Zeb,
Good on you for pushing the bounds of Douglas-fir rope access, you must be able to charge a lot for that skill. I don't think many people in my area would pay for that service though. I agree with jeff_r when he says that the value of the tree will have an impact on the decision making...
It should not be a standard procedure, but spikes have their place when a TIP cannot be safely established. For example, 100+ foot excluded Douglas-fir trees with <3" branches may be spiked if the climber cannot safely secure a line.
This video is indeed totally rad. Skinny fir tops are unnerving but they have so much strength in tension it would take a heavy climber and a lot of wind to break. Would totally love to pick up some work where traversing is a must to stay productive.
Sounds like you got the idea Ian, or I mean SimplyArbor (This is Alec)
http://www.treebuzz.com/forum/showflat.p...;gonew=1#UNREAD
This is another thread going on a similar topic
Personally, I don't worry as much about crashing my steel friction saver into the dirt, steel wears much better...
I use the system that treebing demonstrated on youtube with my cougar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8eGf44ZefU I just tie in double rope after the ascent though. which could probably be streamlined with secret weapon, but I haven't tried it yet.
Hello all!
I don't think that tuning up 35cc of the best saw family that Stihl has ever made will produce noticeable improvements towards climate change and/or carbon emissions. Leave the 200T alone!