one handing over your head

If it’s entertaining, if it manages to capture some of the cold sweat, panic and self doubt that some or all of us feel when we take on and nearly mess up something big.

There’s any amount of good work on the net, I wouldn’t watch thirty minutes of it though.

Irrespective of the subpar work at the base, I’d have set the rope a lot higher
 
Mick Demosey said:
If it’s entertaining, if it manages to capture some of the cold sweat, panic and self doubt that some or all of us feel when we take on and nearly mess up something big.

There’s any amount of good work on the net, I wouldn’t watch thirty minutes of it though.

Irrespective of the subpar work at the base, I’d have set the rope a lot higher
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Agree that having a better tagline setup would have been a big help....The severely undershot back-cut and his shallow under-cut certainly didn't do him any favors either.

I apologize, but I just realized that you are Mick from Arbtalk. I hope all is well in your world.
 
A Maasdam Continuous Rope Puller isn't so "sexy" as an expensive, shiny, multi-piece 5:1.

Maasdam's look to be 7:1, at least. I may have read in the instructions that they are 10:1. Easy to double the M:A with one pulley.



I didn't see how high he set a line. A dying fir is really easy to set a line in up high. 100' is no big deal with a good launcher.



I thought it was a shallow face-cut, too. A full-gap face-cut with a snipe is an easy way to cut big trees. A 36" bar would have done that tree easily. I have a 42", too, basically for milling.






I was super-underwhelmed by the old crew fighting end-bind on a big, failed fir tree when they were trying to lift a log out of the middle. A whole crew fighting a basic, basic problem for a long time. Lots of Youtube time, though.

People like to see struggles, I guess.









How much back-lean did it have, if he specified?
 
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Daniel said:
Anyone that thinks Jacob is anywhere near August in skill and experience.. doesn't have a clue. He's not even close... I've met August and have a lot of respect for him. He knows that. Anyone that puts out videos has a responsibility to the viewer. August does a lot of great things. But one handing directly over your head with the tip of the bar, just inches from your climbing line isn't one of them!

If you want to know the truth about Jacob... listen to him tell it here...
Click to expand...
Seems the point of what I was saying flew right over your head like the one-handed tip of August’s chainsaw. Respect? Maybe you and Rico can start a support group to really let out all the angst against famous YouTubers
 
AlanKekoa said:
Seems the point of what I was saying flew right over your head like the one-handed tip of August’s chainsaw. Respect? Maybe you and Rico can start a support group to really let out all the angst against famous YouTubers
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Men like Reg and August are highly skilled, experienced, and talented tree-men who don't appear to have any holes in their tree game..They are simply the real deal. Nuff said.

Jacob? Please. He has holes in his game big enough to drive a truck through, and he does not yet possess the virtues I just listed. Are you just not discerning enough to understand this, or are you just trolling for some conflict Alan?

As I said earlier, if becoming a great tree-man is Jacob's goal he would do himself a massive favor by turning off the cameras and instead spend a few years working under the tutelage of a world class tree-man. Unless of coarse he is motivated by Youtube money and arb stardom?
 
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rico said:
Men like Reg and August are highly skilled, experienced, and talented tree-men who don't appear to have any holes in their tree game..They are simply the real deal. Nuff said.

Jacob? Please. He has holes in his game big enough to drive a truck through, and he does not yet possess the virtues I just listed. Are you just not discerning enough to understand this, or are you just trolling for some conflict Alan?

As I said earlier, if becoming a great tree-man is Jacob's goal he would do himself a massive favor by turning off the cameras and instead spend a few years working under the tutelage of a world class tree-man. Unless of coarse he is motivated by Youtube money and arb stardom?
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Seems as though you heard the name Jacob and just got all hot and bothered without bothering to actually read the meaning of what I was saying. That’s exactly what I was saying is that they’re not on the same level hence the “it’s one thing for” comment. The ironic thing about Jacob’s YouTube stardom is that you’re probably one of his #1 fan boys contributing to his success with all those views. At the end of the day YouTube success has nothing to do with how good of a tree man you are but how good you are at creating videos that people finding interesting and entertaining or that people hate so much they just can’t stop watching it.
 
AlanKekoa said:
Seems as though you heard the name Jacob and just got all hot and bothered without bothering to actually read the meaning of what I was saying. That’s exactly what I was saying is that they’re not on the same level hence the “it’s one thing for” comment. The ironic thing about Jacob’s YouTube stardom is that you’re probably one of his #1 fan boys contributing to his success with all those views. At the end of the day YouTube success has nothing to do with how good of a tree man you are but how good you are at creating videos that people finding interesting and entertaining or that people hate so much they just can’t stop watching it.
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Trollin' it is then... Carry on buddy..
 
Mick Demosey said:
He says around halfway up.

He was unsure if he had enough rope to go higher.
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Nothing like not doing because you might not have enough.

Nothing like showing up to do a job without the right tools to do it well.



Easy way to get max height pull rope:
Anchor the bottom of the rope at the MA, climb as high as you can and get a trunk-choke. Way, way easier than beating wedges for an hour-and-a-half.

or

go get a rope.



I don't know if I could create enough drama for Youtube success. I try to keep it boring and lazy. I've very successful at that, as best I can tell.
 
Mick Demosey said:
I watched the whole of that Guilty of Treason vid.
Great stuff, the growing panic, the réalisation that this could go wrong, the honesty in the explanations.

We've all been there when starting out on our own, without the bosses machinery or experience to call on.

He pulled it out the bag, he’ll remember that one for a while.
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remember that he also made a video called "WORLD'S BEST TREE FELLING TUTORIAL! "

seems like something out of integrity there...

He put a lot of time and effort into making videos and many are fun and entertaining... but he's a journeyman compared to August, as was human...

While human's progress as a young climber was impressive, he didn't realize how dangerous his attitude was... If you haven't seen that big walnut limb come helicoptering around the back of the tree and come 6" from killing him, please watch it... I had previously been critical of August for needlessly tip-tying on other videos. August didn't respond well to that either. Rather than have an intelligent conversation or offer an explanation. he just blew it off and said something like "there are other reasons that you don't understand"... I can only assume he was trying to limit movement and therefore shock load, but that was a non-issue on the size of the limbs he was lowering.

SO August likes to tip tie needlessly and one hand over his head within inches of his rope... Does his social media status make him beyond reproach? He obviously does a lot of great work. But no one is beyond reproach... the closest thing to an intelligent conversation here has been evo mentioning the quarter tip bars (or whatever they're called). I actually learned something from that. Thanks evo...

IMO human was trying to be like August by tip tying that walnut limb which came REALLY CLOSE to killing him. When people admire and imitate someone like August, there's a corresponding level of responsibility. Criticism is not disrespectful. Saying that sets a bad example is just calling it as I see it. Human is lucky to be alive and I believe that he was trying to imitate August when he came 6" from death. Monkey see.. monkey do.. that's the nature of this business... SO I'm going to say something about it.

And I can take it as well as give it. If anyone can point out something dangerous in my videos, I'd be happy to discuss it. And yes I one hand plenty... but I don't wave the saw like a flag. The only safety concern IMO is repetitive motion injury to the elbows.
 
rico said:
.The severely undershot back-cut and his shallow under-cut
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That's an intelligent criticism... someone might actually learn something from it, which is what these forums do at their best...

I have been amazed at how much harder it is to trip a hinge when the undercut comes in below the notch.. EVEN VERY SLIGHTLY below... I still haven't figured out the exact physics, but the effect is HUGE... MUCH MORE than a slightly shallow notch ...

on most cuts that really matter, I prefer to plunge cut the back cut to precisely set the height of the back cut.
 
Daniel said:
remember that he also made a video called "WORLD'S BEST TREE FELLING TUTORIAL! "

seems like something out of integrity there...

He put a lot of time and effort into making videos and many are fun and entertaining... but he's a journeyman compared to August, as was human...

While human's progress as a young climber was impressive, he didn't realize how dangerous his attitude was... If you haven't seen that big walnut limb come helicoptering around the back of the tree and come 6" from killing him, please watch it... I had previously been critical of August for needlessly tip-tying on other videos. August didn't respond well to that either. Rather than have an intelligent conversation or offer an explanation. he just blew it off and said something like "there are other reasons that you don't understand"... I can only assume he was trying to limit movement and therefore shock load, but that was a non-issue on the size of the limbs he was lowering.

SO August likes to tip tie needlessly and one hand over his head within inches of his rope... Does his social media status make him beyond reproach? He obviously does a lot of great work. But no one is beyond reproach... the closest thing to an intelligent conversation here has been evo mentioning the quarter tip bars (or whatever they're called). I actually learned something from that. Thanks evo...

IMO human was trying to be like August by tip tying that walnut limb which came REALLY CLOSE to killing him. When people admire and imitate someone like August, there's a corresponding level of responsibility. Criticism is not disrespectful. Saying that sets a bad example is just calling it as I see it. Human is lucky to be alive and I believe that he was trying to imitate August when he came 6" from death. Monkey see.. monkey do.. that's the nature of this business... SO I'm going to say something about it.

And I can take it as well as give it. If anyone can point out something dangerous in my videos, I'd be happy to discuss it. And yes I one hand plenty... but I don't wave the saw like a flag. The only safety concern IMO is repetitive motion injury to the elbows.
Click to expand...

This whole ranting and raving of yours as if you’re having an “intelligent” dialogue but don’t even know what a 1/4 pitch set up is, just reminds me how much I despise the politically correct way environment of catering to idiots. If some guy named human copycatted an obvious veteran professional and almost got hurt then that’s on him, obviously what August does and thing many of us do works for us but should never be done by someone just learning. Also monkey see monkey do is for the monkeys, you sure have a lot of
time on your hands to be watching and critiquing all these different videos as if your the expert intelligence on the subject or maybe you work for OSHO on their YouTube task force, either way I find your arguments to be petty and pointless. Honestly I think August should just stop making videos all together because lord knows all that stuff is so dangerous and what If some monkey thinks he can do then let’s blame it all on August.
 
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Daniel said:
That's an intelligent criticism... someone might actually learn something from it, which is what these forums do at their best...

I have been amazed at how much harder it is to trip a hinge when the undercut comes in below the notch.. EVEN VERY SLIGHTLY below... I still haven't figured out the exact physics, but the effect is HUGE... MUCH MORE than a slightly shallow notch ...

on most cuts that really matter, I prefer to plunge cut the back cut to precisely set the height of the back cut.
Click to expand...
Yep. Around here undershot back cuts are seriously frowned upon. Thankfully I was taught at an early age to avoid them at all cost..Undershot back cuts make pounding over trees exponentially more diffIcult and when combined with a shallow undercut you have just compounded your problems. Does Jacob not understand these very simple principals, or is pounding wedges for a few hours his idea of a good time?

I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the way in which he pulls on his tagline at the 20:27 mark. Lets remember that his work at the stump is pretty much done as he is yanking on the tagline in a sideways/downward motion...Yank, release slack back into the system. Yank, release slack back into the system. Rinse, repeat. Look at that tagline jumping around like a fish on a line. I have run people off my jobs for that kind of dangerous amateur hour nonsense, and is the main reason why I hate hand pulls. Just too much potential for operator error. On the rare occasion that I am forced to use a hand pull I make damn sure that it is done in a straight linear fashion and that slack in never allowed back into the system...Again I am left wondering where this budding YouTube Arbstar got his training?
 
rico said:
I make damn sure that it is done in a straight linear fashion and that slack in never allowed back into the system...
Click to expand...


When I see people do this I reflect back on my mentor Marv and how he didn't let me get by making a mistake a second time. He wasn't an easy going guy at those times either.

In about '75 two of us were yanking on a pull over while Marv was making the backcut. In mid-cut he stopped the saw and lit the air BLUE! He told us to never tug and jerk. Only a solid pull. He told us that the holding wood could snap on the back cut if our timing was wrong. I didn't know that before.

I''m stunned that with all of the teaching materials available now that weren't around 45+ years ago. We're swamped with content. Too bad some is so bad.

When I see such bad technique shared as 'educational' I take comfort that other trades, like electricians, have agreed on standards and abide by them.
 
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I almost died today, like so many days of climbing. I cut predictably within an inch of my rope. More than once. I even pulled my rope out of the way at one point. Pooped my pants. It was soooo scary. I think I'm going to become an accountant. I might need some therapy after that close, close call. I definitely needed to change my shorts, each time.
 
rico said:
.Undershot back cuts make pounding over trees exponentially more diffIcult
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That was almost certainly the main culprit in causing him so much grief. At least he knew enough not to keep cutting until he blew out his hinge... many inexperienced would just keep cutting...

SO many accidents and fatalities involve poor cutting techniques...
 
I learnt more from that vid of Jacob’s than any number of vids of slick professionals in action (Thanks in no small part to the chat on here)

The real world consequences of mistakes made on the job.

Thankfully it didn’t go sideways on the house, but lots of stuff to recall and reflect on when you’re looking up at a tricky one.
 
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rico said:
I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the way in which he pulls on his tagline at the 20:27 mark.
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Good catch.. its tough to tell exactly what he has going on there... looks like he was bottomed out on the MA system, with no backup... He only moved it so far with the rope and he was stuck.. had to bang it the rest of the way with wedges... and way too much stretch in the system. I didn't like his floating anchor point from the get-go... Lots of ways to skin that cat.. I'm not as concerned about the exact direction of pull as I would be about the amount of pull... The low anchor point in the tree as you pointed out is a huge factor. Looks like a bunch of white eyes showing he was probably in the tree.. High pull lines offer a lot of advantages. Obviously the extra leverage, and also the ability to bend the top of the tree both bring it closer to the lay and uses flex in the wood to store energy, and allows you to judge how much pull is needed.

I will always try to set up a 2:1 MA system on the main line, then add whatever system to one end of that.

And really important on anything AT ALL questionable.... USE MULTIPLE PULL LINES... if you bottom out, you can lock the spare line off and reset the MA system... Also spreads out the force over different areas of the stem/canopy... If you can set one rope you can set two...

and that floating block system... too much play in the system.. ground anchors are pretty cheap and reliable.. I'd never worry about them when pulling by hand.
 
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