Climbing dead elm

Riggs, this is the first dead elm i will have climbed indeed. i'll be sure to post a picture of before and after. I'm not gonna get to it for at least a month, hopefully the anticipation wont keep you up at night.
I dont mind the razz, it reminds 25 year olds like me that there is a whole generation of tree climbers that learned to do their thing before information forums. Sometimes I feel like I am cheating. But I am just using my resources... You must learn new things on treebuzz sometimes?

Thanks for all the responses. i LEARNED stuff.
 
I think this link is a good example that can be applied to virtually any dead tree. at least one that had been hanging around for a few years. Approach every dead tree removal as if it were a dead elm. Sound the hell out of it, check for adjacent trees to tie into, bore near the base and check out how much solid wood is there by watching the quality of chips that fly off the bar.
 
Riggs has a case of "The older I get, the faster I was."

Take your time and proceed with caution. Slow and steady wins the race.
 
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Riggs has a case of "The older I get, the faster I was."

Take your time and proceed with caution. Slow and steady wins the race.

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Haha plenty of that about! I'm sure I will be the same though!
 
I'm sure I've already got some of that going on. I'm sure Riggs is plenty tough and that he knows his way around DED elms. I've got respect for any man that drug a homelite around on a manilla rope all day. I used a friend of mine's homelite once and those things are like boat anchors.
 
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I dont mind the razz, it reminds 25 year olds like me that there is a whole generation of tree climbers that learned to do their thing before information forums.

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I met Riggs on the original ISA forum in about '95-'96 or so. There was something about his rat-a-tat-tat delivery than that caught me. Still does!

Now that we can be connected so easily the world has shrunk...not small enough for me to want to rake it though. Before the forums got going a lot of us were figuring things out on our own, with some good and not so good results. Now...we can tap into the tribal wisdom...and sometimes have to filter through the tribal wizz-dumb though!
 
allright Tom , and Zale ? Tom's cool but who's zale ? faster older whatever . dumb. Chep , here is the deal with those dead elms . If the trunk bark is off the tree it is very dangerous , the part that goes up to the first lead . Than you know the tree is bad . The ends get real brittle , but so brittle that they couldn't break an egg if they fell . Where ever you can , kick the bark off. Tie into a semi good pivot point and set your lowering line on a limb that when you lower stuff it doesn't hit the trunk . For real it is gonna take more than a 200 pound or less climber to make this Elm fail . Don't rock the boat and don't be scared , strong tree . Tip tie and butt tie work well , but that all depends on you as a climber . As for me , I am more wary of Dead Sycamores and Poplars than Elms .
 
I also had the same instructer Fran. He is very knowledgeable at what he taught and I dont know what he has learned since I left in 89 but I would be interested to know the context.

That said..I have to disagree with a couple things. I have found the wood much more dangerouse when the bark was still on. It rots quicker and is less strong. I was told by an old climber I started with they were safer even after a couple years dead if the bark had fallen off. I attribute this to it drying out better and allowing less bacteria and fungi optimal habitat. This has been my experience. These are all guidlines and each tree should be taken individually.
I have climbed plenty of dead trees. I have also found suprises. I too am tired of young people who dont work hard or "get it done" this doesnt sound like the case her. Jus someone with less experience looking to get a little advise. Boy I wish Id have gotten more(if I would have listened).
 
Well I don't agree here, but i do know that you took some down . I'm talking about ground to first lead bark falling off . They are all different but , bark off from the ground is a forgotton tree , till it's gotta go . Now when the barks is off the top , game on , when it's off the trunk , games really on . right ?
 
Just for the record and arguement sake , I've had to have taken down over a hundred( plus) dead Elms , climbing , before 1989. Game on ! Lot of Dogwoods died in those years too , they weren't too tricky .
 
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Well I don't agree here, but i do know that you took some down . I'm talking about ground to first lead bark falling off . They are all different but , bark off from the ground is a forgotton tree , till it's gotta go . Now when the barks is off the top , game on , when it's off the trunk , games really on . right ?

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I guess I misunderstood before. trunk is usually ok especially with the big ones.
 
Any dead tree requires caution and a complete evaluation before deciding to climb it. I've climbed hundreds of dead trees also and each one is unique. You can make general statements about different species and how they react during the removal process but we don't really know. We only have our experience to help guide us.

Sorry Riggs, didn't mean to offend. Just sounds too much like "In my day.....".
 
I have the pleasure of climbing dead birch regularily. It's not sounding, it's feeling the movement. It goes from the strongest wood to the weakest in a couple years. No problem I'm just a little guy 250lb 6'4". And they grow like flagpoles up here.
 
"Sorry Riggs, didn't mean to offend. Just sounds too much like "In my day.....". "

In 89 I was 23 . My day is still here . I 'm hitting it Zale .Smacked A dead Beech over a mansion in Gladwynne today ( 13mill house , whoa) . Ok . My 50 plus removal this year . thats 2011 . You sound like a tool , don't want to offend , loosen your tie and drop your cell , every post requires caution and a complete evaluation before deciding repond to it , You can make general statements about different responses to posts and how we react
during the response process but we don't really know. We only have our experience to help guide us.

Sorry Zale, didn't mean to offend. Just sounds too much like "not my day.....".
 
Yeah I've done some silly stuff in dead birches as well... Tied into other trees of course. Nothing puts your mind at ease when you stick your spurs in and bury the gaffs to the irons.

I've done a few american elms that succumbed to DED and didn't have that much hesitation... Just didn't go tying into anything smaller than my forearm, did my visual inspection and rigged pieces small if it was sketchy (or bombed them if i could). From what I understand rot is more of an issue if its affected the outside rather than inside (like pipes). Pipes are pretty strong but with a weak point, they crumple. So they can still absorb "some" shock.
 
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"Sorry Riggs, didn't mean to offend. Just sounds too much like "In my day.....". "

In 89 I was 23 . My day is still here . I 'm hitting it Zale .Smacked A dead Beech over a mansion in Gladwynne today ( 13mill house , whoa) . Ok . My 50 plus removal this year . thats 2011 . You sound like a tool , don't want to offend , loosen your tie and drop your cell , every post requires caution and a complete evaluation before deciding repond to it , You can make general statements about different responses to posts and how we react
during the response process but we don't really know. We only have our experience to help guide us.

Sorry Zale, didn't mean to offend. Just sounds too much like "not my day.....".

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Dude! You're beginning to talk like Ken The Tree Spyder. He must have been a real genius.

Joe
 
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"Sorry Riggs, didn't mean to offend. Just sounds too much like "In my day.....". "

In 89 I was 23 . My day is still here . I 'm hitting it Zale .Smacked A dead Beech over a mansion in Gladwynne today ( 13mill house , whoa) . Ok . My 50 plus removal this year . thats 2011 . You sound like a tool , don't want to offend , loosen your tie and drop your cell , every post requires caution and a complete evaluation before deciding repond to it , You can make general statements about different responses to posts and how we react
during the response process but we don't really know. We only have our experience to help guide us.

Sorry Zale, didn't mean to offend. Just sounds too much like "not my day.....".

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Dude! You're beginning to talk like Ken The Tree Spyder.


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At least The Treespyder's posts were good natured.
 
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