ponderosa

klimbinfool

klimbinfool

Location
magalia california
this was a little over two hundred foot ponderosa and five and a half foot in dia.I left it at a hundred and twenty feet where it was still three foot in dia.The rest was to be felled later after the limbs were bumped and chipped. Typically, I would never leave the limb structure, but in this case the guy I was working for said we could take it out limbs and all. Cant get a good turn if at all with all those limbs are still intacked. For the most part , I never saw one eighteen footer hit the ground . Just the loud crash

I hadn't seen this tree untill I got up there , although we had talked about it prior. Ended up being ten inches of snow on the ground. Wasn't bad for me in the tree, but the ground crew had to tromp in it all day.Being there was a slight back lean , we tagged all the pieces over with a five eights bul line into about a twenty foot wide strip. CAbin was to my left and some trees the owners wanted to save on the right. So , not two much room for error with the limbs attched.

All went off without a glitch . Fun day just long for being a Sat.

thanks

Greg
 
Treejunkie
my original plane was to single line it up to about 100' and then work my way up from there. However, when I started to get my srt gear ready I found I had left my lower ascenders at home. So I pulled out my twenty foot flipline and started up, eventually transfering to double line.Ponderosas are famouse for splopping limb structure and this one was one of them. So moving up the tree was kinda slow untill about two thirds and then it was easy going.

Some Ponderosas can be very pitchy, but this one was really clean . I was surprised not to find my lines all gooped up, like I have in the past.Secound growth timber seems to be much worse.

The total time it took was about four and a half hours.The most time cunsuming part was just getting the rigging in place each time.I had to keep pulling up a 5/8 bull line for the tag with my throwline..what a pain.I know, I know, why didnt i set another line and have the ground crew pull it up? well when you leave the limbs on the tree, all the dynamics change and a different thought pattern has to occur when trying to manipulate lines around fifteen foot limbs. Trying to take out sixteen six logs is also a pain with limbs still intacked.Finding a location to put in your face cut and a back cut without sawing into a limb was a challenge. So most of the logs came out around eighteen foot except for the top which was about twenty.Some of the cuts were so close to the lower limbs, that it wasnt even suitable to repel on. You probabbly noticed that in some of the pics.

Anyway, enough blabbering. I hope this answered your qquestion without to much rambling.

Thanks
Greg
 
You California(and Northwest)climbers are real men. About 15 years ago I did some Tree work up in Mt. Shasta and wrecked out a 200' pondo. It adds a whole different dimension to working in trees. Eastern Climbers take note: Having an extra 100(!) feet to haul stuff up and lower it makes the job twice as intense on several levels. Communication becomes difficult also. Then there is the point which you have all of the limbs gone and you are on a pole of 150' or so- that always messes with my mind- what excatly is it that holds that silly log together?
While vacationing in San Francisco a couple of years ago I was at Stinson Beach and heard some saws across the road and went to investigate. I was treated to a show by genuine Euc-man Chuck Oakander wrecking out a huge Euc. It boggles the mind of the simple east coast bred tree climber to watch these giant pieces of wood tumbling out of the sky. You have to acount for more revolutions to make a piec land flat. Anyway I digress to hero worship.
 
Greg thanks for the reply. You've answered all of my questions but two. would it not have been easier to take the limbs off on the way up? How long does it take a crew to get that puppy on the ground?
thanks
 
TreeJunkie,

typically, yes it is always much easier to strip the limbs, but in the case he just wanted the top half of this tree on the ground. Which consisted of most of the limbs.Also, there was a 220 line attached to the tree and there was no previouse talk about dropping the line .The guy I was working for also didnt bring his chipper and didnt intend to for that days work .He was going to bring it back in another day because of the snow.

As I mentioned earlier, it took me about four and a half hours to do what I did. The rest of the tree around 120' even though it had a belly to it and a slight lean ( not in our favor)after looking at the center line on the remaining tree, it could be wedged in our favor without a problem, at a later date when the self loader came in .

It would take two to two and a half days in my estimation for a total clean up , with all the equiptment there, but as it stands , it will take that guy longer.


Frans,

We clear cut that resort for the new road while you guys where back East. Didnt Jer. tell ya ?.....lol...just kidding ..EEEEEks did I say clear cut ? liable to get my neck rung here .

No Frans that was in my neck of the woods about 30 min. due East . That was an old growth Pondo.The forestry was making the cabin owners take it out because of some rot at the base and beatles. Same with another large fir near it.The owners have a 99 year lease, but the forestry dictates what the owners have to do to thier trees . Kind of sucks and at the owners expense.
 
TreeJunkie,

typically, yes it is always much easier to strip the limbs, but in the case he just wanted the top half of this tree on the ground, Which consisted of most of the limbs.Also, there was a 220 line attached to the tree and there was no previouse talk about dropping the line .This would have made a long day of ropping. So in this case it was just easier to take limbs and all to the clear side.The guy I was working for also didnt bring his chipper and didnt intend to for that days work .He was going to bring it back in another day because of the snow.

As I mentioned earlier, it took me about four and a half hours to do what I did. The rest of the tree around 120' even though it had a belly to it and a slight lean ( not in our favor)after looking at the center line on the remaining tree, it could be wedged in our favor without a problem, at a later date when the self loader came in .

It would take two to two and a half days in my estimation for a total clean up , with all the equiptment there, but as it stands , it will take that guy longer.


Frans,

We clear cut that resort for the new road while you guys where back East. Didnt Jer. tell ya ?.....lol...just kidding ..EEEEEks did I say clear cut ? liable to get my neck rung here .

No Frans that was in my neck of the woods about 30 min. due East . .The forestry was making the cabin owners take it out because of some rot at the base and beatles. Same with another large fir near it.The owners have a 99 year lease, but the forestry dictates what the owners have to do to thier trees . Kind of sucks and at the owners expense.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Back
Top Bottom