How to be an Excellent Climber---from the Groundie

Re: How to be an Excellent Climber---from the Grou

Barn, I'm a Glock 29 type of guy. ;)

#90... stop trying to communicate wit me while the chipper is running full blast. It may be quiet where you are, but it's noisy as hell down here.
 
being a ground worker is a skill.. believe me when my regular ground worker isn't working and I bring in a new worker and I'm 75 feet in the air asking to have something done I don't always have the time to explain things...I just wish my regular ground worker was there...a very important part of our team...
 

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When you f-up and a branch doesn't run(even when the groundie drops the rope), don't scream like a mofo and call the groundie a stupid f-ing ahole so people 2 blocks over can hear(you where 75' up the tree jackass). FWIW I only dropped the rope for a few seconds to prove my point when screaming back at him, closest I ever came to grabbing my lunchbox and walking home.
 
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And right along with that...

How about a warning when it's gonna be BIG? You might clearly see what you're tying into to lower down, but after a bunch of 20 pounders, I may not clearly see when you decide to tie on that 400 pound piece.
 
While I, as the Excellent Groundie, am fueling the saws, checking/adjusting chain tension, cleaning filters, sharpening the cutters, clearing the drop zone and drag path, coning/taping off the area, backing the truck and chipper into position, getting the rigging gear out, etc, etc, etc...you're doing what? Planning your climb?

If I truly am an Excellent Groundie, I need to be in on your plan, so pitch in with the site prep. Nothing more frustrating than hearing limbs coming down while I'm still trying to get the clients dog tied up in a safe spot.

If you are the type of climber that must leave "security blanket stubs" on your spar, after the second rigged branch hangs up, either start using tag lines or come down and cut the damn thing off.

Northwind
 
Dog cussing the ground crew is really, REALLY bad form. Also be patient if they don't understand what you're saying, it's harder to hear from the ground than it is from the tree.

Real leaders don't dog cuss their people, ever. If you have to dress someone down, do it in private.
 
Hey Northwind!

I had to chuckle at your post.

Certainly if we are planning the climb we would need the whole team together. And if we were planning the climb there would be no need for the groundie to be firing up the saw or chipper since there wouldn't be anything to cut or chip yet because the climber hadn't climbed yet.

No, I was referring to those necessary conversations where the aerial part of the plan needs to be adjusted mid-stream and foreman and the lead groundie (in our case one and the same person) are hollering back and forth with the half-deaf climber.

It is those times when we wait for a lull to start the conversation only to have a level-two groundie fire up some equipment in the middle of a sentence.

Excellent Groundie that you Are
grin.gif
I'm sure you would always be aware of the critical conversations around you and never interrupt them with the BWaaaap! of the Stihl!
 
[ QUOTE ]
And right along with that...

How about a warning when it's gonna be BIG? You might clearly see what you're tying into to lower down, but after a bunch of 20 pounders, I may not clearly see when you decide to tie on that 400 pound piece.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that this is a situation where clear communication is super important.

I try to ask how controllable a piece was, and use it for a standard for comparison. "This next piece looks like its a bit bigger than the first piece we did. This one is also a top-rigged piece/ falling from the side of the block/ falling from above the block piece.

We use a Port-a-wrap. This helps the groundman to calibrate how many wraps are necessary for a given piece falling from a given location in relation to the block/ pulley.
 
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#91 If the foreman is talking to the climber trying to plan out the next segment, DON'T START THE SAW OR CHIPPER!

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm going to try some $30 Motorola Walkie-Talkies from REI to help with the ground to treetop conversations, leaving Call and Respond to shouting. I have used my cell phone on speaker phone before, leaving it in a zipped pocket while needing a pull on a rope from out of sight/ hearing. It was great for the situation. I figure that the WT can stay on a rope around my neck inside my shirt/ jacket when not needed, and the ground crew can leave theirs in the tool staging area when not needed (but still handy). So hard to hear over ground ops noise, neighboring road traffic, the distant highway (when you are up high in the tree), etc.
 
rfwoodvt,

That's actually a pet peeve of mine,
mad.gif
having the attention of one groundie, but needing to converse in spurts between blasts of full throttle chainsaw as another bucks a limb down to size.

But I know how intense it can get on the ground with a tough drag, no staging area, so I don't sweat it too much, eveybodys got a job to do...

...And that is part of being an Excellent Climber, pace the work to the level of difficulty the ground crew is experiencing, if they are hustling with a tough LZ, skinny gate, slippery stairs on an uphill drag, you gain NO TIME by burying them.


Northwind
 
Show me how to do this first so I can do it the next time while you...

Sorry, but you need to show me this again, I'm not perfect either.

Joe
 
I really like the idead of a climber being a groundie first!!
I was an accomplished groundie before i ever climbed,any one, in my mind, (which is suspect), who will not or does not do whatever is needed to get the job done is lame! You are not HELPING the groundie.......you are doing your job?.
I could NEVER wrap up a rope, and watch people move wood or drag brush.No pre-madonnas here......sorry!
 
We've had zero luck with the Motorola radios...seems they pick up the crap noise over the voices!

However, we did pick up some HD throat mics and ear buds that we are playing with. Zero background noise but the connectors left a lot to be desired. VOX seems to be a worthwhile function too. though I'm not sure how well they will do.



Just spent the afternoon hard wiring the all the connectors together and every thing works much better now.

Gonna try them on the job next week.
 
Re: How to be an Excellent Climber---from the Grou

rf, I use Kenwood TK3200's. They're the best rig out there in terms of audio quality, and the range is superb, to boot. Not horribly expensive either; under $200 for the radio with a speaker/mic.
 
Re: How to be an Excellent Climber---from the Grou

Learn how to untie rigging knots. It sucks when your sitting in the tree for three min. waiting for the ground guy to untie a bowline, and all the other ground guys are standing around stareing at him doing nothing. Brake that damn bite!
 
Re: How to be an Excellent Climber---from the Grou

[ QUOTE ]
Learn how to untie rigging knots. It sucks when your sitting in the tree for three min. waiting for the ground guy to untie a bowline, and all the other ground guys are standing around stareing at him doing nothing. Brake that damn bite!

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll turn that around so it fits the thread: To be a better climber, make sure your groundie knows the knot you're using. It's great if you know twenty ways to tie off a piece you're rigging, but not if it means the ground crew has to work a puzzle every time they lower one. I like to use a carabiner on the end of the rigging line instead of a knot, with or without a loop of webbing (and sometimes have to remember that the new guy might not know how to open a triple-lock).
 
Re: How to be an Excellent Climber---from the Grou

#(?)- If it hasn't been said already, I'm sure it has:

Before you go up in a tree, quickly take the time to discuss how you're going to dissect the tree. Point out where you intend to start, where your intended lowering point is etc...This makes it easier to plan out which way the portawrap should be facing on the tree, where the chipper is backed up to, and where a bag of gear needs to be. The more organinzed the plan, the better and less stressful it works for everyone on the job.

Nothing is worse than a bucket op setting up the lift while the groundies do everything else, gets going with just a saw, while the groundies are doing everything else, and starts hollering at them over a house that he "NEEDS RIGGING GEAR!"

A well formulated plan does wonders for all.
 
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