In tree GAS! --- I mean fuel you sickos!!!!

skygear

skygear

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in a tree
Was on a site last week and some hangers put the foreman on edge. S0 he told the ground crew to not go near me at all. These were sitting on top of an oak, in the canopy, from the pine I was in. I tried to clear them, but eventually we had to use the bobcat to remove them due to how entangled they were. LOOK, safety first, I get it. But if My ground guys are aware of the dangers and know that I wouldn't put them in danger, plus saw how these hangers were caught up. They should be able to perform some clearing of the branches I generate. Calculated risk. Eventually I tied off the 2 hangers to deal with later when I was off of the pole. Heres the fun part....

I ran out of fuel.... So the foreman won't let the guys clear my climbing line so I can lower my saw. I can't get the 661 up there since my line is buried. Cant get fuel up there either. I'm ~100' up in this pine. Needless say, I had to come all the down, grab a bull rope, climb back to the hangers, back down, clear them with the skidsteer, then- help the ground crew clear my line and fuel my saw. Now back up to the top to finish piecing it out.

Was frustrated with myself. On many levels.But my guys trust me and I wouldn't ever put them in harms way intentionally. If I feel safe under the hangers, or give them the heads up, they know they are probably fine.

NOW! I kept thinking what I could have with me from now on in the trees so I don't run out of fuel.Was thinking an MSR Fuel bottle on a carabiner, ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015I0GE6/ref=twister_B07B5BYX52?_encoding=UTF8&th=1) or one of those aluminum fuel/ oil Australian Toucan gas cans that can be warn on your belt or hung.


What is everyone else using?
 
Controlled slideline to get the saw to your crew :)

Gas and oil bottles work well but only if you have the foresight to pack them in the first site and the motivation to carry them through the entire climb

I try to not let things get tangled in with oaks, it’s just a nightmare all round

I’m looking forward to seeing what other people have to say
 
I've used an MSR-like bottle in the past. Haven't in a log time. Then last month I was doing some work in the woods....not a lot, but more than 1 tank. I brought that along again and it worked great. Any smaller bottle works for oil....(especially since I use canola oil so it doesn't break down most plastics)
 
this pine grew right threw the oak. it was a mess.perfect speed line situation. my new foreman was not familiar with it so I got the no on that right off the start. got to work in your crews comfort zone. I've definitely used my msr bottles on more thane occasion.mostly solo work though. all things considered, i feel I should keep at a minimum, a half tank with me to finish some cuts. I binner up a clean canteen water bottle on every ascent, a few more oz isn't that dramatic,
 
Are you telling us your climbing line was buried, and the foreman would not allow it to be cleared, and then forced you to climb back down?

The first mistake in this comedy of errors was your groundie allowing your climbing line to be buried. A good groundie’s #1 priority is to keep your climbing line clear at all times. No excuses.

I know what I would have done when I hit the ground. Smacked to foreman in the fucking ear, and ask him if he would kindly like some more. .
 
I have hauled MSR Fuel bottles up, one for gas and one for oil if I'm up there for a long time dealing with problem children. I clip them (and something to eat/ drink) into a daisy chain sling and make it a fuel/ oil/ lunch/ tool station. Same for a spare Li battery in cold weather. This'll also have stuff like cabling tools up there with me in a rope bucket. Saves up and down.
As for your foreman, cheesh . . . . but as we used to say in consulting, guess it's all just billable hours. I just would have really taken my own sweet time though.
 
The whole situation from the beginning of the trip was bad. We went up to do work after "Michael" hit. The first half of the crew split and left us hanging. We brought more people on to stay in the $ and it kept going down hill. Eventually I got rid of all of them for various reasons and the buried line was just the tip of the iceberg. I agree though. My grounds know better, the new foreman was off his rocker. put us way behind on bids and jobs. Glad the nightmare is over.

@ghostice , nice. yeah, glad to know I'm not the only one using them. still wondering if there are better options out there.

I do a ton of solo work. Just replaced a solenoid on my truck winch. I like to use the wireless remote on it in the trees as my lowering/ground guy ;) - the less I have to come down the better.
 
I go to the thrift stores and buy old, aluminum or stainless water bottles for fuel. They usually already have a place to clip a 'biner. They're usually 25 cents to $1 so if I lose/forget/misplace one I don't worry about it. Last time I went to get some, they had so many I filled up a kitchen trash bag full and the lady charged me $3 for the lot... they were tired of having so many of them sitting around.

For bar oil, I just wash out my empty mustard squeeze bottles, cuz it fits in my ditty bag and you usually don't need much of that. Again, if you lose it or whatever, who cares?

Some of the purpose made ones like the Toucan are cool, but if I paid more than $5 I'm pretty sure I'd leave it sitting on the fender of the truck and drive off and lose it within a week of buying it.
 
Carry your climb line. It will never get buried, cut or most importantly chipped. Your ground guys will not have to constantly take care of your climbing rope on the ground. They probably have to already manage a rigging rope on the ground at times, and possibly while the chipper is running.
 
That is some BS right there. If it was indeed that dangerous why in the hell were you allowed there?
MSR bottles for me. Got one big and one pretty damn small. Rarely climb with them but good for long hauls into inaccessible areas (100’ down a bluff, then 100’ up a tree
 
I got SO mad reading that. Man, fuck 'em. No sawdust is getting made if you don't make it.
I would have been done when I had to come down for such a stupid reason. "What do you mean? I climbed that tree already. You go do the job by yourself and I'll watch."
 
I didn't make conversation with the guy. I knew I couldn't work with him and let the negativity get to me. I laughed it all off and got the job done. No sense in killing the morale any further.

Funny thing he said to one of the ground crew that got back to me, "I got a guy that could have gotten 5 trees down to his one (me), he's slow. What does he need all that gear for!? Looks like extra stuff to get hung up on." - from that I took that he was 'old school' and probably wasn't very safe in a tree.

Next day, I showed up on site ~10ish. Had to dry my boots out with a blow drier. He was already in a tree telling me he was going to show me how it's done. The guys told me he was onsite at ~8:30ish and took him 40 min to set a line before he got in the tree. Made his first cut 5 min before I showed up.

After sitting around waiting for him to make dust, I decided to jump into the next tree 30' away. Taller and full. Made my first cut at 11:15, finished it off at ~1:** something. ~100'+ pine.

He made his last cut in the same tree he started in at ~4:33...

Again, I just kept up the morale. "Great job man! Doing awesome! Almost done!" - he didn't give up, I never called him out on his nonsense, and afterwards he didn't speak about The work at all.

-- no longer working with him --
 
Right on. Hope you get to be around good tree guys from now on.I have never worked back east. What my mentors used to say to me was, worrie bout myself and them other guys will work their way down the road. To put it nicely. Good luck down there watch out for them snakes and spiders
 
Bango Skank said:
Were they mad at you or something? Did you bury them neck high in brush?

Still inexcusable.
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No I was easy with them. Letting them Clear the area for production. Foreman kept pulling them from me for other tasks and boom, I got a branch on my line and 2 hangers. Was my fault for rushing when they got pulled for the nth time.. Normally 1 guy that's mine. Never leaves the tree unless he asks. Always has my back. The new guys just didn't mesh well. We all ate well on me that night. I cooked in the back of the truck, Jack Daniel rib eyes, couscous, Jack Daniel salmon, and finger potatoes. No matter what, I don't go to bed mad. I keep everyone fed good and do my best to keep morale up.

No Harmony.

Lessons learned.
 
Sawjocky said:
Right on. Hope you get to be around good tree guys from now on.I have never worked back east. What my mentors used to say to me was, worrie bout myself and them other guys will work their way down the road. To put it nicely. Good luck down there watch out for them snakes and spiders
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For sure. I'm hoping to get a few reliable people to train up over winter. The season doesn't allow much here.
 
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