Climb it?

[Mark Chisholm]

I was sent to remove a tall oak with a hollow in it a while back. The resistograph showed advanced decay. Anyway, I decided to tie into the large oak behind it (in this pic) rather than climb it for two reasons: 1-It was there and 2-It had to be rigged, so impact was inevitable.

 

[Mark Chisholm]

BTW, it's the one with the GRCS on it. Here's the hollow that used to house squirrels.

 

[Mark Chisholm]

Here's the top going over. You can see my tie in line behind me. It looks like a very flat angle from the pic, but was a bit higher than I was.

 

[Mark Chisholm]

Here's a shot from ther road.

 

[Mark Chisholm]

Here's a funny shot. I had to kick off the gaffs and swing into the tree I was tied to so that I could hazard prune it.


Back to my question now, Climb it or no? I mean tie into it or no? After all was said and done the tree held it's own without a question. This is good to see, but is it false confidence? Can I use this for future reference or will that be the wrong choice? What do you think?

 

[Kevin]

Looks like a climber to me Mark.
If in doubt I might of placed a guy or two.

 

[tnttree]

I probably would of climbed it, no leaves, feeling more confident/safe as you remove the equivalent of your own weight in limbs on the ascent. The top cuts the scariest, might think different standing under her though. How hollow was she? or was the hollow only higher up?

 

[klimbinfool]

with another oak that close, I probably would have done the saame as you MArk. At least if the tree goes or snaps you only have to take off your flip to try and get away.

Are those black Oaks ? Insipiant wood looked sound was it?

GREG

 

[TreeJunkie]

Hard to tell for certain with out inspecting the hollow closer. In general though i'm very confident in oaks. I suppose it would have depended on how much of a swing you would have taken had you slipped away from the tree you were tied into.

If i had to say w/ out being there then i would have prob climbed it. But would have been very conscious of how large of pieces beig rigged. In general i find being tied in to another tree unless absolutely necessary to be a p.i.t.a. unless directly overhead.

 

[tod_k]

Having an alternitive t.i.p. I would have definetly used it. From the looks of the decay with all of the new wood it seemed to be ok. How were the roots? Root rot is common around here. I usually fear total tree failure.

 

[Riggs]

I agree , if the game board has other pieces in play , use them. I would have done the same Mark , but if I had to , I think I would have climbed it , of course for the right price.The ol slap on the back and "atta boy" doesn't work with me anymore.

 

[johnmeiszner]

[ QUOTE ]
Can I use this for future reference or will that be the wrong choice? What do you think?

[/ QUOTE ]


Definitely wrong to have the attitude that every situation is going to work out in our favor. We have to take every precaution every on every job. What will our groundies do on their future removals?

That shot of you kicking your spurs off reminds me of a t-shirt my older brother used to wear in his hippy phase. The one with the little orange guy.

 

[tod_k]

What are you tied into, looks like a biner with a pulley?

 

[Norm_Hall]

Mark, I would have done the same thing you did as well. It's hard to say whether I would have climbed it without seeing some more pics on the decay. Guying it to adjacent trees is an option when in doubt. You said the resistograph showed advanced decay. How advanced?
You made the right choice my friend.

 

[pantheraba]

I say err on the side of caution...since that alternate TIP was there and you felt OK about a swing it seems right to me.

Having something go wrong and then asking yourself "why didn't I tie into that other tree?"...well, it's one of those "I wish I had taken a few more minutes to do it differently..." moments that it is better not to have to face.

The greatest cause of human tragedy is impatience...taking a little more time to "play it safe" may be a good investment.

We usually don't get to find out if that extra precaution was necessary or not...thank goodness.

 

[Gerald_Beranek]

With the pine bark beetle infestation here I've become at odds with myself on the same questions. At this point in time so many of the dead trees are too far gone for safe entry and dismantling. So I've turned many down. But certain ones I do go ahead and climb always leave a certain feeling in my gut, maybe this is going to be the one.

For the most, in our coniferous stands, there are ample sound trees for tie-in-points to work out of, and even double tie-in-points for dropping down on the tree in question. In those situations I feel pretty confident, but the lone wolf out by itself is another tree all together, no way out there. And that is a different matter.

There's tens of thousands of dead pines here and years of wondering ahead.

Jerry B

 

[Peter McS]

If an suplimentary tie in point is available i would be hard put to think of a reason why it should not used. Dead and damaged tree carry an enhanced risk so a climber needs to respond to that and reduce it !

 

[Kevin]

The reason being I prefer a tie in directly overhead to prevent swing and it's much easier to sit in the saddle when the rope isn't trying to pull you off the tree.

 

[Lumberjack]

From what I saw in the picture.....

I probably would have climbed it and perhaps rigged from another tree(s).

However in reality I might have tied into the other tree if it was close enough, I dont like the rope pulling against me and swinging backwards is never cool. I wouldnt find fault with you tying into the other tree, one question I had was it looked like you could have had a TIP that was higher and closer to the tree?

As to his TIP in the other tree it looks like a removable false crotch, a pulley on the end of a line with his climbing line in it. Smart move, if the tree were to frag out the climber could be unable to lower himself for whatever reason (hard swing) and the groundies can lower him if need be.

Mark did you tie into the neighboring tree then climb the removed tree? I am assuming you did, had that been the case I would have climbed tied into the other tree as well as my usual climbing line, perhaps having a groundy belay me or perhaps taking care of it myself using the Cinch or the Id.

 

[treejockey]

If you have the advantage of that other tree there and you can still the removal safely, it is not worth the chance. Like the climber only has to be wrong once to end his life, the tree never has to be wrong. Ok!! I just changed it alittle.
Good pics Mark, this is a good exercise.