Too Dead To Climb? Eh?

[Page]

I climbed what I can only guess was a dead maple the other day. No room to drop it or bomb anything out but there was a nearby tree to rig things to. Most of the bark had fallen off and it had a lot of cracks. What I thought was interesting though was it would pop and expand a little as I would cut chunks off of it. Almost felt like my lanyard was the only think holding it together. Don't get me wrong, the tree was holding together fine and I felt comfortable with what I was doing but never saw trunk wood expand like that.(while climbing) If I chunked it down in 16" pieces I probably would have had a pile of split wood at the bottom!

 

[cory]

Scary!

 

[treebilly]

Was the wood still good and hard? I've had that happen on Norway maple, both dead and alive.

 

[woodworkingboy]

They say dead men tell no tales, but a few years back when that well known and unfortunate climber that had the tree break under him when taking a top, that's one story that will never lose it's effect.

 

[Limbrat]

It's been dead a while when you can't identify it Page! I climbed two last week that were pretty sketchy too. Even though I felt they were safe enough to climb, it's really hard to know about the entire tree by just sounding or driving a screwdriver at ground level. One had targets and had to be rigged down on itself and that's where you really appreciate a good rope man. My guy made everything run as smooth as silk and I made it a point to really brag on him.

 

[cory]

Was the wood still good and hard? I've had that happen on Norway maple, both dead and alive.

Me too. When it has been under a lot of stress holding a lot of weight, especially cantilevered weight, it tends to split when the weight is released, right?

 

[cory]

Glad it went smoothly, Ray.

 

[treebilly]

Yep. I've had it pop enough to stick the saw

 

[Mick!]

It's been dead a while when you can't identify it Page! I climbed two last week that were pretty sketchy too. Even though I felt they were safe enough to climb, it's really hard to know about the entire tree by just sounding or driving a screwdriver at ground level. One had targets and had to be rigged down on itself and that's where you really appreciate a good rope man. My guy made everything run as smooth as silk and I made it a point to really brag on him.

Yes, a "nicely done" out of relief as much as anything goes a long way.

 

[Limbrat]

Yes, a "nicely done" out of relief as much as anything goes a long way.

"Relief" is the right word Mick. On those questionable trees it really is a relief to get back on the ground too.

 

[cory]

Good ol terra firma.

 

[flushcut]

Bind the trunk next time maybe. Lightning struck trees are like that, all shattered and splintered.

 

[pantheraba]

Bind the trunk next time maybe. Lightning struck trees are like that, all shattered and splintered.

That's what I was thinking...use heavy duty nylon web binders at intervals on the trunk...on a 60' tree maybe put one at 20', one at 40', one at 50'...take a 10' top?

Maybe fell the pieces with the binder still attached at the top. You could have some 10-15' lengths of odd rope to use as quick binders...maybe put those just above your cuts as you work down the spar?

I don't do much dead tree climbing, be interested what methods folks have to mitigate the risk (tying into a different tree sounds like the best mitigation to me).

 

[Chris E]

I found the part about dead trees in Gerry's Fundamentals informative. I drive past lots of dead trees and am just thankful not to have to be removing them.

 

[Grendel]

Dead trees are so sketchy. All of them. I mean we've all worked around wood long enough to know that sometimes deadwood is as solid as a rock, and other times a crow coming in too hot on a landing can take out a whole top. I always liked Reg's video on climbing dead trees. Trying to avoid a rhythm that imparts a lot of sway.

I always try to think about the wind loads the trees are exposed to. I've been sketched out climbing live trees, to then watch the neighboring trees on a different day just blasting out on the lake shore. Almost nothing I could do could replicate those forces.

 

[chris_girard]

Dead trees are so sketchy. All of them. I mean we've all worked around wood long enough to know that sometimes deadwood is as solid as a rock, and other times a crow coming in too hot on a landing can take out a whole top. I always liked Reg's video on climbing dead trees. Trying to avoid a rhythm that imparts a lot of sway.

I always try to think about the wind loads the trees are exposed to. I've been sketched out climbing live trees, to then watch the neighboring trees on a different day just blasting out on the lake shore. Almost nothing I could do could replicate those forces.

I agree with everything you said Grendel and I'm glad the job went well Page.

 

[Jed]

Brothers!! Srt is the absolute only way to handle dead trees in my humble and new-found opinion! One can place Morels (half-hitches) in one's line as one ascends if one wants. One can tie into multiple tops, and not lose climbing speed... In short: one can do a host of things that one would never have dreamed of, climbing on some stupid Blake hitch.

 

[cory]

Good to know another attribute of srt.

 

[Page]

Ha! There's no absolute only way to do anything. That's what I like about this job.

 

[rbtree]

One can place Morels (half-hitches) in one's line as one ascends if one wants. One can tie into multiple tops, and not lose climbing speed... /QUOTE]

Would Chanterelles work just as well? The word is "marls" But the problem with maples, cottonwood, or any tree that tends to split longitudinally is being in the circle of death, which is formed by the climber's body and flip line. This can be avoided by choking a lifeline or even flip line and attaching it to one's center attachment point or bridge...with both tie in's, unless an overhead tie in in available for one.

Also, the OP's point wasn't regarding the hazard of climbing a dead tree, per se, but the problem with the trunk wood splitting below the cut, which is actually more likely to occur with a live tree than a dead one.... and doesn't seem to be dependant on whether the tree had tension compression forces from any lean that it might have had while intact.....