Spellfeller's Continuing (Mis)Adventures Aloft

[MasterBlaster]

It means don't throw the tree if you think it needs to be climbed to do it safely.

Another version is 'When in doubt, rope it out."

 

[Spellfeller]

Got it! Thanks for the clarification, Butch.

 

[sawman]

Climb higher, cut smaller... is another
A lot of good info in the threads you started, Jeff

 

[squisher]

Got it! Thanks for the clarification, Butch.

Yah, usually the scarier seeming thing of climbing higher and onto skinnier tops is actually a lot safer than throwing a big top. As everything with trees always is, endless variables dictate that no one philosophy or rule ever be cast in stone. Pirates code eh, "they're not so much rules as guidelines".

 

[pantheraba]

My martial arts instructor once told me: "we never move 'a certain way'....until we need to...and then we do.

 

[Spellfeller]

...endless variables dictate that no one philosophy or rule ever be cast in stone.

"we never move 'a certain way'....until we need to...and then we do.

Awesome! Zen and the Art of Tree Work. The Tao of the Removal. Great stuff, guys!

 

[Spellfeller]

Howdy, peeps!

Thought I'd try to gather some of the images and thoughts from Sunday's top & drop. It was an incredible learning experience and an incredible experience in general, with a lot of "firsts."

The first "first" was the inaugural trip up a tree in climbers. I had done some low & slow noodling around on another larger tree that will also be removed, but this was the first time above about 7'.

In terms of equipment, I found some barely used steel Buckinghams on eBay with pole gaffs and their pretty fancy Big Buck Velcro Pads. Almost immediately after I bought them from a Texas pawnshop, Samuel (Sgriff)--in an incredible example of TH kindness--sent me his old Geckos that were just collecting dust. They seem to be even better than the Bucks but need about a $200 investment to be work ready (new gaffs, new pads & velcro). Since the Bucks were ready to go out of the box, I'm using them currently. In the future I may sell them to finance the Gecko refurb. project. Not that I've climbed in anything else to compare them to, but they seem pretty comfy. The Geckos are definitely lighter though. THANK YOU, Samuel!

Whooee, that's a long way to go...

I got better at having my lanyard in a more neutral position, perpendicular to the trunk. I also got much more comfortable and smooth on the hooks, in just the up and down--and BACK up and down to retrieve a stuck friction saver!

After taking my own sweet time, I settled on a point to cut the top. Ideally, I might have gone higher, but the trunk started to lean away even more severely and became significantly thinner. I wasn't terribly confident that I could reach around to make the face cut without slipping around to the "low side," so I backed down to a spot maybe 25' off the deck that was straighter and wider.

Made the top of the face cut...

And the bottom...

And then, because I didn't trust myself not to go too deep or wide, finished it with the handsaw...

Then I scribed a line for the backcut, just to be as precise as possible.

And hauled up the angry German hand-beaver (THAT sounds bad...) to finish the job.

(Speaking of precision--and as I look at it from the comfort of a stuffed chair--that face cut is certainly not the prettiest thing in the world.)

Then the top came down, and what looks like sort of an average picture...

Becomes one of my favorites, when cropped and enlarged. (But it does not capture the Tilt-a-Whirl action!)

Mmm, tastes like victory (and survival)! With just a hint of fiber tear...

Back down, we come...

Just for a lark, I experimented with how far around to the face side I could get. It didn't take long to "barndoor" off, gaff out, and test my belay.

Assuming one could get into work position here, do you guys ever make face cuts hanging off the low side and then swing back to the other side for the back cut?

(The thing was I COULDN'T get back on the high side, despite trying, and had to descend on my climbing line at this point. More mad props to Samuel BTW, who threw a hand-spliced FS in the box with the Geckos. I bought a ring on some Bee Line and was set! WHAT a guy!!)

Once on the ground, I sized up the possibility of using the pull chain, but it was really the "bad" side of the tree and the escape route was poor...

So no "chip shower" for me!

Soon, it was time to...



(What I was happy to see in this pic was the left wrist rolling forward to activate the brake. Don't remember thinking to do it, but glad the reflex is there!)

Gravity. Firmly in control...as always.

The spar bounced on impact and rolled to the right of the frame. I think I would have hit my target stick on the initial impact, if the spar had been a bit longer. You can see a blurry view of the hinge from the top cut. Thickness is certainly NOT uniform...

Enlargement. (The spar has rotated, and the face cut is on top.) I'd give that a grade of "needs improvement." You?

Time to git buckin'...

Thanks as always for feedback, guys and gals. I so appreciate your coaching.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Shiny!!!

 

[Spellfeller]

I've got a good photographer, Butch. She makes everything look like a new penny!

 

[ch74]

Nice, work dude...Hey are those georgia boots? I was thinking of them myself...How do you like them? Nice echo.

 

[Spellfeller]

Hey are those georgia boots? I was thinking of them myself...How do you like them? Nice echo.

Good eyes, man! You are dead on. They are the #G8340, which I am bummed to say have been discontinued. (steel toe, low heel, insulated, Vibram sole)
http://www.georgiaboot.com/georgia-...ger-work-boot/G8340.html?dwvar_G8340_color=01

They do still make them without the steel toe (#G8040).
http://www.georgiaboot.com/georgia-...toe-work-boot/G8040.html?dwvar_G8040_color=01

I've been super happy with them. My more detailed review is on the first Georgia link.

Echo is the CS-590 Timber Wolf. Don't know if a pro would be happy with it, but in the farm/ranch segment it's a killer, and it's all the ground saw a guy like me will likely ever need!

 

[ch74]

Idk. My 590 is MM and tuned with a 3/4 wrap bars. It fairs well in urban logging imho.

 

[ch74]

If I was logging I would go husky.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Run away!!!!!!

Great pics!

 

[pantheraba]

Spell...good set of pictures and explanations. Tops that lean away can be hard to work with for sure. Sometimes you might try using another tree for your TIP and that can let you go places that are otherwise very hard to get to.

About the top...we can't see the full length of the top but judging from the spar you dropped there could have been a concern if the top was too long. If the top rotates over and the tip hits vertically or near-so, it can drive the butt where you just cut back into you while you are riding that bucking bronco.

If that scenario was not in your thoughts it needs to be...too big a top can hit the ground and strip you off the spar.

I can't believe CH74 eagle-eyed your boots!!! These guys don't miss anything!

 

[SouthSoundTree-]

I thought the same as Gary. The butt can land backward of the stump if it over rotates and springs of the tip. A problem when there is an obstacle behind the stump.

 

[squisher]

Nice job of it.

Ask anyone here I'm all about the running away. Getting out of dodge once the cuttings done is always a good plan. Practice, practice, practice will make those cuts prettier.

 

[Chris E]

Assuming one could get into work position here, do you guys ever make face cuts hanging off the low side and then swing back to the other side for the back cut?

I'm pretty sure that's uncommon on most trees most times, plenty of folks will make the face cut from "side on" though, its a handy position for that as you can watch the depth nicely. Nice work.

 

[Spellfeller]

Idk. My 590 is MM and tuned with a 3/4 wrap bars. It fairs well in urban logging imho.

I'm a huge fan of that 620PW bar, man. I've thought about it too. What vendor did you buy yours from?

Run away!!!!!!

Great pics!

Thanks, Stephen! I'll take just about any opportunity to quote Monty Python...

...Tops that lean away can be hard to work with for sure. Sometimes you might try using another tree for your TIP and that can let you go places that are otherwise very hard to get to.

About the top...we can't see the full length of the top but judging from the spar you dropped there could have been a concern if the top was too long. If the top rotates over and the tip hits vertically or near-so, it can drive the butt where you just cut back into you while you are riding that bucking bronco.

If that scenario was not in your thoughts it needs to be...too big a top can hit the ground and strip you off the spar.

Ugh. That sounds nasty, Gary, but makes total sense. This top was not long enough to do that, but I will CERTAINLY keep it in mind moving forward. Pretty sure that the other four trees will have to be rigged, so there's no more topping in my immediate future.

I thought the same as Gary. The butt can land backward of the stump if it over rotates and springs of the tip. A problem when there is an obstacle behind the stump.

Thanks, Sean.

Nice job of it.

Ask anyone here I'm all about the running away. Getting out of dodge once the cuttings done is always a good plan. Practice, practice, practice will make those cuts prettier.

Thanks, squish. Definitely will continue to practice and take pix of the stumps.

I'm pretty sure that's uncommon on most trees most times, plenty of folks will make the face cut from "side on" though, its a handy position for that as you can watch the depth nicely. Nice work.

Thanks, Chris!

 

[pantheraba]

If that scenario was not in your thoughts it needs to be...too big a top can hit the ground and strip you off the spar.

AND...too long of a limb when you are low in the tree can do the same thing...if you are at 15' above the deck and the limb is 20' long it better be a flat-drop cut...if the limb hinges down and the tip hits the ground first then the butt is coming back at you...capisce?

 

[ch74]

Gary i have had my eye on those boots for awhile now, seeing how im not full time at the tree service anymore went back to aviation, couldn't make a living working for someone else, but any how that is how i noticed the boots...lol...Spellfeller, i went to a parts website and found the P/N for the bars then ran a google search and ordered some. I really haven't had a chance to use it that much cause i have a 450p echo with a 20'' bar, The 590 when i can afford it , is going to get a 28'' with full skip 7pin sproket, a good MM woke that thing up after a tune same with my 450p.

 

[ch74]

90% of the P/N from what i have seen match to the 620/600p saws. So basically u already have a 620 , lol

 

[Sgriff]

AND...too long of a limb when you are low in the tree can do the same thing...if you are at 15' above the deck and the limb is 20' long it better be a flat-drop cut...if the limb hinges down and the tip hits the ground first then the butt is coming back at you...capisce?

I have seen this ruin guys,will damage your body if that butt comes back n gets ya.

 

[Spellfeller]

if the limb hinges down and the tip hits the ground first then the butt is coming back at you...

I have seen this ruin guys,will damage your body if that butt comes back n gets ya.

Thanks to you guys, this will always be part of my calculations now!

 

[pantheraba]

I think you said you have Jerry's book...re-read page 209...this situation can happen when the top hits another tree or the ground.

You need to know this kind of stuff BEFORE you cut a top...and you probably already did to some extent. But a book like Jerry's is full of info that someone paid for the hard way...they got the test before they got the lesson...and those hard tests lead to wisdom and teaching like Gerald Beranek has passed along to us.