Trees you refused to climb and why.

[SouthSoundTree]

Breakaway lanyard, or no lanyard, or two climblines.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

Test the strength of break-aways on the ground.

 

[Tucker943]

Vacuum cleaner belt for a breakaway link in your lanyard.

 

[RegC]

Reg, I'm 30. Grew up being raised by a tree service owner. Been on tree jobs literally since diapers. There was a time when daycare wasnt an option and until the start of grade school, i spent my days in tree trucks. Got put to work evenings, weekends, and summers on the job when i turned 10 or 11. Dont go entirely off my age. My roots in this industry run deeper then one would guess. I'm not referring to backing out of hazard trees. If I can set the situation up right, ill do it without flinching. Always have. I'm done getting in trees that I am on the fence about If they'll kill me or not and collapse while I'm working. I am a business owner, with a wife in college, and 2 daughters, one of which has special needs. Those three people NEED me. If I die or get crippled, their lives are ruined. Now, take all that out of the picture, and I might have continued doing things as I did them for the first 8 years in business. I CAN'T leave these people behind. My wife would be beyond doomed if I died. Or worse yet became a financial burden to her by being crippled. I had to check my pride at the door a year or two ago and put my life into perspective. I've pulled wild stunts in my life both in this industry and out of it. At this point, my business is thriving for the most part and I have the option of choosing my work. Sometimes. Not always.

No worries Chris. Thanks for explaining your situation, although you didn't have to, Id guessed as much....but really glad to hear your business is going so well regardless. Both Ed and I have kids too, so completely understand the extra worry that brings.

 

[RegC]

Guy lines do the jobs where you couldn't do without otherwise. Thanks to a few courses I took years ago on guy lines I have since worked alone without an employee and can still say I never have turned a job down yet. Do less climbing and more felling.

Here's a 86 ft 3 stem poplar I felled between a house and 2 right angle spans of 3 phase primaries thanks to the help of a 90 degree to lay guyline and pull line.
Not a climbing job due to the 2 stems closest to the stop sign had a heavy back lean onto a span of 3 phase primaries. So a falling job it had to be. This city owned tree was cleaned up and hauled away by the city work crews, I also ground out the stump.
I put a lot of extra wraps on the porty just to reassure the HO it was going to hold. If I don't use the Masdaam puller I'll use my pickup for tension as the other pics show.

Nice work. Especially like the set-up in the last pic. Very smart.

Its often easy to overlook falling a hazard tree in its entirety....if you dont make it a habit to look at them from a distance, instead of just walking around underneath. It should always be the first thing to consider. The hell with climbing if you dont have too.

 

[HolmenTree]

Thanks for the kind words Reg. With todays BigShot, shot bags and line, rigging a tree for removal at ground level is easy to do.
I have a thread called "My advanced gunfight technique" on the house's tree falling and rigging forum. I posted a good selection of guy lining techniques on the last couple of pages.

 

[Bermy]

There is a thread about breakaway options...I think I called it breakaway option for iffy trees..

 

[RegC]

Thanks for the kind words Reg. With todays BigShot, shot bags and line, rigging a tree for removal at ground level is easy to do.
I have a thread called "My advanced gunfight technique" on the house's tree falling and rigging forum. I posted a good selection of guy lining techniques on the last couple of pages.

I will absolutely look through thread and hopefully contribute to it as the season gets going, thankyou. We're probably going slightly off topic here but its all relative especially since compromised trees often need some extra support or rigging to land them where they're aimed.

Heres some video from a big dead snag we felled in the summer. Dead for many years and with a broken top at about 130. Was only 40 ft or so from the zip-line and so it was the preference of the park owners that the tree be section felled....so at no time would any severed part of the tree be within falling distance of the line. The issue being if the line were to take a hit it would most likely inflict damage throughout the whole course. However, by the time we'd bore-tested the base, prepped and rigged the tree, by far the safest way was to fall it whole. I dont have pictures of the rigging and it was pre-loaded and left unmanned down at the landing, as it was too dangerous to have a guy stood down in that area. We tipped it with wedges thereafter. So not a dangerous climb by any means but a job that had to be done right.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/mgzu5iGO5D4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Probably the most nervy of stuff we get out here are the lone standing dead firs, with no practical remote tie-in. God awful wobbly things when you're having to wedge a top off. Had plenty heart-stopping moments in those scenarios.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Moar!

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Amazing the fiber pull on that butt for all the bark coming off! Nice one Reg! Damn ugly.

 

[FireFighterZero]

Sweet! I would get my birthday taken away if I even looked at those trees.

 

[RegC]

Moar!

$hit I hope not this year....would rather be doing safe trees anyday But talking in past tents I got lots of pics and videos. This was a tall one, but not as dead as those others, just brown and sparse. Unfortunately the ground guy stood directly behind with the camera when I topped it, so not the hero shot I'd hoped for

 

[FireFighterZero]

I have said it before, but you guys have the damnedest job!

 

[RegC]

I'd rather be dammed than work in an office. Keeps you humble though, thats for sure.

 

[Mick!]

Nasty, have you ever misjudged any lean on those tops? I mean even with wedges has there been a situation where it is reluctant to go the right way? Wind must be a factor as well.

 

[RegC]

Nasty, have you ever misjudged any lean on those tops? I mean even with wedges has there been a situation where it is reluctant to go the right way? Wind must be a factor as well.

Yeah Ive had a few sit back, not a good feeling at all. And its not like being on the ground where you can just step back for a minute and scratch your head....so you left feeling somewhat vulnerable Problem is too that you have only a limited amount of space to place your wedges. They usually go eventually, but a lot goes through your mind at during those.

 

[Mick!]

happened to me (on a smaller scale!) it does make one a bit squeaky.

 

[HolmenTree]

Nasty, have you ever misjudged any lean on those tops?

Yeah Ive had a few sit back, not a good feeling at all. And its not like being on the ground where you can just step back for a minute and scratch your head....so you left feeling somewhat vulnerable Problem is too that you have only a limited amount of space to place your wedges. They usually go eventually, but a lot goes through your mind at during those.

Reg, on the coast what direction is the natural lean for your conifer tree tops on level ground?

South east natural lean in conifers here in flat ground Manitoba is what we have. When I clear cut logged in the winter we have good felling procedure with the dominant wind from the N.W. working in unison with the trees S.E. lean. When I open up my strip the first tree I fell is in the S.E. corner.
Doing arb work topping a conifer on spurs I most times get my orientation for S.E. direction before I gun sight my facecut.

 

[Szajer]

Seeing the video of the fir removal -with its bark peeling at every step, totally brought back the memory of removing a giant shag bark hickory. I couldn't for the life of me -ascend this thing without a struggle. Out of nowhere I kicked out and slid down the shark tooth like bark, shredding my flesh. I lost two fingernails, middle and index finger left hand— and tore my inner thigh through my pants. Still have the 6" scar.

 

[FJR]

I believe it, they are brutal to climb. Beautiful tree though.

 

[stig]

I had one today that had my heart beating so fast it took me about 15 minutes to calm down.
Not a climber. A 60" DBH beech with a broad crown had fallen into another one and got stuck there, right next to a road at the castle.
I brought a forwarder with me to try and pull it down, but it was twisted and splintered till about 6 feet up, so no go at cutting anything.
Also the forwarder driver said, he'd be unable to pull it out of the other one, even if I managed to beaver through it.
So I decided to fell the one it was hung up in.

Not a wise move if you don't have the knowhow, but this is where being a veteran borecutter comes in handy.
I cleared an escape route VERY carefully, since a trip-up would be deadly.

There was so much pressure on the tree that it took me 15 minutes to ream out a face.
Then I bored it and cut the backstrap. When I was tripping it, my heart started going like crazy.

POP! And I did like a rabbit.

All went according to plan, but it has sure been a long time since my engine has been revved that high.

 

[Husabud]

Glad you had the foresight to get out of a scetchy situation safely. That last cut is always scary in those situations.

 

[Jomo]

I can't think of any drug that has a more immediate effect, and still allow you to move at warp speeds, with super human strength, than a good shot of adrenaline does.

A goodly dose of it can keep you jittery till hours afterwards!

Some poor blokes get addicted to it, like heroin!

Jomo

 

[HolmenTree]

I'd take the time to get my polesaw and cut that back strap at a distance. Like the old saying "wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole"

 

[Limbrat]

Glad it worked out Stig. That's just what a co-worker used to tell me, you get in that kind of situation, you'll find out how much rabbit you got in you.