my 1st anoying question here!

Man, I see groundies as a WHOLE lot more than rakers... although I agree raking is a developed skill that requires attention.

If you want to attract pro groundies to a comp it neeed to be something more substantial than raking. The rakemaster thing seems almost like the equivalent of powder-puff football.

The groundies I know pride themselves in being fast to react, they tie great knots, they can land swinging wood of any size in a small, neat pile, they are STRONG as powerlifters and can pitch big rounds into a gated chip dump, they can talk to customers and passers by, they can make short work of big stumps and limb and buck whole trees in a few minutes... there's more but you guys know what I mean.
They do more than raking twigs.
 
Yes you forgot leap tall fences in a single bound, set a tip line on a limb your too lazy to walk out on/or too fat to do so right BB? Back a 10 foot chip truck into an 8 foot drive and not leave tire marks.
 
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by setting running bowlines way out far on limbs

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Yes I know it is quite the art to see a vet groundie weave a bag throught a limb. Then, some can even set it in a crotch for ya too.
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can really save time on a job.
 
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Yes thats true!! I love when my groundies let me expel the minimum energy possible

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Just WHAT have your tiny tree farts got to do with this?
 
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by setting running bowlines way out far on limbs

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Yes I know it is quite the art to see a vet groundie weave a bag throught a limb. Then, some can even set it in a crotch for ya too.
wink.gif
can really save time on a job.

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dems da troo smarties! day like gold fah me crew!
 
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Good to see the Groundies getting the props they deserve. I couldn't do half of what I do w/ out a well trained and qualified crew.

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Nothing like the feeling of throwing a few hand motions/head nods and knowing they understand and can give you important information with gestures in return. I dread the day I have to work with an inexperienced/unfamiliar ground crew. Half the reason I don't want to contract climb just yet.
 
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I dread the day I have to work with an inexperienced/unfamiliar ground crew. Half the reason I don't want to contract climb just yet.

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Yep, I can tell ya, start contract climbing and you'll get groundies that can't even speak your language, have never done tree work before, can't tie a knot and weird hand singles is all you'll have. One guy I subbed for a few times just picked up whatever day laborer happened to be first to his window down at the Exxon and expected me to rig big stuff into small LZs. It didn't take long before I started bringing my own groundie on contract jobs.
 
I've found that the best ropemen are generally ex-climbers that instinctively know what you need from them. There really is an art to it, more than deserving of an ISA competition inclusion, the good kind.

jomoco
 
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dems da troo smarties! day like gold fah me crew!

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So, do I use a rastafarian accent with that? Dominican? Masai? What?

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Sorry, use Brad pitts accent from Inglorious basterds!
 
I use more odd hand signals than a helicopter flagman! hahaha

BUT we all know them, and understand them. often just a head nod is all thats needed from either of us, aloft or on terra firma
 
Jomoco, you're right but personally, the worst groundie I ever had was a climber. He never minded the rope and it would hockle and lock up on pieces that NEEDED to run... like big pine tops. He failed to fully tension a speedline and the piece hung in another tree. He also dumped a puddle of bar oil in the street (a cul de sac) because he didn't get the cap on right. I never could get that stain out of the pavement. It was a disaster. I paid him climber's pay too.

I haven't used a climber on the ground since.

My 14 year son is the best rope man I've ever worked with. He can judge weights, time swings and setup all the gear without supervision... and he'd better not end up being a tree man.
 
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Jomoco, you're right but personally, the worst groundie I ever had was a climber. He never minded the rope and it would hockle and lock up on pieces that NEEDED to run... like big pine tops. He failed to fully tension a speedline and the piece hung in another tree. He also dumped a puddle of bar oil in the street (a cul de sac) because he didn't get the cap on right. I never could get that stain out of the pavement. It was a disaster. I paid him climber's pay too.

I haven't used a climber on the ground since.

My 14 year son is the best rope man I've ever worked with. He can judge weights, time swings and setup all the gear without supervision... and he'd better not end up being a tree man.

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Climber's make great groundies as far as my experience goes. Lot's of non verbal communication can get the job done fast. I've also found that intelligent guys who KNOW that they don't know what's up do a great job as well. It just takes more time to explain to them what you need them to do. It's best if they are also in some sort of skilled labor field as well, so they get the fact that there's intricacies to the profession outsiders don't understand. The WORST groundmen in my experience are bucket bunnies who've been in the field for ages. Guys that never climbed but have taken down tons of trees with a bucket truck and somehow got a big head from hit.
 
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True confessions... how many climbers have tried to teach a knot to a groundie from the tree? I've done it, or rather tried. It's hysterical when you think about it. It's hard to teach knots standing side by side.

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I haven't used a climber on the ground since.

My 14 year son is the best rope man I've ever worked with. He can judge weights, time swings and setup all the gear without supervision... and he'd better not end up being a tree man.

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you serious about him not being a tree man? That paragraph summed up my entire teen years working for my dad and learning the ropes as a ground man...I became very good at it and still am...now as he is getting older the roles are changing and I am the one counting on him to time swings and judge weights....

Hey if he wants to be a tree man let him....and let him know about Mid-State Technical college in wisconsin rapids, wi...two years of the best training one can get
 
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