Not that Paul needs someone to come to his defense but he is quite the "enterprising soul" and a real innovator in our business. I am daily thankful for his inventions. Hat's off to you sir!
Years ago when I was still working for the power company full time, doing trees evenings and weekends, I had a gentleman call from the next county to take down a sweet gum for him. Looked it over, pretty much bombs away except for a single phase #4 aluminum primary and neutral on one side that...
I made some of those "grippy things" similar to those for my spikes. I don't know why they haven't caught on here, they make limb walks so much easier.
I can think of several times I would've really been whacked without it. I always wore a wide brim on the line crew, you can almost hide under it when you have to.
I can tell you're a sharp guy Danny but if you are ever in doubt of what the heck someone on here is talking about, TreeStuff has a glossary of terms for the arborist that's pretty thorough. You can even add to it if you see something missing.
Complete Glossary List
Good questions Danny. When you get dialed in, the movement and effort is pretty similar to climbing a ladder and there's no slack tending. Even on spike climbs you can tie down or weight the tail of your climbing line and slack will self tend. Another advantage is that you don't have to isolate...
Even if it isn't taught or allowed by your employer, SRT is something you will want to pursue in your own business. Combined with an ascent system, it will save a lot of wear and tear on your body and speed up production as well.
I'm sure you're not slow at all. I don't use a haul line either, every climber has his own techniques and preferences. I carry a throw bag on my saddle and in most trees here, a long lanyard. I climb srt with the Hitch Hiker and use the long lanyard as a second climb line and the throw bag...
Years ago on the line crew I would get fuel at a station directly across the road from our office. The owner/operator and I would chit chat as he filled the tank on the diesel bucket. Once, when my regular truck went in for maintenance, we got a gas burner to replace it. I pulled into the...
A customer called and told of a distressed laurel oak that he wanted removed from his property. I found the tree a couple of days later that he described to a tee. Having limbed it up about half way I heard a voice. "Wrong tree". I told him there would be no charge for the prune job. It actually...
Don't want to throw a wet blanket on the party and all that shiny new gear looks good and there might be some production climbers that actually use it, but none that I know. As far as base ties being illegal, I can't imagine. There are some trees where you could spend more time trying to isolate...
It's great to have that kind of confidence in your rope guy. I too am blessed with a really good one and it only comes from experience and good instruction. They can literally make or break you. Watching a block of live oak swing out from over a rooftop and knowing it's not going to turn into a...
In no way was my reply intended to be flippant about working around energized conductors. Knowledge and safety are job 1. If anyone has any shadow of doubt as to what the wires on the pole are, call your power company. It behooves us all to get that knowledge and it's not a huge mystery. Your...