Acending tree when removal

andrus kokerov

andrus kokerov

Participating member
Location
Estonia
Got a guestion for you guys.

How do you ascend the tree when doing a removal? I mostly just spike it up, remov what i can on the way up and then get myself a nice TIP. But how do you do it when the tree is with a larg diameter and bad to spike up? I have footlocked up into the canopy and then got my spikes send up with the rope. Are there some better and quicker methods?


Andrus.
 
Tom Dunlap said:
Set as high a tie in point as you can

Then use whatever srt ascent system works for you. It's much faster and easier to climb rope than it is to
Climb the tree

Once in th canopy you could have your spikes sent up. Sometimes
You might find it easier to just use srt. Or transfer over to DdRT if that's how you climb
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Would you prefer a basal or canopy anchor? With a canopy anchor could start working on my way up. But got to isolate a limb for it...
 
Get a Powerscender from Mike on this forum (or a spikescender from Kiwi)
You don't need to spike the whole tree, just Climb the rope. Add a knee ascender like the HAAS and you're all set. :)
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It has to fit your spikes of course.....
 
I would say it definitely depends on the type of tree and height.
I did a white spruce yesterday, decent lean and I preferred to keep my rope tie-in as a choked SRT line so I could reach around the backside of the tree without losing my balance. Branches started about 20 ft from the ground, and it's nearly impossible to get a good isolated tie-in in a spruce. Easier to just climb, strip as you ascend.

Other times, in a big doug fir where the first branches are 70-80 ft up, I would much rather SRT up than spike my way up ...
 
I think Mike's Powerscender is tops although I don't own one.
I am not a production climber so time and money are very low on my list of priorities.
I set my rope to as high a tie in as possible and choose a base or canopy anchor, just like I would for any climb.
Prefer to make one ascent to that TIP, check the tree on the way up and revise my removal plan as needed.
Reset to a canopy anchor, adjust the length of my climbing line. SRT is on one end and it gets full length to the ground plus redirects etc, the other end has my DdRT and I set the length as needed for movement in the upper canopy but not long enough to get caught up in lower branch removal.
Now some more variables:
Wear the spikes up first climb but I attach the SAKA to one gaff and do the one leg with the other leg on top assisting thing.
....or come back down and put on the spikes and get the saw etc. Rope walking is not that big of a deal to go to a 60'-80' TIP, do a safety check and reset anchors and such, then come back down.
....or rope walk and take the saw/spikes with me and put them on when I get up there.
What I never will do is just spike up a tree with only a lanyard and "get'r done".

Richard
 
yoyoman said:
.....What I never will do is just spike up a tree with only a lanyard and "get'r done".....
Click to expand...

Whereas setting a high line can be a great convenience, it is certainly not a safety requirement in most situations. Especially in conifers were it is challenging to set a line and therefore time consuming but they can be put on the ground fast with just a slice and dice "get'r done" attitude.

I do enjoy having a top line set but I have removed far more trees without than with.
 
DSMc said:
Whereas setting a high line can be a great convenience, it is certainly not a safety requirement in most situations. Especially in conifers were it is challenging to set a line and therefore time consuming but they can be put on the ground fast with just a slice and dice "get'r done" attitude.

I do enjoy having a top line set but I have removed far more trees without than with.
Click to expand...
X2 on that also......
But just using one lanyard or flipline is not the way to go. I'll do a lot of spruce removals where a top line is seldom possible. But I always use my climbing rope in addition to the flipline and use a adjustable Cambium saver around the stem so I can bail out if necessary.
 
I think I'm what some of you ppl call a production climber and I have to be able to just spike up with a lanyard (and climbing set up as a second lanyard) safely. I rarely do it because I can set a line fast, but say I get the throwball stuck in a tree that's tough to toss into, I'm not gunna find another throw line, im spiking up. It can be done safely, and sometimes it's faster, so sometimes it's what I do.
But 9.5 times outta ten, its foot ascender under my spikes, SRT system, and rope walk up. I used to think the spikes would be dangerously close to your feet, but its not as bad as one would imagine.
 
DSMc said:
Whereas setting a high line can be a great convenience, it is certainly not a safety requirement in most situations. Especially in conifers were it is challenging to set a line and therefore time consuming but they can be put on the ground fast with just a slice and dice "get'r done" attitude.

I do enjoy having a top line set but I have removed far more trees without than with.
Click to expand...
Yep and you got'r done, safely.
I agree about tall conifers, thinking about some I've climbed, I still think with how I have my Bigshot dialed in, I can set a line and be up there before I can with just spikes. But maybe that's because I'm not that fast on spikes, I've seen those guys go up and down in competitions.
The other thing, the thought of trying to come down if I hurt myself....
Most conifers I've removed are dead lightning struck pines I would never climb with just spikes anyway.
 
Not that it needs another pitch, but the bulldog bone is great in that you can use it set as a second lanyard on your climbing line, so that if you gotta bail out of a tree, just cinch the line and bomb out. See ya lata bye.
I imagine same goes for the rope runner or the mythical Akimbo. I've heard it's real and some have caught pics, but I need to see it with me own eyes.
 
CutHighnLetFly said:
Not that it needs another pitch, but the bulldog bone is great in that you can use it set as a second lanyard on your climbing line, so that if you gotta bail out of a tree, just cinch the line and bomb out. See ya lata bye.
I imagine same goes for the rope runner or the mythical Akimbo. I've heard it's real and some have caught pics, but I need to see it with me own eyes.
Click to expand...
Really? I just got my bone delivered. Got to try that. I've been using a GriGri as a lanyard adjuster on my climbing rope and I was wondering about the BDB doing the same task. Well, now I know. Thanks. :-)
 
If I see that I can do a fair bit of the removal with a TIP set on my way up then I go with that or if the base is really awkward to get up (multi stemmed, dense ivy, crowded branching, etc…). Otherwise its spikes and a lanyard with a climbing system that gets installed, could be as simple as choked off SRT on the trunk, to remove limbs on the ascent.
It's really about having an assortment of methods you're comfortable with and assessing which will be the more efficient.
 
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