removal pics

[davespencer]

Just found these photos from a while back and thought I would post them.

I pruned this oak the year before. Let the client know that there was some serious decay and that the tree posed a threat to the house, but they wanted to keep it. 1 year later, got a call to come cut it off the house.

The tree split 3 ways, the largest landing on the house but doing suprisingly little damage in all, 1 piece landed in the neighbors yard destroying a fence in several spots. 1 piece down the driveway scratching a car and smashing a porch.

Lorne and I climbed on the roof to inspect and figure out how to get it off the roof without doing more damage.

Dave

 

[davespencer]

You can see by this pic that we left 2 large branches that acted as legs for the tree, bucked of branch after branch until the tree was off the roof. Note that I am tied to the chimney not the tree.

 

[davespencer]

Clean up was a big job. The clients wanted to keep the wood, but I had to cart it to the other side of the house. Shame to see a tree this size go.

If you look close at where lorne is pointing, we thought we would quickly rig a piece down with a wrap around the tree. The 3/4' rope chewed through 3 ft of punky wood and was a real pain to get out. Classic irony for 2 guys who manufacture rigging gear.

Dave

 

[joe]

Dave: how did you attach your climbing line to the chimney?

 

[hl_tree]

I am guessing that you used a friction saver around the chimney? I worked at a place for a while where they would climb the chimney in order to clean the gutters. Interesting, to say the least. To what extent did you prune the tree? Was crown reduction discussed?

 

[davespencer]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
Poster: hl_tree
Subject: Re: removal pics

I am guessing that you used a friction saver around the chimney? I worked at a place for a while where they would climb the chimney in order to clean the gutters. Interesting, to say the least. To what extent did you prune the tree? Was crown reduction discussed?



[/ QUOTE ]

I used tubular webbing around the chimney, redirected off a vent pipe near the edge of the roof with another loop of webbing.

The client first called me in to do roof clearance. They were not interested in doing any cabling, or crown reduction. They knew it was on its last legs so they did not want to put money into it. I do not think they realized what the consequences of it coming down could be. I tried to cover my butt without sounding like I was trying to scare them into spending money, but they were just not interested. All we ended up doing was the roof clearance and a bit of deadwooding.

An interesting note is that we counted the rings back to the decay and I asked the client what they had done in the backyard 21 years ago. They were shocked and said that that was the year an addition had been put on the back of the house. The grade had been altered and an excavator had driven right beside the tree and done work.

Dave

 

[Roger_Barnett]

Nice work, Dave.

I fixed your pic for ya!