You Ever Work Solo?

Sandy Gaffs CC said:
I live on Cape Cod. Finding good help that’s not gonna kill you holding the rope is tricky. Still alive but lord knows the ground guys have tried out here!! You mention the words “tree” and “work” out here and people run for the hills. Offered a few guys $200 for an hour of running ropes….NOOOPPPEE! I’ll only run rigs solo if I have to. It has it’s limitations. Ive gone up and down a tree four or five times to untie my own knots because no ground guy. Definitely lucrative for a sole proprietor but man, you won’t ever skip “leg day” this way. It gets old fast. Was doing it regularly until I started getting sub contracted out three days a week. It’s nice but the ground guys have “learning issues” and cant seem to grasp when to hold tension in drop lines versus letting it run. If I could untie my knots from the tree top I’d work alone all day everyday !!
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dude I will run your ropes for 200 an hour until the lord comes
 
I worked solo for much of the year this last summer, it had it's ups and downs. Driving around in the van with my dog talking to myself all day was therapeutic for awhile. I had to develop a certain mindset to get through the day alive and finish the jobs, I called tree-shido, lol hope that's not appropriating too much. Ultimately I couldn't get enough jobs that were conducive to the solo work and my brother came back to the wilds at the right time, I was very grateful to join back up with him. The force multiplier is no joke when it comes to able minds and bodies working towards the same goal. Also had my wife work with me a lot of days which was actually pretty fun, she's a tough groundworker!
 
cory said:
What is tree-shido
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About a year ago I was in a situation where I was going to need to start climbing again after a few years or more just doing ground work and I was going to be doing it solo. I had to develop a system of living that would help me be as successful as possible. I had to focus on keeping my body well and my mind free of irrational fears. I kept my mind free of thoughts as much as possible and focused only on tree climbing and putting the brush in the truck. I drank lots of watermelon juice and Gerolsteiners and ate lots of waffles. I did core strenght exercises everyday and stretched too, I tried not to let clients or other distractions bother me. At the time I was reading these books, Hagakure and Budoshoshinshu, they're samurai books from the 1400's I think. I just called my new way of life tree-shido as a joke, it worked out okay. :)
 
I was thinking of treeshido today as I was doing an extremely rare solo job. Logjitsu is what i call trying to be very "intentional" and smart about moving brush and logs my hand, always using leverage and footwork as much as possible and of course making efficient cuts. Ha, in the long run I was still shot at the end of the day.
 
Speaking of back health, do you know Knees over Toes Guy from YT and IG? He gives great, 'actionable' advice and info re fitness. His journey started with knee rehab and has lately extended to much of the whole body. His stuff has helped me. He's real humble and accessible.
 
Much of his material is short in duration which, let's face it, is usually a good thing!

But here is one that just came out today, it is longer at 9 min and gives good info as well as a bit of history recap of his journey which is why I thought it might interest you re wrapping your head around his vibe.

 
chiselbit said:
I’m going to try some of his stuff. Looks like it might help some issues I’m dealing with
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Most tree guys, being tree guys, meaning super busy and hard working on a very physical job, could probably benefit. When you are always working except when resting to work more, lots of the physical shell can get neglected despite the regular industrial exercise.
 
timmysaint said:
Bit of a mixed blessing. Got priced out of housing market (KI/Guelph) with the kids and had to skip town during COVID (renoviction- landlady moved in drug addict kid).

As it turns out we had family near Toronto that had a large-ish property and let us set up a tent for a couple years. So we did that for 2 years. Now we’ve settled in and are staying. Got used to tent life and are just rolling with it!

Been a cold winter!!
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I'm glad we're not there. We ended up in a similar situation due to not terribly different circumstances, and me and my family are doing our 4th winter in the tent. I know for many of you it's spring weather, and we feel blessed to have as nice of a setup as we do, the biggest blessing has been getting our permit to build finally.

I started working on this property largely "alone", though my wife was around to make the phone call if necessary. I no longer work alone if I can help it, as the gain in produtivity is usually worth tacking a couple bucks on the bill and paying a friend to work the ropes. I have had plenty of homeowners do their own groundwork, and even help me rig down wood and run a speedline.
 
Matias said:
I'm glad we're not there. We ended up in a similar situation due to not terribly different circumstances, and me and my family are doing our 4th winter in the tent. I know for many of you it's spring weather, and we feel blessed to have as nice of a setup as we do, the biggest blessing has been getting our permit to build finally.

I started working on this property largely "alone", though my wife was around to make the phone call if necessary. I no longer work alone if I can help it, as the gain in produtivity is usually worth tacking a couple bucks on the bill and paying a friend to work the ropes. I have had plenty of homeowners do their own groundwork, and even help me rig down wood and run a speedline.
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A topside adjusted speedline can be a help, allowing the ground crew/ customer to simply unclip and drag.

A boot against a rope tail against the trunk can be enough to hold a wrap of friction on a stub/ device.

An elevated termination point on the SL can reduce the crash to the ground, sometimes negating the need to carefully sync the slacking with the piece being in the drop zone.
 
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