of climbing with the flipline and spurs. You get use to it. But when cutting with a chainsaw you better set'm solid. That is no time to kick out.
Marc-Antoine
TreeHouser
Some died from that. That doesn't help to be confident. I have a very bad souvenir with that, gaffing out while cutting the skinny top of a dry locust. I ended hanging by the ms200T handle, luckily with the bar buried enough to hold. Not fun at all.
You can adjust a bit as you feel or if if there's a lean, but a start to get a good angle/position is setting your lanyard's length by putting your forearm in front of your belly, fist closed against the trunk, legs straight.
Too close, you lack of working space and you may gaff out more easily.
Too far, you are well seated but you must bend over to manipulate the saw and the logs. Plus, you put a lot of strain on your legs and hips.
Take care to direct the spikes and the pushing direction toward the trunk's inside, definitively not tangent to it. Not obvious with the burls, bumps, underside of the crotches, limb's collar and dog legs.
You can adjust a bit as you feel or if if there's a lean, but a start to get a good angle/position is setting your lanyard's length by putting your forearm in front of your belly, fist closed against the trunk, legs straight.
Too close, you lack of working space and you may gaff out more easily.
Too far, you are well seated but you must bend over to manipulate the saw and the logs. Plus, you put a lot of strain on your legs and hips.
Take care to direct the spikes and the pushing direction toward the trunk's inside, definitively not tangent to it. Not obvious with the burls, bumps, underside of the crotches, limb's collar and dog legs.
walden
Treehouser
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #45
Thank you for your insight, especially with to respect to body and foot position. I'm kind of coming to terms with the idea that, without on the job training and someone more knowledgable on hand to observe I am looking at a long, shallow learning curve.
