Looking for a used saddle?

T

treefarmer

Location
S.W. Ontario
Hi!

I'm looking for a used saddle. I'm not exactly sure how to fit one /forum/images/graemlins/9lame.gif. I'd like as much input into this as I can get. I'm used to bucket work and ground work the in the tree thing is new. Tought I'd start in my own yard the honey do list involves lots of pruning.

Thanx
 
Have you climbed with a saddle already? What style? Butt strap, leg strap, floating D...there's lots of configurations.

Before you buy a used saddle you want to make sure that you're not getting an old horse harness. There are many people that I would buy used gear from without batting an eye. But that's because I know them and I know how they take care of their gear. Buying a saddle site unseen from an unknown person is dodgy.

I'll bet there are some Treebuzzers who have extra saddles for sale. My other three saddles are all being used by our trim crews now.
 
First question is are they the same as climbing harness' that you'd wear rock climbing? If so i have worn a harness before and it was leg style harness. One thing I've noticed is the tree saddles look a hell of a lot beefier and more comfortable. The harnesses we have on our highangle rescue truck are all fixed D. I realize the buyer beware policy what I'm hoping to accomplish is a little practice and experience with out a huge cash outlay.

Thnx
 
Tree saddles are much more comfy that climbing saddles. Arbos spend all of their time sitting in the saddle. If you have access to a Yates rescue saddle or CMC rescue saddle you would be on the right track. Those companies make some nicely padded saddles.

How familiar are you with tree climbing? It sounds like you're on a rescue team. Correct? If so, there's lots of cross over. The biggest variable is that arbos work off of anchors that have unknown [for the most par] strength. It's really rare that a tie in point breaks though.

Give us an idea of your skill set. That makes it easier to get the conversation going.
 
Okay well what my experience is that I'm a volunteer firefighter. Our hall has a high angle rescue team on it. I'm what would be an auxilary member of that team which means I'm learning the ropes. I've rappeled I'm familiar with rigging principles, and knots etc. The problem is that I have no harness and the ones that i borrow feel like i'm wearing someone elses shoes, they fit but they don't. I also have looked at the other harnesses being worn and the other guys did very little research into them and they find them uncomfortable.
We also have a hell of a lot of older larger trees on our properties, that look like they'd be fun to climb. I also get asked to prune a lot of trees.We prune with a crew about 20,000 fruit trees every year. So neighbours and families are always asking me to bring our bucket lift to prune out dead limbs and such. I've pruned some using rigging techniques.
I'm going to sign up for some courses in our area this year so i can get a bit more experience. I hope that gives you a better picture. Thanks for taking the time.
 
S.W. Ontario you say? Arbormaster Canada has courses a number of times a year at the Brant Conservation Area just outside of Brantford. Check out their website. A friend of mine is an instructor with them and he from the St. Catherines area. If you have any other questions PM me and we can hammer out some other options for you. I have a few saddles you could try but you'd have to come up my way for a little rec climbing. I'm a little partial to each one for various reasons.
 
Hi Dave,

I'm in Chatham-Kent right on the lake Erie shore we have a couple of maple groves and older growth areas here. I'd like to try that getting together and doing a climbing thing, I'm wanting to take a look at some of the equipment being used.

talk to you later
 
One of my closest friend is down in between Tillsonberg and St. Thomas. Has his own business down there. Super guy, aspiring fireman he is, say firemen have enough free time he can keep climbing trees. I say wait till he's married with three kids.
 
Remember nasty comments about firefighters backfire. We seem to take longer getting water on the fire than normal /forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif. Its not like I'm full time either I don't get paid for horizontal time, I volunteer to stand on your roof and cut holes in it with my bigass Stihl rescue saw. I love cutting nails and shingles.
 
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