Details of taking upper branches on ash removal

moss

moss

Been here much more than a while
Location
Carlisle, Massachusetts, U.S.

I've been climbing going on 11 years, doing tree work for 2, my saw and light rigging skills are improving. These are details taking out the upper smaller limbs/branches on a very dead white ash. I'm on a ZK-2 RW with a 200' line basal anchored on a white pine. I couldn't let the wood fly free, too many nice trees in tight around the ash. I had some delicate perches getting the uppermost stuff. Once I was chunking the trunk down I had enough landing zone to just push the pieces off, that went quickly.
-AJ
 
Unfortunately no help, a friend did a little rope management for me, they were hanging around but were not actually working for me.

That's why the small amount of rigging I did was static and relatively small pieces, no options to have pieces lowered to the ground and taken off rope. If I had help I could've gone a bit bigger for the upper pieces.

Couldn't rig off the pine, I was on the south side of the pine and it had heavy growth nearly top to bottom.

The ash was pretty strong except for some of the upper limbs which were starting to rot.

Thx for the comments, I'm not the flashy takedown artist but I find ways to get it done safely.
-AJ
 
moss said:
Unfortunately no help, a friend did a little rope management for me, they were hanging around but were not actually working for me.

That's why the small amount of rigging I did was static and relatively small pieces, no options to have pieces lowered to the ground and taken off rope. If I had help I could've gone a bit bigger for the upper pieces.

Couldn't rig off the pine, I was on the south side of the pine and it had heavy growth nearly top to bottom.

The ash was pretty strong except for some of the upper limbs which were starting to rot.

Thx for the comments, I'm not the flashy takedown artist but I find ways to get it done safely.
-AJ
Click to expand...

No one cares about being flashy. Safe and efficient is a job well done. I was just curious about rigging options to make things a bit easier....for you : )

Always nice to have another tree to tie in to on a dead tree like that. Keeps the butt puckering to a minimum.
 
Oh yeah, one other thing, my felling skills are work in progress. I'd never dropped an ash trunk before. I got it down to about 25-30' tall and figured I had clearance to make it through a tight fall path. It had significant lean to the left of my fall line. I tried making the face cut approx 15 degrees to the right hoping to split the difference and get a drop where I wanted it. I've already had some screw ups with dead trunks so I did a plunge cut to form the hinge and then cut the back strap to drop it. Hell! The hinge held perfectly, ignored the lean and dropped the trunk right against a big ash. Is ash known for it's intense hinge strength? I shaved away at the base of the trunk and jumped it off the stump then took out about 4' off the bottom, first making a big face/undercut and then shaving away on the upper backside. When I had it shaved down to a minimum of holding wood I whacked it sideways with a stout piece of limb, on the second hit the joint buckled and the whole thing rolled off the standing tree, very satisfying ;-) The tree lessons never end!
-AJ
 
AJ... Rig N' Wrench, man. Perfect for how you're working! All you need is someone to unhook the limbs from the rigging rope. Even a wino passing by can do that. If the DZ is such that the hook or carabiner on rope end isn't reachable from your working position, just use some throwline or light cord for a retrieval line. I work solo a lot, or with just the wife or a friend helping out, and this setup has really made life easier!
 
Using a speedline if the situation is right has been awesome for solo stuff. The main obstacle to solo rigging is detaching the the limb from the rope. It's that remotely releasable anchor problem again. I use a groundworker when I have a serious amount of wood to rig, and/or when it is just plain stupid not to for the job.
-AJ
 
moss said:
Using a speedline if the situation is right...
Click to expand...

Indeed it is, sir! I'm hoping to try out using the 1/2" Rig N' Wrench setup for the control line with a speedline... control it all from the canopy. Still need someone to unhook the load, until monkeylove gets around to inventing that remotely releasable rigging hook that we need!
 
Couldn't you rig the limbs with a friction saver (RR in a crossed leg pattern) and retrieve the whole system with a ball? For instance, rigging rope runs through a figure 8 anchored to tree in canopy, then through the rr friction saver on limb you are cutting, and that end anchored off wherever is best. Hold/lock off tail, cut, and lower, undo anchor end, retrieve with ball

edit: Of coarse I see all sorts of problems with that to. What do you do when the piece snags another branch or a silly stub on the way down, friction saver wont release...etc
 
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Nice work moss. Slow and deliberate. Have to do it that way in a tree like that one. A suggestion for your chainsaw scabbard, I have the same one and they are awesome. I have mine on a 1/8" bungee that I have mini binered on the back of my saddle and to the loop on the scabbard closest to the saw' not the tip. When I make my cut, I pull the scabbard off and drop it and it hangs behind me. Finish the cut and pull the scabbard up and put it on the saw. Saves a bunch securing the scabbard during the cut, plus it is never unsecured so I can't drop it.
 
oldoakman said:
...mini binered on the back of my saddle and to the loop on the scabbard closest to the saw' not the tip...
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I do, too, big guy... sometimes, if I don't want it floppin' around behind me, I leave it on the bungee but just shove it into my ditty bag. Especially if I'm making a lot of cuts, one after another, at a quick pace. It's right there on my left side, so a bit faster to grab after the cut. When I get ready to move, I just drop it again so it's not interfering with my left elbow movement. Of course, there has to be room in the ditty bag, so you have to drink a couple of those beers on the way up. ;)
 
moss said:
Unfortunately no help, a friend did a little rope management for me, they were hanging around but were not actually working for me.

That's why the small amount of rigging I did was static and relatively small pieces, no options to have pieces lowered to the ground and taken off rope. If I had help I could've gone a bit bigger for the upper pieces.

Couldn't rig off the pine, I was on the south side of the pine and it had heavy growth nearly top to bottom.

The ash was pretty strong except for some of the upper limbs which were starting to rot.

Thx for the comments, I'm not the flashy takedown artist but I find ways to get it done safely.
-AJ
Click to expand...

Good job. Would you like a few suggestions to help when in this situation?

Joe
 
I noticed you had a rigging line running one from section to another. You can attach a friction device to the running end of the rigging line instead of running it through a crotch. I like to use a munter hitch. It is bi-directional, and locks off with little effort. I learned to take the slack out of the rigging line before actually tieing it. This made it efficient to use. I reversed engineered the hitch to learn how to put tension in the rigging line before tieing it. It became a matter of a 180 degree twist of the carabiner after removing slack in the line. Work with it on the ground first to learn how to do it. You'll want to use a carabiner designed to use for the munter. The hitch will not work efficiently with any carabiner. I use a bent gate carabiner. I found this type to allow me to finish the hitch by simply sliding the rope over the gate. It can be locked off with a slip. You'll want a nice long loop and tie it tight because the weight of the working end of the line can pull the slip free. Locking it off at the hitch can be helpful when the line needs to be held tight and then the piece lowered. Pull on the line to undo the slip, then lower the piece. Because it's bi-directional, you can run the line back up to rig another piece, or switch ends. It can also be tied off at another part of the tree. You can use another sling and carabiner to do this. It can add a little extra friction to a rig which will make it easier to lower bigger pieces. It is said to be used with weight up to 600 lbs. That's a good number for the stuff you're doing in your video. The hitch can bind if ran parallel to a stem and there's weight on the rope. The pieces you're rigging shouldn't be an issue. I've used this particular set up to control the decent of pieces by using the hitch which is tied to a piece and simply letting the line run through it. Sometimes the weight of the line will stop the pieces from hitting the ground and acts like anti-lock breaks. On some larger pieces, it keeps them close under the rigging point. I've used a few carabiners learning about it.

If solo rigging, you can retrieve your line without moving the hitch or descending the tree to untie the pieces. What you do is carry multiple slings like used for speedlining. Make a double whip tackle with the munter as your friction device. You'll have a working end, and a static end. The static end can be untied and thrown to the ground, pulled through the carabiner on the now lowered piece, and retrieved for the next rig. The line can get tangled in the lowered piece or bound by the carabiner if the sling and carabiner are too tight to the stem. If you have help, the friction device can be left in place and the static end moved throughout the tree to work different parts of it. This is called splitting the rigging points. Using a dwt will allow you to increase the work load when using the munter depending on location of the static end of the line. A good example of splitting the rigging points can be seen in a technique which has been termed here on treebuzz as span rigging. This shows how to use another tree or trees as a rigging point. It will also allow you to create a landing zone where one didn't exist, or cut a potentially long swing in half.

Here are some links that may also help.
http://www.smackdock.co.uk/tackles.htm
http://www.tpub.com/builder2n3/48.htm
http://www.webpal.org/SAFE/aaarecovery/5_simple_technology/basic_machines.pdf

Joe
 
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