Work Photos

[27RMT0N]

One from the start of the week, a fun puzzle. This decent size madrone (85 feet if upright?) uprooted and hung up at a good angle in another madrone and two firs, then was left that way for a few years. Not sure if it died first or after falling. The tall fir acted as a great high tie for access letting me brush it out, then set three rigging lines on it: a high one in the big fir just as a safety while I climbed farther and farther out on things, a GRCS redirected off other firs uphill, and a third line off to the side to control the swing when it was finally time to lower the stick between the trees we wanted to protect.

I haven't actually used my GRCS in ages, but it was awesome here to be able to put some lift on the trunk, that way I could cut the trees apart without everything being under tension, since I was able to lift and separate them in the other direction. Zero drama.

 

[Mick Dempsey]

Love a story/explanation with the photos.
Makes all the difference.

 

[Winchman]

Thursday afternoon. It started to drizzle after I was part way up the tree, but I finished up with no problems.

Friday morning. The two rotty ones I threw down broke apart, but I lowered the two sturdier ones on ropes.

My yearly wellness checkup went fine. My doctor said the climbing and high level of physical activity was working well for me, and I should keep it up. Good genes, clean living, and a huge amount of good luck.
.

 

[Winchman]

Saturday morning. I've never seen a limb with so much sap hardened around it. It gummed up the saw to where it wouldn't cut at all, but I used my back up do the other limbs, and finish this one last. High concentration rubbing alcohol and an old toothbrush worked well for removing the sap.


Sunday morning, just back from climbing this crazy pine with a beautiful crotch way up.


The four-year-old $20 Carona folding hand saw is still cutting like when it was brand new. I can't tell any difference compared to the back up I bought a year ago. I'd be scared to take anything sharper up a tree. What a bargain!!

 

[Shadowscape]

Saturday morning. I've never seen a limb with so much sap hardened around it. It gummed up the saw to where it wouldn't cut at all, but I used my back up do the other limbs, and finish this one last. High concentration rubbing alcohol and an old toothbrush worked well for removing the sap.
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Sunday morning, just back from climbing this crazy pine with a beautiful crotch way up.
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The four-year-old $20 Carona folding hand saw is still cutting like when it was brand new. I can't tell any difference compared to the back up I bought a year ago. I'd be scared to take anything sharper up a tree. What a bargain!!

That pitch can be a bugger sometimes. I often carry two hand saws with me when going up in white pines and white spruce around here. Not often I drop one or break one, but they do get gummed up a lot.

 

[Winchman]

Monday morning project was removing this broken limb seventy feet up along with several smaller dead limbs.



That's a nasty looking break, and everything past it was dead less than a year.

 

[Winchman]

Tuesday I was back in my long-term project yard. I got this one down in the morning.

And these two on a second climb in the afternoon.

I took a tumble on the ground getting my rope unstuck from the sappy crotch after the second climb. I was pulling pretty hard, and I didn't expect it to come completely free all at once. Got right up and went back to work with nothing hurting.

The 12" saw in the pics is mostly for cleanup. I rarely take it up a tree.

 

[Shadowscape]

Glad you are alright. Hopefully you won't be sore in the morning.

I took a tumble on the ground getting my rope unstuck from the sappy crotch after the second climb. I was pulling pretty hard, and I didn't expect it to come completely free all at once. Got right up and went back to work with nothing hurting.

 

[Shadowscape]

Don't know why that post ended up on top instead of down below... What is, is.

 

[Winchman]

The project for Monday and Wednesday this week is removing the suckers from these two sweet gums.

Cutting the suckers from Monday's tree into pieces I could throw down to keep from damaging the camelias made quite a pile.

The hand sawing wasn't hard, but there was a lot of it.

 

[Winchman]

I got the suckers removed from the other tree Tuesday afternoon, and got started on my next project for the same lady. She wants two drooping branches removed from the two lowest limbs on this big pine along with some dead stuff higher up. I managed to get a TIP (red circle way up) so it'll be easier to swing out for cutting the low branches.

The tree has some weird stuff going on down low. My TIP looks pretty solid.

I'll measure to the TIP. I'm pretty sure it's a record for me. It was a beauty of a first shot, and easy to isolate, too.

 

[Winchman]

The TIP is eighty-eight feet up. I had to make two climbs to get both branches down. I had to set a line out past the second branch so I could pull myself out far enough to cut it. After that it was pretty easy. The tree definitely looks better.


There's some weird stuff happening on the trunk about fifty feet up. Any ideas what would cause this? Some old, some fresher.

 

[Treetopflyer]

NJISA chapter annual work day .. I missed a couple years. Back on the stick after sjtreeguy mekked head off to the thicker wood stinky mushy vine covered oak skeleton

 

[data farm 26]

What's up with your lanyard? Is it a double ended setup maxed out? Looks strange. I've got the snake bite lanyard too and just put the shizl back on today

 

[Treetopflyer]

What's up with your lanyard? Is it a double ended setup maxed out? Looks strange. I've got the snake bite lanyard too and just put the shizl back on today

Exactly right Levi twelve footer maxed to get around that spar

 

[27RMT0N]

Last day of a multi-day project, with the final items being some messy western red cedars which are great but dying here thanks to climate change and frequently have problematic structures, as both of these did.

#1 was just an inspection of old cuts. Not sure who did this work or why, maybe something broke out in the past, but I was just going up to check decay, union strength and potential hazards. Seemed OK given limited weight/leverage beyond the old cuts. I'll keep an eye on it in the coming years and reductions will probably be needed.

#2 was a multi-top cedar that lost its largest top (about 50%) onto the roof of the guest-house below it last winter. The largest of the remaining tops was obviously very weakly attached, so the plan was to basically eliminate it proactively before it failed onto the driveway and made an even larger wound. I climbed up there and even while tied into another of the stems, it felt SCARY being on it. Dumped a 35' top onto the driveway below while keeping a bit of it alive and intact to maintain productive foliage and avoid a much larger wound. A work in progress for sure.

 

[oceans]

NJISA chapter annual work day .. I missed a couple years. Back on the stick after sjtreeguy mekked head off to the thicker wood stinky mushy vine covered oak skeleton View attachment 91440View attachment 91441View attachment 91442View attachment 91443View attachment 91440

Lots of familiar rigs in the pics. Maybe some guys that were around some of Crane Man’s events? Looking good, my man!

 

[Treetopflyer]

Lots of familiar rigs in the pics. Maybe some guys that were around some of Crane Man’s events? Looking good, my man!

Awesome day whip! You are correct gotta bee some of the same crew from that event! Great fun networking and making the park a bit safer with a lot of dead trees removed and cleaned up along busy walkways! Here’s a few more annndd There they is over deer ! Mike was running the 55 ton crane man inc smoooth

 

[Winchman]

The roots from this leaning oak tree were breaking up the neighbor's driveway, so he had the driveway redone, but did nothing about the tree. Duh?? So I got permission to take the tree down as long as I could do it without landing it on the new concrete. I knew I had to remove the two largest limbs before felling the tree alongside the driveway toward the rear of the property.

I got a rigging rope in the tree to the right so the butt of the heaviest limb would move away from me as it fell. That happened as planned, but the outer part of the limb locked itself in place directly below me, and I had to climb down through it. The limb was hanging in a stable position, and I was able to lower the butt after getting on the ground.

Easy cleanup and a short haul to the street. One down, and one to go.

A bonus was this big bunch of mistletoe from the top.

 

[27RMT0N]

Removing a bushy fir for a view corridor, nothing special about the job. But managed to do this whole tree on a single tank of gas with just the 200T, which surprised me. I had gas and oil on my belt, but didn't need it, and was working solo so swapping for a bigger saw wasn't an easy option.