a video worth analyzing

[Keeth]

As the top comes off you can see it tear away. You have to wonder what led them to believe their approach was a good idea. Another example of learning what NOT to do. Hopefully this will keep someone from making the same mistakes.

 

[baumeister]

I think the way he ends up hugging the spar says it all. I hope he finds a new ground crew, gets training and changes his pants quickly.

 

[Greg_L]

Just me...but I'd change my pants first.

Definitely get a new ground crew, though. At LEAST.

 

[Oroboros]

That was not the ground crew's fault. Climber is in charge. He ran the saw into that spar. He should have had them relax the pull a bunch.

 

[Steve Connally]

True but the ground crew should also be looking at what's going on and if something isn't rite they should stop the climber or get his attention. Maybe the ground person was more experienced than the climber. We'll never know

 

[Nish]

He's cutting below his waste. So his tie in point is too close to the cut or down near his knees. Had he made his cut up around shoulder level, moving his support lines up higher, he would have far less of a drop and far more to grab ahold of.

On a spar, at what body height/level do you guys prefer to make your back cuts?

 

[Nish]

Cutting a top with heavy lean, you'll often get a good rodeo ride with or without delinquent groundies pulling with a truck. In these cases I don't like to be positioned directly behind the back cut, for fear of barber chairing. I slit the sides to avoid fiber pulls, set the chain brake when the top starts to go, and then brace for it. Usually there's plenty of time.

 

[treevet]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle

 

[oldoakman]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle

I believe in the Peter Principle but I have to ask, how in the world do we have Obama in the White House when he was incompetent in every previous position he has held?

 

[treevet]

exception to every rule I guess Oldoak

 

[Stihlmadd]

I slit the sides to avoid fiber pulls

pines and palms - wing cut the bastards every time.

 

[jim454]

I always make kerf cuts when I'm cutting the top off a Spruce. Seems they never let go when you want them to.

 

[JoshR]

Thanks for posting. Scary stuff. I didn't keep watching after the guy dropped camera but, I hope the climber is OK, nevertheless. I've gotten thrown like that once and it was scary. With Gods grace I came out ok though. There's so much to this job that can be overlooked if we're not careful. Y'all make undeniably crucial points about the amount of pressure being applied to the pull rope whenever pulling one off.

 

[Steve Connally]

Speaking of a nasty ride. Watched the invincible climber get bashed around on a pine spar today. I looked over and he was airborne. Dipshit forgot he had a slip knot on the rigging line and instead of slipping it locked in the block with a 12' 18" diameter pine log on it. When I left he was trying to figure out how to fix the situation. Monkey and football in full effect. He was bitching at the rope man to just pull it up.

 

[Oroboros]

Speaking of a nasty ride. Watched the invincible climber get bashed around on a pine spar today. I looked over and he was airborne. Dipshit forgot he had a slip knot on the rigging line and instead of slipping it locked in the block with a 12' 18" diameter pine log on it. When I left he was trying to figure out how to fix the situation. Monkey and football in full effect. He was bitching at the rope man to just pull it up.

Thanks man. That's the best entertainment I've had all day.

 

[Crash]

"The Foole doth thinke he is wise, but the wiseman knowes himselfe to be a Foole" Shakespear, or in this case shakespar.

 

[John_KAYS]

I don't know French, but Google Translates says the title of this video is :"Pruning a tree after a tornado"
And at the end of the video it says, "This Professional escaped because he was perfectly team and had good reflexes" - not sure what "perfectly team" means... that's all Google gave me.
It also says, "Pruning trees is a trade" before and after the footage. Almost like they are trying to grasp why people actually do this for a living...now watch this guy get flung around.
I have no idea how accurate this translation is, but I thought it was interesting.

 

[Tuebor]

More likely translation: perfectly or well equipped.

The description of the video says:

"After the tornado of 27 July , a tree threatened to fall on the house.

We appealed to the pruners to disassemble, we did well.

He was very twisted and pruner could not climb very high on pain of falling with the tree. Once the head detached, there was a spring effect very important. Fortunately, the pruner was very well equipped and trained, for this incident could have been dramatic, the images speak for themselves, chainsaw passing close to the face . I practice pruning for small jobs ... this experience reinforces the idea that we must be extremely careful and especially never overestimate ."

 

[chris_girard]

Guys an idiot for cutting like that. Whole thing was preventable.

 

[Richard Mumford-yoyoman]

Some snapshots just to capture the moments. Yes, almost cut himself in half, then just as the tree takes a rebound it gets a second shot of momentum from the tear.
Growing up we used to flip apples at cars, off the end of a stick, doing just what he did.
At the end the tree looks to come almost vertical so why in the heck would someone put that much pull and take that much top?