Rotten silver maple leader fails while I was climbing

[Treetopflyer]

Back in the saddle again. Minus 2 points for one-handing.
Thank you again for all the well wishes. View attachment 92600

Back in the saddle and in a tank top in February , Dang . You sell tickets to that gun show ?

 

[Treeaddict]

There is absolutely an element of chance in everything that we do in tree work. Trees are unpredictable natural systems that can and do fail. We use our best judgement and trust our gut instincts, but ultimately we put our faith in God, or providence. I can take all the precautions in the world, but ultimately I must surrender to the possibilities of catastrophe if I am to go up and get tree work done.

In a society where risk tolerance has never been lower, tree work represents an opportunity for real adventure and genuine danger. I think this is why it attracts young men, eager to prove their usefulness to the tribe by engaging in real work with real consequences. There are a thousand ways to make more money doing something far less dangerous, but tree work makes us feel alive like nothing else. When we are aloft we walk the razor's edge, right on the border between chaos and order. There is nothing else like it.

Made my eyes tear up!

 

[Mike H]

Back in the saddle and in a tank top in February , Dang . You sell tickets to that gun show ?

Our 5000 foot sun is always in your face this time of year and it is hot. Sleeves channel the heat up to my face and cause my glasses to fog. This gun show is free of charge considering how much strength I have lost being stuck on the ground

 

[Treetopflyer]

Our 5000 foot sun is always in your face this time of year and it is hot. Sleeves channel the heat up to my face and cause my glasses to fog. This gun show is free of charge considering how much strength I have lost being stuck on the ground

That’s Colorado sun is rad!!
Glad your back up in the air
You must be in pretty good shape to heal well enough to be climbing couple months after a fall like that! Awesome stuff really!

 

[Crimsonking]

Hopefully this thread helps someone from climbing up into a predicament! How you holdin up , not the worst time of year to be laid up?

As a matter of fact- just came across this thread yesterday, and had a nasty, rotten, still green and alive silver maple next to wires today. There were horizontal cracks in the rotting stem toward the lines, yay, and fungus on the tension side of the stem leaning opposite the lines.

I used my crane slings to tie the leads together so they would all support one another, and then climbed high and cut small.

Thanks to the OP for this thread, you made a huge difference in my job today.

 

[Bucknut]

“Tickets to the gun show” reminded me of one of those my brother used on me….

“Do you know a good vet around here?”

“No, why?”

(Flexes arms) “Cuz these puppies are sick!”

 

[Treetopflyer]

Then this one :
Whilst flexing up bicep finger pointing out deepen voice of course
“Did you see that bird “
Rotate wrist point finger at shoulder and flex shoulder up extra squeeze on the bicep as well of course.
“ he shit on my shoulder and went that a way “ rotating wrist back around still flexed up.

 

[data farm 26]

Back in the saddle again. Minus 2 points for one-handing.
Thank you again for all the well wishes. View attachment 92600

Great to see that you're back in action!

 

[Daniel]

Decaying silvers are dangerous, I've had many run-ins with bad ones. Could have been so much worse. Take the r&r seriously so you can get back out there.

usually the result of bad pruning practices.. cuts made into the BPZ or simply too big for the tree to compartmentalize which is about 4" on silver maple... Some guy with a chainsaw, 20-30 years back, made the cuts that inevitably would lead to the decay that almost killed Mike... With better pruning practices he wouldn't be dealing with the pain and suffering, loss of work etc. That's something to think about next time the client wants you to take a 12" limb off a silver maple.

 

[data farm 26]

Hi Mike, how are you doing with recovery from this injury? I was thinking about you last week whilst climbing a dodgy silver maple. I hope that you are healing up well long term.

 

[Mike H]

Thank you for asking. I healed up quickly and started climbing again after 6 weeks. No longterm pain or meds addiction which were my two concerns. Still paying bills to around $7000 out of pocket with good insurance. The total would have been $102,000 without insurance. Only other longterm cost has been two lift rentals on projects that I would have climbed in the past. Overall, the Luck of the Irish paid off nicely

 

[data farm 26]

Amazing ! luck, sure, but that takes a lot of physical and mental toughness as well, I'd imagine. I'm glad your still going, Mike.