Second tree in eight years I could not do

T

treejohn

Location
michigan
Went to try to do a dead ash tree today for the third time and finally had to admit defeat. This is only the second tree in eight years of doing this that I could not get down. First time there, set up with bucket truck couldn't reach much didnt have time to climb it that day. Second time set up with bucket removed one branch and spent about an hour looking and trying to figure out how to remove this larvae infested tree, which conviently has a V of powerlines running on each side of the trunk. Decided to think about it for a day. Third time decided just to climb it got up to top for nice tie in and removed two branchs. Unfortunatly the only tie in and rigging points were directly above a set of secondary wires. No place for ziplines or nothing. I had to come down and tell the homeower I couldnt do it. Has this happened to anyone else?? Cause it sucks and all I can think about is how to get that freakin tree down!!!
 
maybe a crane would do it...maybe not....relax it will come to you.

I do not see anything wrong with stopping before an error is made, that my freind is smart not defeat..
 
You're a smart man!

Everyone's goal should be to go home walking every day.

I can't recall a tree that I walked away from. There were MANY that I didn't bid on because I couldn't figure out a practical way to remove them. Knowing that someone would take more risks than me was no comfort either.
 
Shoulda called me a year and a Half ago when it started to die. Sucker! Now your gonna have to get someone desparate, stupid, or with someone withincredibly high tech and ezpensive tools and skills. Good luck
 
Ash is the only tree and only once I have walked away from.
The white rot smell was so strong. No way.
I learned the bucket truck got stuck in the mud in the back yard and they had to wait a day for things to dry up to get it out. The guy actually climbed all over it.

I usually resort to partial cuts and peeling it like a banana.
Dead Elm I was in last week was more than 1/2 rotted in places and testing pulling with the polesaw allows you to see the limb or leads that have a wiggle in a cirular pattern and leads with less rot the wiggle becomes more of sway( to and fro).
You have to take your time and study these things carefully.
Just getting a line in the tree and rocking it will show where the trees has potential for failure. Look for the strange bending moment.

Best of Luck!
 
Would your local power company come out and "cover" the lines with sleeves (we have it done often, at no charge)? That would open up a few more options (crane, 85'-100' rental lift, etc.). If the tree is that dead, could you simply "giblet" it out in very small pieces and bomb it?
 
hey TreeJohn,

I'd love to see some pictures of that nasty tree.

If you feel you should back off, you should back off, good job.
 
it is always better to be the person taking your own boots off at night. I'm sure you will come up with the safe way to get the tree down whether it is you or someone else. You made the right choice.
 
[ QUOTE ]
There is no tree worth injury or death.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll second that.

Like to see a pic from this tree, hope you find a nice and safe way to finaly deal with this tree. You made a good choice.

climb safe
wouter
 
You are a better man than some folks I could name. It's never fun admitting to yourself that you don't have the knowledge and/or equipment to do the job, much less admitting the same thing to the customer, but everyone has limitations and the best of us are the ones who know what those limitations are and can admit to them (even though it hurts).

I too try to anticipate whether a potential bid is practical or not before hand, but yes, one time I did have to walk away from a tree unfelled. When I looked over the tree to make my bid, the whole job depended on 2 TIPs and 2 very crucial rigging points. When I got to up the tree, I noticed that one of the rigging points was compromised (cracked crotch at the base of the limb I needed, and I mean REQUIRED, to get the job done with out a crane). I spoke to the landowner and explained that I needed equipment that I do not own and that if he was willing to cover the rental, I'd be happy to do the job with no extra labor cost. The job still would have been a loss for me as I was low balling the bid and with the extra time it would have taken, my labor cost would have eaten the profits and then some, but I was trying to make good on the job regardless. The customer told me he wouldn't cover the additional charges, so I had to leave that beast where it stood.....it still urks me though.
 
when doing trees like that seems you could piece the tips out with a polesaw; then block and chunk fire wood into a controlled drop zone even onto concrete with enough brush piled up and small enough pieces. i have done that several times. it takes longer and requires more effort, but in the end it is very safe. reverse tie ins work well for scary trees too check out the vid of Gramme (i think; sorry for the misspell if not) blocking down a very, very, scary tree in the t_______ air walk videos. reverse tie offs and chinch straps. i did that once on a very old dead lightning struck sycamore. the technique is very comforting and productive if you plan in advance. when i first got started i walked away from a few.... but i stuck around and learned from the guys who took them down. i even took a standing rotted sweet gum(maybe) hard to tell with nothing left but a couple decayed branches and no bark) spar apart with a throw line and rigging rope and a three to one until it was safe enough to drop. that was the nastiest tree ever carpenter ants ate 3/4 of the base out and the trunk felt like mashed potatoes.
 
Had a similar situation 2 or 3 years ago. Driftwood dead tree over the house and primary at the street. I called the crane company and told them there was no way to climb it and it was so dead it would be risky to even rig anything They told me they could use a man basket on the crane to get me up there and we could take it in small pieces. I priced myself out of the job. No one else wanted it either. As far as I know that tree stood until it fell. HO waited too long. Pay me now or pay me big later.

Had another situation about 5 years ago where I had to climb out over a primary in a backyard Silver Maple. Tree was half dead. I had room to drop the tip of the leader over the primary but when I got in the tree the leader was hollow. I got up to 8 or 9" wood and found a hollow I could stick my fist in... I still needed to get a good 15 to 20' higher... My spidey senses started to tingle... There was another leader I could have tied into but if the hollow leader would have failed it would have swung me into the primary. I grabbed a handful of rotten wood and took it to the HO and told him I would not be able to remove that tree without a crane. Told him there was no charge for what I had already done. He told me to go back and give him an estimate on removing that one and 2 others with a crane. I ended up picking all three trees (2 behemoth Silver Maples and another huge Hackberry) over the house with a 64 ton crane. Ended up doing that job for 3 times what I originally priced the one tree for. Wish they all worked out that way. HO's don't usually like it when you come back and tell them the job is going to cost more. I got lucky with an understanding client. 2 months later we got an ice storm of the century. There was virtually not a tree in the city that didn't have damage. I was working in my clients neighborhood and he told me he was glad we got his trees out of there when we did.
 
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