Blocking down Pines

TiersonB

TiersonB

Location
Atlanta GA
Who likes to block down Pine trees fast?

I was wondering how much time it takes you badass climbers out there to block down an 80' spar...let's say 28" DBH and about 18" at the top of the spar. I would do it in about 3 or 4 foot lengths...

I did one the other day like that in about 45 minutes and was pretty proud of myself...figured it would be a good idea to post here so everyone could tell me how much faster they are and what a wimp I am, etc., etc.

I was using that new rope from New England that's a little stretchier than the Stable Braid - I forget what it's called, like Dynaplex or something like that.

If this has already been posted a million times that forgive me, I usually hang out over on the Crane forum more...
 
Hey man if it was in a safe manner and as efficient as you said I call that a victory.
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I never timed my slowass self but if I'm bombing I try to pitch 12 footers if there's room. It doesn't take much time at all... but I can make it take longer than most folks.
 
you mean you stripped it out and rope rigged down the trunk in 4 foot sections, right? That is fast. Were you using one block, what type of sling? tying it or a whoopie?
 
[ QUOTE ]
Who likes to block down Pine trees fast?

I was wondering how much time it takes you badass climbers out there to block down an 80' spar...let's say 28" DBH and about 18" at the top of the spar. I would do it in about 3 or 4 foot lengths...

I did one the other day like that in about 45 minutes and was pretty proud of myself...figured it would be a good idea to post here so everyone could tell me how much faster they are and what a wimp I am, etc., etc.

I was using that new rope from New England that's a little stretchier than the Stable Braid - I forget what it's called, like Dynaplex or something like that.

If this has already been posted a million times that forgive me, I usually hang out over on the Crane forum more...

[/ QUOTE ]
 
[ QUOTE ]
X what are talking about?.. you can't block down wood in 2 minutes a cut.. Specially not from 80'

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since he was talking about the rope, that means he roped it all down, right?
 
I hate blocking down spars. I hate the redundant steps. And with Pine pitch... even worse. I try to block down Pines as fast as I can simply because I feel as if I'm racing against the sap flow.
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But, to answer the question, I think that is really fast (for those shorter sections).

Could you have taken longer sections and gone faster? Or, was the landing zone too small for that?
 
Repetition, not redundancy..
I read the original post wrong.. I thought he was bombing the wood.. Best thing to do is video tape the work, and you can see exactly how long it took, and where you spent the seconds..

When I AM fighting the clock, I crank from the bucket.. doubt I could keep the cycle under 2 minutes even under the best conditions.. Can't imagine anyone going faster from the hooks..

When we are in a hurry like that, no one is going to run the camera, but I'll get some video up next time the opportunity arises.. good cutting technique is crucial..
 
I timed some very consistent, cylindrical pieces some years ago with a friend to see what my cycles were like. It was fun. I went at about a 3/4 pace, maybe a little faster. We started the time when the lowering line, with a stopper knot, hit the block and stopped when I was prepared to make my back cut with everything loaded. Used an AFS, Ddrt I also installed a tag line. 7 minutes was ok and I think one of the better sets was 6 and some change. It just seems that when I go too fast that I mis details, like the second s in the word miss, lol. It's probably slow compared to some but I guess if you did heavier spar work every day a 2 person team could really work the bugs and wasted motion out of it and kill it. Fun stuff!
 
Racing is frowned upon in our company, it is counter to our top priority of safety. It is good to know how long jobs take for bidding purposes, but to put yourself on the stopwatch doing this type of work seems sketchy. If some one asks how our day is going I usually respond: "No one has be hurt, and nothing has been broken, so its a good day so far" I never say we worked really fast and knocked 14 seconds off our old record!

Yes I like to block down Pine trees fast, but not as fast as the NASCAR driver who tagged the jet drier under caution.

Haste makes waste.

Wanna race?

M
 
That's nice that you blocked it down so fast, but then you probably didn't have any energyleft to help clean it up and you probably bombed it out on the brush so in the end it took longer to do the entire tree. Of course this is speculation, but normally one of those things seems to go along with boasting of speed in a tree.

Like treesandsurf said "slow is smooth and smooth is fast," That's something they pounded into our heads in the ARMY!
 
When I looked at Tierson's avatar I was certain that he meant putting safety first and not burying the brush with wood. As a contract climber I get asked "how fast can you..." all the time and it just makes me squirm.
 
There is a big difference between "rushing" and working with "velocity".. I despise when people justify their inefficiency by claiming they had "plenty of money on the job so why be in a hurry".. How about "why take twice as long to do a job than needed".

When it comes to blocking down wood, honing your system, eliminating wasted moves, and getting it down so you can do it without thinking, like tying your shoes, is a good thing. Its smooth, BUT NOT SLOW! To me its a game that keeps the work fun and interesting 30 years into it. Always thinking about how something could be done faster, safer, easier..
 
Agree man. Especially about keeping it fun and interesting. If we burn through a job and that opens up a few minutes to experiment with a rig or something then I do it because it's difficult to create certain scenarios in a non-production setting. I sometimes end up laughing at myself or getting flamed by Viking but it's all in productive fun.
 
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