tree pruning

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but treelooker if you've got other information that goes against what i've been taught i'm all ears.

if pruning a white oak this time of year would not make it much more at risk for oak wilt......

it is the general guideline for pruning here.
pruning in the winter when they're dormant is a much safer bet is what i've been taught.

again, i am honestly all ears.
 
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  • #27
I found a couple of maples to work on today. Everything went smooth. Good cuts and no issues. Even used a couple of loop runners to hold branches and then unhook and drop. Not a big deal for you guys but I'm stoked! Lots of fun. Wish I was 20 years younger.
 
That's what I was taught as well rock. I am supposably a bit to far north to worry about oak wilt but try not to trim them until late summer or early fall.
 
onepaw said:
I found a couple of maples to work on today. Everything went smooth. Good cuts and no issues. Even used a couple of loop runners to hold branches and then unhook and drop. Not a big deal for you guys but I'm stoked! Lots of fun. Wish I was 20 years younger.
Click to expand...

First, congrats on a successful day in the tree.

I'm not a pro arb like a lot of folks on this forum, for the sake of full disclosure.

I just wanted to mention a couple of things regarding safety when using a hand saw. I think it was Sean, AKA southsoundtree, who gave me the tip of clipping your climbing rope to the side of your saddle away from the cut whenever you are about to make a cut with a hand saw or a chainsaw. It can help prevent the accidental cutting of a climbing line.

Also, on a related note, I once watched a video online of a guy who had gone through the trouble of setting up an anchor in the ceiling of his living room in order to allow him to hang a rope for a climbing harness. With the help of a friend doing the filming, this climber demonstrated time after time, using different ropes, that just barely touching his climbing rope with a hand saw while his weight was fully in the saddle would cause the rope to "pop", and completely break in half, dropping him onto the living room sofa.

I haven't found this video again, but it was shocking when I saw it. The point here is that you absolutely must keep your cutting tools away from your climbing rope. The second point, that a lot of climbers might disagree with, is that DSRT is a good idea. There's a thread on this forum on the subject, I believe. It was started by Kevin Bingham, I believe. DSRT provides a backup in the event one climbing line gets compromised. It also really helps with work positioning.

That's all I have for now. If I find links to the things I've mentioned, I'll edit this post.

Tim
 
Tim_B. said:
....  DSRT provides a backup in the event one climbing line gets compromised. It also really helps with work positioning.....
Click to expand...

DSRT works very well in some situations but is not needed all the time. However, using a saw of any type is when bad stuff is most likely to happen and so it is advisable to be tied in twice be it with a second system or a lanyard.
 
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  • #32
I've seen that video. I can't find it anywhere now but it was pretty good. Like you said tim, shocking! I've watched videos of dsrt but at this stage in the game it looks complicated to me. But maybe eventually I'll get it. I'm always tied in with a lanyard when I'm doing anything. Talked to an older man who started climbing with just spurs and no belt or lanyard. Good stories but I'm glad climbing progressed in the safety aspect.
 
I have a long lanyard to go with my SRT, I use it DdRT.
It's working really well, I am enjoying the combination and versatility
 
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  • #34
Hey bermy when you say using the lanyard ddrt do you mean you actually climb on it? My lanyard is about 18 20 feet long. I have a snap on one end and the rope runs thru beeline I have tied in a v.t. and then thru a pinto rig pulley. I'm thinking that you have another hitch 9th the snap end. Maybe a splittail ? In my head it makes sense. That way you could climb on the lanyard. Seems like a good idea. But I may be way off. Newbie question!!!
 
I forgot to mention I have two bridges, so my lanyard is on the front, not on my side D's.

It's about 20' biner clipped to a ring on the bridge, VT and micro pulley, snap at the other end. Just up and over the branch and back down to the ring. I can move it to my D's in a trice if necessary.

It's great for work positioning with the main tie -in SRT. I can triangulate pretty well with this set-up. and when re-positioning either system I am always sitting in my harness, not dangling off my D's.
 
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  • #36
Gotcha. Thanks. It's like putting a puzzle together. I'm happy I've got you guys. Helps with the learning curve!
 
I do the same thing.
Had Nick make me a 30 foot lanyard for our first Redwood/Sequoia trip, then fell in love with the thing for small trees, work positioning etc.
 
I've got another longer lanyard in the truck, I use both of them for little trees and leave the 150' of rope in its bag.
 
Same for me, 2 ropes at work. I have a sequoia srt as a harness. The longer rope goes on the fixed central point, the shorter one on the bridge. Both make a climbing line or a lanyard as needed. I have ropes 13 26 106 and 166' long, it depends of the tree. Some times I take 3 ropes for positioning in the wide and tall crowns, but it's a pain to keep them untangled.
The climbing line can go on the side D's time to time, but only as a flipline if I didn't took the steel core lanyard. It's way too much uncomfortable to be suspended on the D's.
 
Almost the same Marc, Sequoia SRT, two bridges. I have the suspenders clipped into the fixed central point.
 
HolmenTree said:
Never, never forget the figure 8 stopper knot if you're running climbing line for a long lanyard.
Click to expand...
Or more likely a long lanyard for a climb line... I keep a permanent fig 8 knot on both short lines, it comes in play very often. I put one on the longer ropes as needed, but it's quite rare, most of my trees aren't such giants.
I had a near miss though in an urban ash tree. It has been previously heavily pruned and had big suckers as a crown, but it wasn't really high looking between the houses. I didn't care of the rope's length when came the time to go down in ddrt, because I was distracted by looking at the new groundy's work. I ended being stuck about 6 feet from the ground, only held in air by the very end of the rope locked in the middle of the beeline turns of my Hichhiker.
Wow, weird feeling!
 
Yikes!
I have thimbles in the ends of my lanyards, they stop every time
 
Actually Light pruning and the removal of dead wood can be done anytime. Best time for tree pruning is Winter and Summer but not in Fall.
 
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