Really Dead Cottonwood Removed

[Jamin_Mayer]

This is very simple video footage and video editing.

One of my employees did this tree. He's very good with most aspects of the industry, but he's more or less a rookie with crane assisted tree removals. He does have the potential to throw down someday.

Feel free to comment. (Be nice to him).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7b4XHmXlgk

 

[treesandsurf]

Very smooth, your guys looks great.

jp

 

[williamd]

Regardless of his experience, he seems to have done well considering the risk of working with all that brittle wood overhead. Pieces can just break off. Thumbs up to him and you.

 

[Tr33Climb3r]

He did really well if it was one of his first trees. That was a nasty tree. Wouldn't it be better if he used a bigger saw on some of those cuts?

 

[Jamin_Mayer]

[ QUOTE ]
... Wouldn't it be better if he used a bigger saw on some of those cuts?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep. Our MS260 (modified) was in the shop. I was hoping someone would saw that. LOL.

 

[Rocks_and_Trees]

Nice work. Just removed a few dead cottonwoods myself recently. Dead Cottonwood = Skeeeetchy.
What do you do with your big wood?

 

[Jamin_Mayer]

In the past, my much larger diameter logs would sit in my yard (my graveyard of Cottonwoods) LOL.

Now, however, I have a neighbor taking my large stuff also. Believe it or not, he's taking the time to buck the large stuff into firewood. --A lot of work.

 

[Adkpk]

Looked good from here. Sure was an ugly tree. Does cottonwood give off heat when you burn it? lol

 

[JeffL]

Burns like cardboard, disappears in a flash.

 

[treeness]

...And no coals to boot.

 

[allmark]

Looks good. The only critique I have is for the groundie. The crane op looked proficient so let him/her land the piece. Stay away from the butt unless called upon.

 

[banjo]

I liked it, it was smooth. I really like to see crews being so calm, it conveys confidence. My critique is that the climber and crane op should work on the pretensioning and weights a bit. Nice work though.

 

[Jamin_Mayer]

[ QUOTE ]
Looks good. The only critique I have is for the groundie. The crane op looked proficient so let him/her land the piece. Stay away from the butt unless called upon.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. He has been talked to. Our crane guy was getting frustrated with our new-b groundie. He has since got the idea.

 

[Jamin_Mayer]

[ QUOTE ]
.. My critique is that the climber and crane op should work on the pretensioning and weights a bit. Nice work though.

[/ QUOTE ]

Absolutely agree. Part of me being the owner has to allow for some "trial and error" learning. And that's going to have to happen from time to time.

If you notice; I'm capturing footage, but also acting like a coach. In some instances, I had to call out for the crane operator to do something. Particularly, in one of the picks I called out, "Boom left" and you'll notice it came free.

And the pick, where the groundsman was cutting... the climber knew the tip of the stick was boomed up too much, but the cutter didn't hear the climber trying to get his attention. I didn't like seeing that motion on that pick.

 

[Norm_Hall]

Questions:
1. Why did you start removing from the middle of the tree, rather than from 1 side?
It's easier for the crane op to pick from 1 side, so they don't have to hoist all the way up past the tips. In that tree, it looked like starting on the left would be the way to go.

2. Do you have or can you get synthetic roundslings (Tuflex, Liftex). In the very 1st pick, it appears as though the wire rope choker would not cinch on the limb being removed. Also, some very large wood is being hoisted directly over the climber. All the more reason to start from 1 side and work towards the other.

I would have put the camera down and rushed over to the groundie to tap him on the shoulder, rather than film it. That guy was very fortunate he didn't get hurt.

 

[Jamin_Mayer]

[ QUOTE ]
Questions:
1. Why did you start removing from the middle of the tree, rather than from 1 side?
It's easier for the crane op to pick from 1 side, so they don't have to hoist all the way up past the tips. In that tree, it looked like starting on the left would be the way to go.

2. Do you have or can you get synthetic roundslings (Tuflex, Liftex). In the very 1st pick, it appears as though the wire rope choker would not cinch on the limb being removed. Also, some very large wood is being hoisted directly over the climber. All the more reason to start from 1 side and work towards the other.

I would have put the camera down and rushed over to the groundie to tap him on the shoulder, rather than film it. That guy was very fortunate he didn't get hurt.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks Norm. You brought up some good points. Hopefully I can clarify some things a little better.

As you know, every tree can be approached differently. And not all Siouxland Cottonwoods (Hybrid Cottonwoods) are removed the same. However, since the Hybrids have an excurrent growth pattern, we like to take the center out first for a couple of reasons:

a. After the center has been cut out, the other leaders get stood up vertical (where the center leader would have been).
b. If we tried to leave the center leader, the other laterals would get bumped into the center and bring debris on the climber. And huge majority of trees we remove have enough large dead wood in them, that it is too dangerous for the climber or property below.
c. When I'm in the tree, I try to find a "defensable location" when nasty dead limbs/leaders are being hoisted away. We could have waited for the climber to duck under another leader, but it came out clean.

I have used synthetics and I really like them. If I owned my own crane, I'd use them every job. However, the crane company doesn't like them as much as I do.

With that said, the cables can slip. However, if we anticipate that some thing will slip, there should be minimal distance of the slip to the nearest lateral limb. Thus, preventing too much slip. I haven't seen a steel choker slip while being suspended. I've only seen them slip when being pre-tensioned.

It would have difficult to run into the danger zone while my groundie kept cutting. If I ran into that situation, I could have been at risk. I was also zoomed in on the situation. I didn't have the luxury to reach over to tap him on the shoulder. I made the decision to stay and not interrupt. The climber was whistling and yelling right at the groundie. I honestly don't know if my groundie heard the climber or if he was ignoring the climber. (There can be tension between workers at times).

Again, thanks for the concerns and points brought up Norm. I hope that clarify things a little better.

 

[Steve Baker]

Always enjoy watching and learning from your videos,keep them coming...As for the climber I think he did an excellent job with a very difficult tree...