All the small things…

[oceans]

I have a harrowing tale of my climb line going into my chipper, right after the safety meeting, chipping light, dead redwood branches.




I could have done more to insulate myself from employees choices.

Since that day, I put up with no BS from employees who don't want to communicate plans clearly and who are willing to work on the premise of "I'm not trying to get hurt".

I have no room for "Oh! I though _______."

I need people who "are trying very hard not to hurt/ get hurt", aka committed to working safety... what I call "boring tree work".

Later, I'll post a pic of my chipper keychain.


Long story short, I had a very high redirect with my stretchy Wraptor line. The longer I hung, the more slack developed on the ground beneath me from a lot of very stretchy rope in the system. 10' more tail/ standing end can be just barely enough to go into the chipper.

I should have secured the tail to the base of the tree.

Probably 15 years ago I watched a groundie grab a limb and drag it away toward the running chipper. He crossed my bag and hooked my tail. I started to yell his name but he couldn’t hear me. I’ve never hauled my tail up faster in my life. That incident lead to some serious conversation.

 

[Matias]

Last year, I watched in horror as well, screaming from 120' up to no avail, as my tail got caught up in a branch headed for the running chipper. Someone saw it and stopped him at the last second, but that new guy who almost chipped my rope got fired that day. We determined he didn't have the head for this kind of work. Wasn't his first mistake

 

[Matias]

after reading this post in September: https://www.treebuzz.com/forum/thre...n-wet-tight-fitting-clothes.48621/post-745606 I did end up buying a couple Brynje mesh t-shirts to try. Four months later I've got four tshirts, three longsleeves and three long underwear. Never going back to anything else, I'm a problem sweater too and these as base layers have been a game changer for both hot and cold weather. Worst part is the polypropylene starts to smell funky after a few washes, gotta buy Nikwax basewash instead of using regular laundry soap. The merino is fantastic, that I just wash by hand using eucalan. Hang everything to dry and it's good to go.

I find that I have to do a deep soak once a month to get the stench out of my poly. I just use bronners sal suds, and the deep soak prior to a separate machine wash with extra rinse cycle does well enough to get me through another month.

 

[Njdelaney]

Sharpie the top-plate of the first cutter when sharpening.

X2. Also I posted this in another thread but it really makes sharpening more effective and faster. 30° marks on some wooden vice inserts I made up:

 

[Njdelaney]

And this can from Husqvarna. Push the spout down into the hole, it fills to the top of the reservoir and the flow stops because the air vent is at the end of the spout. No overflowing ever, no spills. Cuts fill time in half or better. I found it for $80 on eBay. Has a compartment for stuff, a spot for a scrench. Game changer.

 

[Njdelaney]

This one is a 2-parter. First is tightening lower spur straps by going under the gaff, so it really pulls the stirrup up tight against the bottom of your foot. Second is these ratcheting lower straps from Spikepod. They are easily tightened by 1/8" increments and release easily too. Makes it a breeze to put them on in the tree if needed and they can be dialed in to perfection. These two things have changed me from hating spur climbing to thoroughly enjoying it.

 

[Brando CalPankian]

No such thing as the right gear. I sweat in shorts and a t-shirt. Adding any kind of layer is only going to compound that.

I'm not a sweaty person. But I also live in a colder climate. When I was in the south being wet didn't matter. Up here you'll freeze to death

 

[Brando CalPankian]

That one’s great, too. Rakes are getting less and less durable these days. There has to be a supplier of quality products that far out perform and out last the store brands.

Agreed. I don't know how they get away with selling such flimsy rakes.

 

[oceans]

And this can from Husqvarna. Push the spout down into the hole, it fills to the top of the reservoir and the flow stops because the air vent is at the end of the spout. No overflowing ever, no spills. Cuts fill time in half or better. I found it for $80 on eBay. Has a comparent for stuff, a spot for a scrench. Game changer.

That look really useful, especially for the jobs with long walks from the truck and your fuel tank will last you 6 hours and you need 7. Dig!

 

[southsoundtree]

Last year, I watched in horror as well, screaming from 120' up to no avail, as my tail got caught up in a branch headed for the running chipper. Someone saw it and stopped him at the last second, but that new guy who almost chipped my rope got fired that day. We determined he didn't have the head for this kind of work. Wasn't his first mistake

SENAs are game changers.


ALWAYS the climbers job to ensure their rope is secure and can't get into machinery.




Overly long ropes are one component to the risk. Ropes matched to the tree height, both climbing and rigging, are safer, easier and less work.

 

[Matias]

X2. Also I posted this in another thread but it really makes sharpening more effective and faster. 30° marks on some wooden vice inserts I made up:

I can't wait til I have a place to put a bench vice and use this one

 

[Matias]

Agreed. I don't know how they get away with selling such flimsy rakes.

So flimsy it boggles the mind

 

[Matias]

SENAs are game changers.


ALWAYS the climbers job to ensure their rope is secure and can't get into machinery.




Overly long ropes are one component to the risk. Ropes matched to the tree height, both climbing and rigging, are safer, easier and less work.

Yea, I have started trying to always match rope to tree.

I have been meaning to help my buddy install SENAs in his and my helmet. He keeps putting off that maintenance day. I am sure thats the first anyones heard of such malarkey

 

[Brando CalPankian]

That sounds great too. My only issue is I bought oil in bulk, so I dispense into the same 3 bottles as needed. I need a modified cap with a cap on it.

I'll take a picture (if I remember) of that idea that we did at Cummins. We took an oil cap for a generator, tapped threads in it, added an o ring and threaded in a funnel. Presto! Instant mess free fill ups.

 

[TCtreeswinger]

Def jug nozzles fit on gallon jugs. Antifreeze, bar oil etc

 

[cory]

Re oil jugs- fabric softener jugs are amazing for dispensing bar oil with no mess, they have push button on/off with no dribbling

 

[Brando CalPankian]

This one is a 2-parter. First is tightening lower spur straps by going under the gaff, so it really pulls the stirrup up tight against the bottom of your foot. Second is these ratcheting lower straps from Spikepod. They are easily tightened by 1/8" increments and release easily too. Makes it a breeze to put them on in the tree if needed and they can be dialed in to perfection. These two things have changed me from hating spur climbing to thoroughly enjoying it.

I'm going to look for those straps. Holy wow.

 

[Burrapeg]

I can't wait til I have a place to put a bench vice and use this one

I welded an old bench vise to a piece of the square stock that fits in a trailer hitch socket. I can sit on a 5-gallon bucket behind my truck to use it for things like sharpening a saw or hacksawing stuff, etc. The vise was cast iron but you can weld that quite easy with a stainless steel rod.

 

[Njdelaney]

I'm going to look for those straps. Holy wow.

Arbsession has them. FTC Tree has something similar with both upper and lower ratcheting straps but you have to buy their spur too.

 

[Treezybreez]

Small sections of 1/2” Pex pipe make decent gaff protectors.

I built a wooden rack that fits perfectly in my aluminum truck toolbox. Now my saws aren’t all sticky from sitting in their own bar oil and the bottoms of my saws aren’t wearing out from rubbing against other metal.