The Problem With Tip Tying

That can work, too.

I dunno...maybe Murph has a secret way to tie a knot on the limb with his pole saw...I can't do that :).
 
I do that sometimes usually around primaries or if there's lots of sticks in the way keeping me from throwing a few coils or a monkey fist. I keep a pole saw head with no blade just for such occasion, just use the push/pull hook. A single overhand knot to make a little 5" or so loop on the end of the rope, hang it on the hook, poke the hook and rope up wherever you want it, and shake the rope off the hook over the branch, retrieve it with the hook, and keep hold of both ends over the branch, tie running bowline, pull it all tight, and there it is.

If I'm not clear enough I'm sorry. A 20 second video would be easier.
 
I take a heavy steel biner off my saddle, tie it on the end of the rope. Either toss it forward over the crotch you want, or advance it up there on the hook of the pole saw head. Hook on other side and pull it back. Either clip the biner back on to the rope lock and run it up, or remove and tie a running bowline. Then run the bow line up.
 
Due to my ability to toss things accurately:D, even not speaking about the cluttered areas, I use all the times my telescopic fish pole (with a push-pull hook) to place my line and retrieve it. That's a 5 meters long arm reach. Clip back the carabiner on the rope (instead of a knot) and take out the slack. The carabiner goes there, that's done. For a longer limb, I first put my climbing rope 5 - 6 meters away, haul myself to this point, and repeat. The telescopic pole is too supple to hold the heavy rigging rope, so I go where I need to tie it by this mean.

You can't use the toss technique out of limbs in the cedrus for example. On the big flat limbs, the needles are so tight that they look like a manicured lawn. No way you can hope going through that with a toss. You have to go there or sneak the rope through it with a pole.
 
Marc-Antoine said:
Due to my ability to toss things accurately:D, even not speaking about the cluttered areas, I use all the times my telescopic fish pole (with a push-pull hook) to place my line and retrieve it. That's a 5 meters long arm reach. Clip back the carabiner on the rope (instead of a knot) and take out the slack. The carabiner goes there, that's done. For a longer limb, I first put my climbing rope 5 - 6 meters away, haul myself to this point, and repeat. The telescopic pole is too supple to hold the heavy rigging rope, so I go where I need to tie it by this mean.

You can't use the toss technique out of limbs in the cedrus for example. On the big flat limbs, the needles are so tight that they look like a manicured lawn. No way you can hope going through that with a toss. You have to go there or sneak the rope through it with a pole.
Click to expand...

Agreed, M-A...there are many situations, especially in densely limbed conifers like western red cedar in my part of the world, where the "toss some rope first, then retrieve with the pole pruner" will not be viable at all.

Then, pushing a loop with some weight attacked, i.e. a steel biner or throwbag out and dropping it over the limb, then retrieving it, is the way to go. For me, I've always used the cutting blade for this...but I can see some potential advantages with using the sawhead hook sans saw blade for the task. Better positive grab on the end of the rope tied in a loop; and no fiber picking if just using the saw teeth to provide that grab.
 
I cut an inch or so off the top and bottom hooks of the wire raiser, it's great now for grabbing loops or biners, or advancing them and getting them to fall off the hook when you want it to. I much prefer it now to a pole saw head, but either works. Sometimes with 24' of pole lol I only own 4 six footers.

jameson-tree-pruners-wr-1-64_1000.jpg
 
I found my grapnel. Might start using it a bit for remote line retrieval.
Somehow, I ordered two, then lost them in a drawer and then gear bins at my old place. One is going to Swing, when I get to the post office.
 
They are really cool for setting lines sometimes, i got one too. I also have an epple hook, which is also super handy and fun. I don't climb much lately (for quite awhile), and i never have climbed like everyone here, but the ability to toss a weight rated hook somewhere and traverse is wasaaaaayyyyyyyy easier on spreading trees. It's also handy as hell for a quick way to set up an extra line for temporary balancing (for making cuts or working at the tips), and is even handy for hand saw work at the tips to control brush so you can toss it (over a roof or something). It's pretty easy to retrieve, and although should never be counted on for life support, for work positioning it's perfect. I use a really long double lanyard, with 2 hitches, stored in a small bag on my back left side. I use mainly one side of the lanyard as my main lanyard, but if needed i reach in and pull out a whole nother climbing setup. I started this doing spreading trees, so i could protect from a pendulum fall (2 lanyards to pass branches), had another small climbing system there for double crotching, for traversing back to the main tip leader (long lanyard tail), and for the grapple work. This video clearly isn't me, but shows what you can do with it, by a climber waaaaaayyyyy better than i am even in dreams. As a simple piece of kit that can be used with your tail rope too, for me it was a quantum leap in safety, comfort, and speed, because everything in Illinois is a spreading hardwood.

https://youtu.be/Ias9ZRNtSjQ

There used to be some other vids too, but i can't find them atm...
 
You can throw a line or rope tail to the groundworkers, who can tie on a second climbing system/ rope, routed out to the tips of the limb-walk. Easy way to prevent a swing during a limbwalk. Also, your ground crew can hold your tail, at least on SRT) out toward the tips, so they can arrest a swing back at the tree.
 
I don't want to rely on the ground crew for my positioning. They often don't care of the ropes, except to be an inconvenience for dragging away the limbs. Very few people I work with keep an eye on them, taking them out of the way or freeing one stuck under the limbs. It seems odd to me to have to ask others to help me to go where I want in the tree. It's like holding my hand to walk on the ground.
 
You do any 30-40' limb walks?

Asking sometime to untie a base-tie so you can canopy-anchor... That's help.

Getting someone to tie a rope to a throw line is help.
 
I am not sure-footed enough to limb walk. Even with two tying points, I'm scared to loose my balance or slip and take a bad back swing. I can go 40' away easily with my telescopic pole, in SRT and some slings as temporary tying points. 3 steps and I'm at work. Surely more slowly than by limb walking, but way easier for me.
 
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