New to spider legs

[classictruckman]

Look they are 100% illegal here, and I can rig faster and better with the slings I already have so why would I switch to some very expensive slings that a newbie on the crew could nic with a saw tomorrow?

And my original point may seem ridiculous but to me it is valid, not only do you look professional to the customer and passerbys by using rated slings for they're intended use, but you also look professional to the authorities who know and understand the regulations for the craning industry.

And maybe I didn't explain it very well, but a friend of mine got in trouble a couple of years ago with the school he was teaching at because he taught the students how to use a hoizontal traverse in this case to take down a very rotten maple. The school's reason was somewhere along the same lines as mine.

 

[theXman]

yes, your right, my customers and passers by are always shaking their heads, "saying, look how unproffesional those guys look!", when they see stuff like this:

 

[theXman]

three legs used here, that fourth one is slacked cause not being used on this pick.

photos from customer (likely shaking their head, cause I'm using 109,000 lb amsteel and tieing knots using spider legs instead of crane slings).

 

[MattyD]

[ QUOTE ]
photos from customer (likely shaking their head, cause I'm using 109,000 lb amsteel and tieing knots using spider legs instead of crane slings).

[/ QUOTE ]

 

[chris_girard]

[ QUOTE ]
three legs used here, that fourth one is slacked cause not being used on this pick.

photos from customer (likely shaking their head, cause I'm using 109,000 lb amsteel and tieing knots using spider legs instead of crane slings).

[/ QUOTE ]

Very impressive and nice work with the rigging X. Love the pics too. Shows very professional work.

Where did you get the Amsteel spliced, What type is it? I like double braids for slings because I find that they are easy to splice, but I keep saying that I'm going to try the newer Amsteel II.

I also like the way Reg has been showing his "Central choker and Slings" method in his poplar pics and video. Seems like you can get the best of both methods that way too. I've seen Tod K. and Mark C. as well as others use this method as too.

 

[theXman]

who spliced, why NickfromWI of course.

here is link to the tree buzz thread explaining:

1 inch amsteel for spider legs

 

[theXman]

btw, amsteel II, that has an outer covering would be the best!

I was unaware of such a product (at the time I bought those 1" amsteel).

amsteel is super fine and loose, does get caught on things.

i still haven't taken the time to try and put a "jacket" over it. had some ideas, haven't tried yet.

it's doing fine though.

 

[chris_girard]

Cool, thanks for the info and link X.

 

[theXman]

picture from the first day using those 1" amsteels, beginning of 2009 i think:

 

[chris_girard]

Nicely balanced pick.

I bet it came off real smooth.

 

[theXman]

same picture, just imbedded and smaller:

 

[theXman]

[ QUOTE ]
Nicely balanced pick.

I bet it came off real smooth.

[/ QUOTE ]

thank you and yes, came off as you see it.

i have video of both the sycamore and this pin oak job (helmet cam thanks to Allmark). waiting to be edited and cut down for youtube. so you will get to see the actual picks in motion (or little motion actually) to show how smooth spider legs can help make it so easy and smooth.

 

[theXman]

[ QUOTE ]

I also like the way Reg has been showing his "Central choker and Slings" method in his poplar pics and video. Seems like you can get the best of both methods that way too.

[/ QUOTE ]

I like it too!

 

[chris_girard]

Look forward to seeing it.

What lengths are the slings?

 

[theXman]

between 20 and 25 feet i think.

two around 20, two around 25'.

i tape the tips (the cut ends), two different colors, yellow and black, (like, yellow tips are short, black tips are long) plus the eyes have two different colors too, that way, i know what length one I'm grabbing if in a thick mess of brush or conifer. actually helps a lot in time by not grabbing the wrong one first.

most of the crane jobs with our k-boom, i'm using just three at a time; two short and one long.

for big spreading crowns with a stick boom crane, usually have 4 on the hook (two short, and two long), although, most picks are just using 3 at a time.

nice to have 4 on the hook though imo, for those super spreading limbs, OR, if there is a dead brittle limb located somewhere in the pick: just tie that fourth leg to it slacked (and it will stay slacked), that way if the brittle limb cracks off during the pick, it is secure. or sometimes I'll just loop runner that brittle limb to another live limb within the pick.

 

[theXman]

from early 2009, three legs on a Y limb, keeps it from rotating around.

 

[robinia]

I can see the sycamore was sketchy, X. How about the oak? Was the crane involved just for efficiency or was it a hazardous climb? I don't get to do many crane jobs, just curious.

 

[theXman]

the crane on oak just for efficiency and customer did not want anything dropped on the grass. so even the trunk sections were all picked with the crane.

that sycamore was cool, shame it had to come down (in my opinion and other arborists too). pretty much solid heavy crown (except for some big dead individual limbs and anthracnos causing the witches broom tips)with the VERY hollow trunk that went into most of the major limb attachments. Plus, fairly heavy lean over the house.

 

[theXman]

that sycamore before we started (weight looked fairly balanced from this angle, i know, but wasn't) I'll try not to derail spiderleg thread further after this one picture:

tree down in one day, even though we started at 10am on the tree. but had to come back another day to get the logs and fine debris and grind the stump.

all those limbs up to about 18" diameter went through our 1890HD chipper and fit into our one 20' chip container on the k-boom truck and in the little 550 chip truck. no dumping needed during the work operation.

 

[theXman]

back to spider legs.

A danger when using just spider legs and not a main sling at cog is that the pressure on the spread could cause a limb or limbs to break, if they were thin, weak or a brittle specie.

such as a white pine with wide spreading limbs and you've already taken the top out of it.

now, you might say, why not just put the two legs of the slings on the trunk wood anyway?

well, in certain trees the limbs might be long and heavy and balance might be hard to guess and on the trunk wood just won't be perfect, so you want a wider spread in your triangle than just on the trunk wood. these situations do arise for sure, and I've done plenty that i wanted and needed a wider spread, so I've gone to the limbs, mainly in white pine and sometimes norway spruce.

well, the white pine can be brittle, so I will send one of the longer legs from the limbs hitch to the trunk. just in case that limb decides to break. (yes, a 4th leg to the trunk would be better i suppose)

this 3 leg set up with the tail going to the main trunk actually showed it worked to me in like 2008 or so. picking a white pine, similar to this diagram. limb cracked slowly, while i was moving the pick away, peeled up and all was fine. i could see where a climber could be bumped and hurt if it happened directly above him, similar to a sling sliding up a bare section of trunk. This was the only time I've seen the spread in the spider leg setup crack a limb, and I'm glad I always backed it up if I was a little worried.