Securing a split oak for removal tomorrow

RBJtree

RBJtree

Branched out member
Location
Pittsburgh
I recieved an emergency call this morning for a split oak threatening 2 houses and utility wires. I am bringing in a crane tomorrow to remove it. I first set a 3 strand with a throwball to make it safer to climb and tightened it up with a rope puller. Then I set my climbing line, went up and set a 5/8ths rope, triangulated between 3 leads for balance, a little above half way up the tree. I've done this many times with no failures, but it would be nice to get some feed back from the buzz. In your opinion, is this adequate to hold the tree? Is there a better way? How would you do it? Its a little hard to see the ropes in my pictures, but I did the best I could.
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RBJtree said:
I recieved an emergency call this morning for a split oak threatening 2 houses and utility wires. I am bringing in a crane tomorrow to remove it. I first set a 3 strand with a throwball to make it safer to climb and tightened it up with a rope puller. Then I set my climbing line, went up and set a 5/8ths rope, triangulated between 3 leads for balance, a little above half way up the tree. I've done this many times with no failures, but it would be nice to get some feed back from the buzz. In your opinion, is this adequate to hold the tree? Is there a better way? How would you do it? Its a little hard to see the ropes in my pictures, but I did the best I could.
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I also use heavy trucker ratchet straps . Load rated . Put a couple to ad some support


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I like it. Could do some 2" ratchet straps too, but if you were able to snug some 5/8" around the leads you're probably good til tomorrow.
 
Tom Dunlap said:
Whatever you did today to brace the failure shows good intent. Doing no bracing could be considered negligent.

Using a

https://www.finehomebuilding.com/1997/01/01/the-spanish-windlass

simple way to tension ropes. Take a couple of round turns and spin it up. This is why we all have buckets of short chunksss of rope saved
Click to expand...
My setup would not have allowed a spanish windless, but I certainly could have hanged it up to do so. But how, once the roped are all twisted up, do you stop them from untwisting when they are 50 feet up?
 
One time I used a spanish windlass I used a short piece of pipe to twist. Then I used a longer one, slipped over an end and tucked away to keep it from unwinding. Tape or rope snubs everything together. Ratchet straps are cheap. I see them on CL and FB Marketplace all of the time.
 
I have ratchet straps. My rope is stronger. I don't see a ratchet strap pulling together a 40,000 lb tree. In this senerio, my goal is to keep the tree from falling. I don't care if the crack expands a little more by a few inches untill the rope is very tight, thats not going to bring it down. I have seen people put ratchet straps wraped around the split where there is no leverage. Is there another way to use them?
 
You gonna use some straps when you do the work? Gotta rig it all or can you just drop some weight? Looks fun!

Sucks they're losing it, it's pretty. Some cable, brace, and weight reduction might've kept it around another few decades
 
It seems that you'll be better equipped to deal with force vectors in the break plane, but not so much in the shear plane. If you want protection more against shearing, it may be useful to use metal bracing according to the ANSI standard, or deploy ropes in basket configuration at 180° in the shear vector (which would tangle up your rigging)... With the crane, you hopefully don't need much force to keep it together.
 
Pretty much nothing can be dropped in significant size. Its over two houses, a house drop, and pole to pole primaries. The one open spot I have to maybe drop stuff is where I will put the crane. We will double strap most of the leads so they float nice and come off the tree without much shock. My crane guy is a climber too so we can work very well together. Makes for a smooth day. I will be able to leave my support ropes in place untill most of the wieght is off of the tree. I might add another in so when I take the first lead off of the side where I have two leads in the support ropes, it can't twist when it becomes unbalanced. There are thunder storms in the forcast, hopefully they stay out of our way untill this thing is done.
 
Tom Dunlap said:
Whatever you did today to brace the failure shows good intent. Doing no bracing could be considered negligent.

Using a

https://www.finehomebuilding.com/1997/01/01/the-spanish-windlass

simple way to tension ropes. Take a couple of round turns and spin it up. This is why we all have buckets of short chunksss of rope saved
Click to expand...
This is how you tighten and put tension on guy lines for tail holds and spar poles when Yarder logging. You can get your haywire to sing like a guitar string.
 
RBJtree said:
I recieved an emergency call this morning for a split oak threatening 2 houses and utility wires. I am bringing in a crane tomorrow to remove it. I first set a 3 strand with a throwball to make it safer to climb and tightened it up with a rope puller. Then I set my climbing line, went up and set a 5/8ths rope, triangulated between 3 leads for balance, a little above half way up the tree. I've done this many times with no failures, but it would be nice to get some feed back from the buzz. In your opinion, is this adequate to hold the tree? Is there a better way? How would you do it? Its a little hard to see the ropes in my pictures, but I did the best I could.
View attachment 59029View attachment 59030View attachment 59031View attachment 59032View attachment 59033
Click to expand...
I would put a few rated ratchet straps along the lower trunk until you reach the top of the split crotch. I would also go with a series of support ropes up in the canopy of the tree. Take the time to reset your support ropes as need as you work your way down during removal. As long as you tread lightly and don't rig anything too big you should be fine. Actually looks like a fun removal. Enjoy and be safe bro!
 
Couple of trucker straps tightening in succession, and consider retightening as crown weight lessens. If you want, you can drive a few screws below the ratchet straps (one at each truck per strap) to keep them from falling off when the crack closes, between tightenings.
 
Looks like a cool project. Be careful!
Forgive me for this question... why didn't the owner (or you) contact the utility company to remove the tree? This looks like an obvious "danger tree" candidate for them to take care of because of the threat to their lines.
I know one answer is you don't want to lose the business but the homeowner wouldn't have to pay anything.
Last year I called Duke & asked them to come take a look at a similar issue & they took it from there. The HO was very appreciative & I received a few referrals from it.
 
Rush said:
Looks like a cool project. Be careful!
Forgive me for this question... why didn't the owner (or you) contact the utility company to remove the tree? This looks like an obvious "danger tree" candidate for them to take care of because of the threat to their lines.
I know one answer is you don't want to lose the business but the homeowner wouldn't have to pay anything.
Last year I called Duke & asked them to come take a look at a similar issue & they took it from there. The HO was very appreciative & I received a few referrals from it.
Click to expand...
I honestly didn't think to do that. I will keep that in mind for the future. I really don't like doing emergency work like this because I feel bad for the people who have to pay. It's different when its an insurance company or elective work. I gave them a really good price though.
 
Everything went as planned, with the exception of rain for half the day which we worked through, no lightening. And the cops showed up half way through the tree because we were blocking the road without a permit and someone complained, but when they saw what we were doing and why, they let us continue. I got a couple little cell phone videos from up in the tree, I'll post them when I get a chance.
 
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