vertical cracks/checking = knowing when to say when?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Spellfeller
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I'm gonna be the bad guy. You'll forgive me in time. That tree isn't a matter of judgment from experience. It's a matter of common sense. The internet won't give you that when it comes to trees. Slow down and give trees a sensible lookover first and foremost.
 
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  • #53
sotc said:
The problem is it's what you don't know that can bite you. My favorite quote from this forum, maybe from anywhere, is in Burnham's signature. "Confidence is the feeling you have right before you fully understand the situation".

Fwiw, i don't mean to be a negative a Nelly, I'll leave you alone now
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You're not being negative, Willie. You're being realistic. I appreciate it.

Edited to add: BTW, I never feel "confident" in a tree...more like "just able to keep terror at arm's length." :\:

Tucker943 said:
I'm gonna be the bad guy. You'll forgive me in time. That tree isn't a matter of judgment from experience. It's a matter of common sense. The internet won't give you that when it comes to trees. Slow down and give trees a sensible lookover first and foremost.
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Thanks, Chris. I certainly don't see you as a bad guy in need of forgiveness! In fact, I appreciate your input very much. I think I've got my fair share of GENERIC common sense, but I do think that's a little different from TREE common sense. Still building up the latter. I think "slow down and give trees a sensible lookover" is excellent advice; the trouble is I could analyze a tree for hours and see EVERY defect on this list or one like it and STILL not know how those defects should affect the work plan.

In other words, common sense tells me to pay attention to cracks, weak branch unions, decay, etc. but it doesn't tell me which cracks, weak branch unions, decay, etc. are acceptable and which are dangerous...
 
Perhaps that tree is one that basically nobody knows with complete certainty whether it is safe to climb, no matter how you look at it without cutting it open. Cracks very often have an element of mystery to them, whether they stop shallow or go on and on. Jerry has a word or two about gambling in his great book, it might be advised to read them.
 
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  • #56
Sgriff said:
You guys are a riot���� I'm dyin ova here
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"I'm here all week, please don't forget to tip the waitstaff!" :lol:

woodworkingboy said:
Perhaps that tree is one that basically nobody knows with complete certainty whether it is safe to climb, no matter how you look at it without cutting it open. Cracks very often have an element of mystery to them, whether they stop shallow or go on and on. Jerry has a word or two about gambling in his great book, it might be advised to read them.
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I'll look for the section in FGTW, Jay, but I'm going to have some pros look at it for a drop & leave.

Once we get into vocabulary like "death trap," "killer tree," or "highlines," I start to think about some of my other hobbies...like avoiding trauma centers! ;)
 
Do Not Forget the Circle of Death!! Man. . . a good friend sent me video of a really gnarly poplar tear out that really should have killed them. It was scary as hell to watch. . .

Strap it up. Strap lumber to it.
 
Great purchase! Be wary of the Maasdam free spooling if you don't keep tension on it. I don't see it as a good puller for "tight lining", a term I learned from Jerry's book that means working alone when cutting and pulling a tree.
 
I promised I wouldn't share. He specifically asked me not to. I'm going to respect that.

But it was an Alder, faced off to the side from the favor, and it split down, broke loose as it curled over the flip line, and ripped my friend violently into the trunk. Made me sick to watch. . .

Straps, extra time, commit to that back cut. . .
 
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  • #68
woodworkingboy said:
Great purchase! Be wary of the Maasdam free spooling if you don't keep tension on it. I don't see it as a good puller for "tight lining", a term I learned from Jerry's book that means working alone when cutting and pulling a tree.
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Jay, have you run into problems doing this? I bought the come-along two years ago to take down a couple dozen dead beech spars after a blight went through my MILs place in the mountains. It worked a treat "working alone...cutting and pulling a tree." I'd make the face cut, make the back cut leaving a thick hinge, and then pull it over with the Maasdam. Granted, it can't maintain constant tension once the tree begins to fall, but I think only a skidsteer or truck with a lot of room could?

I just hadn't thought of using it to pull limbs out of a crispy critter like this maple. That was a great suggestion made by Gary, Stephen, and others. Magic!! :thumbup:
 
I've redirected the pull line on the maasdam through a pulley, if available a very near by anchor, worst case, to the same tree, but off to one side, sometimes with a spacer. I usually cut high, and use a very wide notch, residential jobs I try to keep the spar from going off the stump and rolling around, I aim to lay them down slowly.
 
Spell, you can attach some weight mid-line to maintain tension as well. I've been using rounds of whatever wood is available on site. . .
 
Jeff, I never had anything particularly undesirable happen when using my Maasdam, only that I did note the potential for something to occur after first using it because it won't hold the line if for some reason tension is released. What if a cut up back leaning tree held by the puller was to catch some wind and move forward a bit then sit back again, or you have a wedge lifting the tree to aid the puller, the tree moves forward then the wedge spits out or something.... I really like the Maasdam, but that element does seem like something to keep in mind when using the tool. You know, the Murphy's law potential or whatever.

One device that won't slip is a Tirfor fixed line puller (griphoist). http://www.tractel.com/us/series.php?id_serie=47 They rely on cable, but I more often than not rigging rope to the tree then attach my rope to the cable hook on the ground before pulling. Some other folks here have them in their kit as well. They are an old company that makes a fantastic super reliable puller. In addition to the steady positive pulling increments, the ease in slowly and effortlessly backing off the tension is far superior to the Maasdam. In jobs where you might have pullers working in combination and need to be pulling on one and then releasing slowly on another, maybe back and forth to move a tree to a certain spot to free up limb entanglements, they are an ideal tool. Expensive purchased new along with the cable, which has a solid center core unlike standard wire rope. A long life tool though, I know some from thirty or forty years ago that are still in use. They have a replaceable set of pins at the handle shaft base that will snap if you exceed the capacity, you don't bugger up the tool, and the line gets held (I believe). If pulling a lot of trees where you don't have some kind of vehicle access, I think an essential tool.
 
That's an interesting method Sam,wouldn't mind seeing it executed before I would ever attempt
 
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  • #75
I was their neighbor until just a few months ago, Butch.

It's REALLY dangerous to the bank account when you can drop by on your way home from work!! :|:
 
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