Rigging Point Failure

[Steve Connally]

What's the block doing above the blow out?

There was a piece hanging after the failure so I moved the block off to the side after having it sent back up so I could rig that down. You can see it hanging in the pic with me in it.

 

[Steve Connally]

It almost looks like the branch had sustained vertical splitting due to strong winds in the past. Partially compartmentalized, but not before decay set in.

Glad you were ok Steve.

Thanks. Yeah that seems to be the consensus on site.

 

[Steve Connally]

This is very eye opening. Main thing is that catastrophe was avoided, everyone is grateful. The courage to share this helps everyone take a breath and reset a bit. When something like this happens to someone like yourself, it just emphasizes the daily risks. 2 points: Glad your not hurt (or worse); thank you for sharing, it helps us all. Especially, someone like me who has reached that age where complacency, statistically, sets in.

I'm right there with ya in that age bracket. Also coming back after 8 years not regularly climbing is a whole additional amount of mental noise I never had before. This is the first moderately sized hardwood removal I've done without a crane in about 10 yers.

 

[Steve Connally]

I can’t really see what happened, but load sharing across the crown and/or a rigging ring or similar half way down the trunk is something I foolishly often ignore.

I recently visited my nephew in the UK and we went out for a days work with him and another climber.
They used those methods on a big ash removal, large sections coming out on the rope safely and predictably.
It made me rethink my approach a bit.

Glad you’re ok.

Thank you. Yes in hindsight I shoulda but fell into that "I've never had to in the past" trap and it got me. I don't typically do removals but it'll be on the radar next time around.

 

[Maplegeddon213]

Thank you for sharing Steve, I have attended some of your talks before and I have great respect for everything you've taught me and brought to the industry. This was a super detailed incident report and is something I'll be showing the crews at our shop. I may have made the same decisions with a similar thought process as you in this case, I've certainly made worse and gotten away with it. I will share my admittedly less seasoned personal experience.

Our company has a standard for how we go about your "average" hardwood climb rigging removals and its two blocks on opposite sides of the canopy, branches that are growing away from each other with the intent to be loading the branches in compression. Both ideally have good plum points but often times there are tradeoffs made between plum point and rigging system integrity depending on wood characteristics, drop zone, etc. I'm not familiar with that species so I can't say anything on that. I don't want to beat a dead horse or pile on, I just wanted to share that we make it a habit to always set up a multi point rigging system. I am not perfect or even claiming to be better than you at any aspect of the work, often I work off of one block to be efficient at times in the removal process and sometimes I go bigger than my gut tells me I should as well. Thanks again for sharing.

 

[Steve Connally]

Thank you for sharing Steve, I have attended some of your talks before and I have great respect for everything you've taught me and brought to the industry. This was a super detailed incident report and is something I'll be showing the crews at our shop. I may have made the same decisions with a similar thought process as you in this case, I've certainly made worse and gotten away with it. I will share my admittedly less seasoned personal experience.

Our company has a standard for how we go about your "average" hardwood climb rigging removals and its two blocks on opposite sides of the canopy, branches that are growing away from each other with the intent to be loading the branches in compression. Both ideally have good plum points but often times there are tradeoffs made between plum point and rigging system integrity depending on wood characteristics, drop zone, etc. I'm not familiar with that species so I can't say anything on that. I don't want to beat a dead horse or pile on, I just wanted to share that we make it a habit to always set up a multi point rigging system. I am not perfect or even claiming to be better than you at any aspect of the work, often I work off of one block to be efficient at times in the removal process and sometimes I go bigger than my gut tells me I should as well. Thanks again for sharing.

Thanks for commenting. No need to explain your input reasoning. I appreciate your input and didn't take it any other way than genuinely with the best intensions. Interesting approach for your rigging plan. I'll keep that as an option for sure. I appreciate the complements. Very kind of you to say.

 

[Bart_]

Glad to see you're ok. I've only encountered longer sheared branches a few times. They were horizontal and had visible air gaps with partial regrowth, smaller than your branch but surprisingly long split length. I wondered how they still held up. Perhaps tree species that don't callous over is a sign that they're also prone to rot, or rot wins the race vs growth compensation.

Early on I used to be inner-voice alarmed at commonly used rigging practises but they were ok - until they aren't. I guess statistics eventually bite, oddities, weaknesses etc. Your pics remind me of the rig point failure in the graveyard (who ?).

 

[Mick Dempsey!]

Glad to see you're ok. I've only encountered longer sheared branches a few times. They were horizontal and had visible air gaps with partial regrowth, smaller than your branch but surprisingly long split length. I wondered how they still held up. Perhaps tree species that don't callous over is a sign that they're also prone to rot, or rot wins the race vs growth compensation.

Early on I used to be inner-voice alarmed at commonly used rigging practises but they were ok - until they aren't. I guess statistics eventually bite, oddities, weaknesses etc. Your pics remind me of the rig point failure in the graveyard (who ?).

Muggs I think.

 

[Steve Connally]

Glad to see you're ok. I've only encountered longer sheared branches a few times. They were horizontal and had visible air gaps with partial regrowth, smaller than your branch but surprisingly long split length. I wondered how they still held up. Perhaps tree species that don't callous over is a sign that they're also prone to rot, or rot wins the race vs growth compensation.

Early on I used to be inner-voice alarmed at commonly used rigging practises but they were ok - until they aren't. I guess statistics eventually bite, oddities, weaknesses etc. Your pics remind me of the rig point failure in the graveyard (who ?).

I'm not sure. Willow oak are solid trees in my experience. It was just one of those things I suppose but you may be entirely on point about the compartmentalization. Didn't have that little voice but I do now for these situations.