Rigging Line Pins Climber Rigging Large Piece

[climbingmonkey24]

A fellow climber friend of mine sent me this video that he had seen of another climber who experienced a very close call rigging a large piece. Thought it worth a watch (not sure if anyone has seen this already).

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2521168557926163

 

[Sprucinator]

Wow glad he was able to get out of the tree and I really hope he went to a hospital after that. All that aside I wonder what he was thinking would happen? Maybe he was hoping the piece would swing out and the rigging line would go in that crotch? Either way, he put himself directly in the path of that rigging line.

 

[Jonny]

Turn down the sound if you’re in earshot of the kiddos.

So why’d he tie it out so far?

 

[Cereal_Killer]

So many things wrong in this video. I feel bad the guys busted up and now lost his income but from the first moment the video started and his ground guys are questioning him (rightfully so for them to question something they don't know / understand / like the look of) I knew it's not someone I would want on my team.
Then he drops his saw, ok I can see maybe some emergency situations call for that but then he starts pulling equipment on the way down and blaming the accident on the guy in the truck. Who does that? Someone who's not doing this [whole business] the right way that's who. Telling the woman not to call 911 was the nail in the coffin that this guy probably doesn't have insurance or a real business and he's just out there hacking away.

Again I do feel bad the guys hurt but like nearly all fuck ups this was 100% avoidable.


Edit to add: Ground guy asks "isn't it going to swing out?" That to me indicates that they're not aware of the situation since its pretty clear from the rope angle what was about to go down and so they wernt prepared for any of that from the get go.

What I'm not understanding is what the climber intended to happen. I know he said he wanted them to let it run a bit so the butt didn't hit him but where was the rigging point, did he mean for the rope to catch on that stub or Wtf?

 

[Rooted.Tree.Solutions]

“Always work outside the rigging” This is what we teach and train our guys to do. I am always talking about this with my groundies because they typically have the best vantage point for determining if a climber/bucket operator is clear of any rigging. You have to assume on every rigged piece that the hardware/rope could fail and ensure that you are in a safe position.
I am grateful that this climber is ok, and I’m grateful for the video. These types of videos, while difficult to watch, are so helpful in training and reminding us what’s at stake every day. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Boomslang]

Happened a year and a half ago and reading through the Facebook post it seems the climber was experienced, but maybe out of his element that day.

My guess...based on where the chipper is set up and where the cut was aimed...is that he was trying to swing that limb AROUND the entire stub and have it land somewhere near the ground crew. That's a massive horizontal limb to try and swing like that and his rigging point was nowhere near high enough.

 

[Cereal_Killer]

Ok I can see that being a possible plan but if he was trying to swing it around on the higher up line (maybe it's blue bull rope, can't tell) what on earth is the green rope doing?

 

[climbingmonkey24]

I'd like to see pics or a video of other angles and see the whole situation and what's going on, kind of just going based off what we see in the video. Like, was there room to just swing it down? Because at one point we see the limb just hanging when he gets pinned by the rigging line?

 

[Boomslang]

Ok I can see that being a possible plan but if he was trying to swing it around on the higher up line (maybe it's blue bull rope, can't tell) what on earth is the green rope doing?

It's called a butt hitch. It's an old school technique. I've used it a few times with great success. Basically it's a bowline with two half hitches below it and you cut between the two half hitches (no notch) and let the limb peel/swing into the block with a tip tie. Then you can lower the butt in a controlled manner. It's not the most ideal technique, but if you have limited equipment or less man power it has its uses.

The problems I see with this scenario are not a high enough rigging point, tip tie not far enough out, and his two half hitches are wayyyyy too far apart.

 

[Tuebor]

He said he couldn't negative rig it because the neighbors wouldn't let them into the yard. Had his leg and thigh pinned against the limb until he cut the line...was worried his crew might lower the piece and burn through his leg. Said the only person who knew what to do was in the truck.

 

[rope-a-dope]

The swing he wanted is to the left, like 220 degrees of pivot from the cut! Big rigging can save some work some of the time, and if you cant use the yard, then you get creative. But if you are trying to pull off some miracle swing, you absolutely need the right angles and the right persuasion to get that UNlikely motion. A Butt hitch will not pick up and sling that limb around like a ballerina. Sounded like he asked for tension, but called it good at very little, and maybe because more tension would pull it the wrong way!. It's easier to get big lateral swing if you put lift in the center of mass balance point, but even then you need to start the swing unless you have the right lean and can work it into the rope with hinge.
We cant tell where the rope is, what the notch looked like (he felt for it before the back cut) but the limb in space and his position tell us he was expecting something very different! It's good to have an idea of what might be possible and what you want, but you better stop before you cut to think about what else might happen. Limbs go down when cut and ropes tied to them follow!
I have had the rope come down over me or my lanyard a couple times in my climbing career. Mistakes are made, so keep the consequences in mind. I was never injured by this because the cuts were small and they were small because I was not sure about the outcome.

 

[Jehinten]

First initial thoughts on watching this, is the tip tie could have been preloaded heavier, not sure why he only wanted a little tension and the tips barely moved when pre tensioning.

That would have been a great time for a tag line to get the limb rotating the correct direction since the rigging rope angles don't appear to be setup for that direction. Without a bigger picture of what happened its hard to say if a rigging redirect could have been set towards the drop zone.

I don't have much of an issue with the request to not call anybody, there didn't seem to be a cut and he was able to self rescue. A broken wrist doesn't warrant an ambulance. That said after the initial impact was over I think he could have kept it together a littlebetter. It sucks getting hurt but screaming and cursing the crew doesn't help or make it hurt less. I do also think that some of the cursing near the end as he was getting down was cursing the situation/ injury more than personel, but either way its that much worse on moral after an injury has already happened. And although his day was over, that crew had to continue to work to manage that piece and to retrieve gear from the tree.

That last bit may seem like its not important, but I just see the reaction as a little over the top and could have been handled better.

 

[evo]

no link?

 

[Chaplain242]

First initial thoughts on watching this, is the tip tie could have been preloaded heavier, not sure why he only wanted a little tension and the tips barely moved when pre ten sioning.

That would have been a great time for a tag line to get the limb rotating the correct direction since the rigging rope angles don't appear to be setup for that direction. Without a bigger picture of what happened its hard to say if a rigging redirect could have been set towards the drop zone.

I don't have much of an issue with the request to not call anybody, there didn't seem to be a cut and he was able to self rescue. A broken wrist doesn't warrant an ambulance. That said after the initial impact was over I think he could have kept it together a littlebetter. It sucks getting hurt but screaming and cursing the crew doesn't help or make it hurt less. I do also think that some of the cursing near the end as he was getting down was cursing the situation/ injury more than personel, but either way its that much worse on moral after an injury has already happened. And although his day was over, that crew had to continue to work to manage that piece and to retrieve gear from the tree.

That last bit may seem like its not important, but I just see the reaction as a little over the top and could have been handled better.

As far as tension I would think he wanted some room to get the limb moving to get the swing he wanted, but then he cut it nearly on top of the limb, how was limb going to get lateral movement? Maybe overtaxed/tired and ambitious? Agree an image with better overview of rigging is needed to ascertain what was going on here...

Am I right in hearing it was his leg broken? Painful if so and hence the added cursing.

Ambulance will often cost extra even if have insurance so understand self admitting. If fémur broken then ambulance (if close) would be beneficial.

 

[Jehinten]

Maybe overtaxed/tired and ambitious?

Definitely a recipe for an accident. He was also pretty worried about the butt of the limb hitting him, which may have taken some concentration away from how to get the swing that he needed.

Am I right in hearing it was his leg broken? Painful if so and hence the added cursing.

I heard him say his wrist, but his leg took an impact too so its certainly possible. And I'd agree with the Femer would justify an ambulance.

 

[Tuebor]

Am I right in hearing it was his leg broken? Painful if so and hence the added cursing.

In the video he said his wrist was broken. On Facebook he said he went back and finished the job the next day.

 

[rico]

Problem #1- his rigging line is directly overhead (he's in the bight).
Problem #2- his rigging is pulling the limb slightly to his right.
Problem #3- the lack of a tagline.
Problem #4- his feeble attempt at swinging the limb to the left via his cut.
Outcome inevitable



I started logging when I was 14 and the very first thing that was hammered into my subconscienceness was to NEVER STAND IN THE BIGHT OF THE RIGGING. Words to live by..

 

[rope-a-dope]

I can understand yelling and cursing under the stress of significant injury, but draw the line at blaming they guy that wasn't there!

I also feel compelled to get inside the mind of the climber before hand and point out clear warning signs that others can learn to recognize and identify in themselves.
First is the fear, and the little voice or the gut feeling that erodes your confidence. It says, "pay attention!" And definitely recognize that you are potentially about to fuck up if you are starting to warn your crew about how you are going to be in danger because something is coming right at you.
Second, if the crew is not understanding what the goal is or has doubts or eveb asks, "isn't it going to do this instead of that?" Big red flag. Pump yer brakes. If the rigger stops short of, "yes, 100% send it," he might be seeing something important that you missed, like how bad it might be if you screw up.
These are two things that climbers need to be very sensitive about. Especially, with green groundies that arent confident about anything, and a huffy climber that gets pushy when the help isn't as sharp. That's not a good situation to put your life in their hands, so reconsider your options if you find yourself saying shit like you better do X or I'm dead.
Maybe the guy in the truck could have saved the climber? Set a pull rope from the ground? Even more reasons to stop before making that cut.

 

[Stumpsprouts]

The guy that blames everything that goes wrong with THEIR rigging, THEIR cut, THEIR body position on everyone else. The groundie, the client, the clients neighbor, the boss, their roommate, their cat.

When you step up that rope you have to own every choice you make. This is being a good arborist. This is getting home safe. This is good leadership (a huge cultural deficit of that these days).

It’s one thing to make mistakes, but I have no patience for this reaction. I’m glad his injuries were minor.

 

[Mark Lam]

So many things wrong in this video. I feel bad the guys busted up and now lost his income but from the first moment the video started and his ground guys are questioning him (rightfully so for them to question something they don't know / understand / like the look of) I knew it's not someone I would want on my team.
Then he drops his saw, ok I can see maybe some emergency situations call for that but then he starts pulling equipment on the way down and blaming the accident on the guy in the truck. Who does that? Someone who's not doing this [whole business] the right way that's who. Telling the woman not to call 911 was the nail in the coffin that this guy probably doesn't have insurance or a real business and he's just out there hacking away.

Again I do feel bad the guys hurt but like nearly all fuck ups this was 100% avoidable.


Edit to add: Ground guy asks "isn't it going to swing out?" That to me indicates that they're not aware of the situation since its pretty clear from the rope angle what was about to go down and so they wernt prepared for any of that from the get go.

What I'm not understanding is what the climber intended to happen. I know he said he wanted them to let it run a bit so the butt didn't hit him but where was the rigging point, did he mean for the rope to catch on that stub or Wtf?

Wow .yetyetback on treebuzz after at least 3years ...5 minutes In I see s plus 3 letters and f + 3 and wonder why the trimmers haven't evolved (progressively), but find the laws of thermodynamics has taken hold on more of us.
God created us in his image, buy all of us like sheep have gone astray. Come back to God through Jesus Christ my fellow men . Trust in God to help us walk into the light together instead of away from our better selves.