Serf Life
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Maine Island
Diggin on the lines and angles on a 5-stem pine.
Today....
- Thread starter Mark Chisholm
- Start date
ClimbingTN
Branched out member
- Location
- Columbia
This is what’s left of a 95ft tornado damaged hickory. It had been twisted and split from the base up 20ft. The tree was leaning hard into two trees and power line behind them. Edited...I needed it to land 45 degrees away from lean. I pulled it nearly opposite away from the lean to get my 45 when it turned. Make sense? I put a heavy duty strap around the trunk to keep some of it together. I had my 12k winch and maasdam on it. The maasdam was in the far left tree (stump photo) for the swing along with the notch. I missed my mark by 2ft but, it landed right on top of a stump. Minimal lawn damage. This was the most difficult felling I’ve done during the tornado cleanup.
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This has got me thinking.
New thread coming.
I kinda enjoy doing cemetery work. Comparatively, it's usually a laid back atmosphere. The only time I saw a high level of production, with a real busy day, is when we squeezed a 50ton crane in for 15 or so spruce. They were big ones too.
Officially into the crazy busy season, long holiday weekend, got sick, been away for a while...
Today was a day of big/sketchy madrones, with job 2/3 finding some barbed wire from decades ago towards the middle of the trunk wood. Just powered through and got it done.
Today was a day of big/sketchy madrones, with job 2/3 finding some barbed wire from decades ago towards the middle of the trunk wood. Just powered through and got it done.
southsoundtree
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Olympia, WA
Busy today on a hazard tree contract. Dead and dying alders to start. More tomorrow, maybe with pics.
Treemuel
Branched out member
- Location
- Hancock, ME
Three pines and a poplar today (or popple as they say in these parts). Might be one of my pitchiest days, warm and flowing in gobs. Ended up just spurring down the last stick cause I could no longer break my hitch even with the full force of both hands on the wrench pushing it down. Ugh. Got to leave a mess of big sticks and a pile of chips for the HO to deal with on the tractor. Nice guy who's done some welding for me (actually his mom's place that he was helping out), so I think they got a real good price. Though there's quite a few others around the house they want down when they can pay for another round.
Bendroctanus
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- Springfield
I will never say it the same way again.
Treetopflyer
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Coastal N.J
How’s it working out ? I’ve heard that grinder leaves a lot to long for !? Obviously mucho upgrade from a mini X with and attachment going to a a dedicated machine made for stump grinding. I hope it’s serving you well. I’m in the market for and upgrade stumper myself but I think e maybe going into that 75 to 80 hp range . I won’t buy that bandit 75 though herd she’s a turd! Maybe I heard wrong ?!
Fivepoints
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- East of Huntsville, AL
I'm pretty happy with it. We have tackled some 5 plus ft oak stumps. It's slow for those but will do it. We ground 10 cedar stumps in 45 minutes. All were 2 to 3 ft. If I ground stumps all day I think a 75 hp machine would be worth it. We usually grind a couple from our regular work. It's plenty good for our uses and paid for so that's kinda hard to argue with. I really like the remote.
It may be a turd, buy only to larger machines. It dose well for it's class of HP range. Company I climb for has one.
Not a bad machine. Personally, I'd hunt down an 80HP Rayco.
That’s it. I’m moving to Maine. Can I work for you if I promise to wear a brain bucket and to limit my beer consumption at lunch to no more than a six pack?
On a serious note, how do you like the Sequoia? And great pics as usual.
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Bendroctanus
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- Springfield
As long you eat a loaf of bread with it.
Treetopflyer
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Coastal N.J
Turd not the word I shouldve used lol. I agree when it comes to stump cuttin there’s no replacement for displacement but there’s many other intangibles that separate the good from the bad. im leaning strongly into rayco or Carlton in that h.p. Range at this time they seem to be good machines.. I like really diggin in as to what and why makes anything good…
I heard that sg75 bandit grinder has high center of mass so its can be tipped more easily just as one point to go off. May have other strong suits that negate that and if your in mostly flatlands like me probably never be a problem. Get a good trailer setup like a low tilt deck , good to go.
Treemuel
Branched out member
- Location
- Hancock, ME
Sure, as long as you take me up when of those redwoods sometime in exchange
I think you might miss big trees though. It's my first tree saddle, so I'm probably not the best judge. I did a lot of rock/mountain climbing back in the day, so the Petzl style with soft loops is familiar to me. The tiny little bungies that are supposed to keep the extra length of straps organized aren't the best system. Also there're these plastic clips that cover the adjusters for the straps to the lower D's and they seem to catch on things and pop off. In some ways, I'd say the whole adjustment system feels a little "busy", not very streamlined. But it seems to be a decent balance of lightweight and comfort for both pruning and removals. Overall I'd say it's "good enough" – don't love it, don't hate it. Most likely my next saddle will end up being something else.
Matias
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Butte County
Perfect description of the saddleSure, as long as you take me up when of those redwoods sometime in exchange
It's my first tree saddle, so I'm probably not the best judge. I did a lot of rock/mountain climbing back in the day, so the Petzl style with soft loops is familiar to me. The tiny little bungies that are supposed to keep the extra length of straps organized aren't the best system. Also there're these plastic clips that cover the adjusters for the straps to the lower D's and they seem to catch on things and pop off. In some ways, I'd say the whole adjustment system feels a little "busy", not very streamlined. But it seems to be a decent balance of lightweight and comfort for both pruning and removals. Overall I'd say it's "good enough" – don't love it, don't hate it. Most likely my next saddle will end up being something else.
I would certainly miss living around big trees, but working in them everyday at my age.. Maybe not so much? When a large majority of your work is way over 125 ft it brings a unique set of stressors. Like all tree work the physical stress is there, but as I have gotten older its the stress on the nervous system that I feel the most. Our brains know the difference between working at 65 ft and working at 185 ft, and no matter how comfortable you are working aloft you can’t completely override the alarm bells going off in your noggin. After 3-4 days in a row of smashing tall timber and I need to recuperate for a couple days with meditation, breathwork, gardening in the sun, tasks that don’t involve me leaving the ground, and as little human contact as possible. Thats where I am at right now. . A sunny morning in the garden doing breath work, getting a jump on next winters firewood (split and stacked 3/4’s of a cord of bone dry standing dead madrone), and milling some fir ( I got 7 beautiful 4x10's and a bunch of arrow straight 2x4's out of this log). The perfect down day!Sure, as long as you take me up when of those redwoods sometime in exchange
It's my first tree saddle, so I'm probably not the best judge. I did a lot of rock/mountain climbing back in the day, so the Petzl style with soft loops is familiar to me. The tiny little bungies that are supposed to keep the extra length of straps organized aren't the best system. Also there're these plastic clips that cover the adjusters for the straps to the lower D's and they seem to catch on things and pop off. In some ways, I'd say the whole adjustment system feels a little "busy", not very streamlined. But it seems to be a decent balance of lightweight and comfort for both pruning and removals. Overall I'd say it's "good enough" – don't love it, don't hate it. Most likely my next sadd
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Treemuel
Branched out member
- Location
- Hancock, ME
that’s some beautiful clear fir!
That makes sense about the extra stress of working at those heights, surely way beyond what was usual even for our tree climbing ancestors; perhaps our brains just aren’t wired to handle that without some level of primal stress response, however frequently you do it.
Sounds like you’ve got some healthy, productive strategies for resetting the nervous system though. It’s amazing how much we can release and decondition the stress stored in our bodies and minds through meditation.
That makes sense about the extra stress of working at those heights, surely way beyond what was usual even for our tree climbing ancestors; perhaps our brains just aren’t wired to handle that without some level of primal stress response, however frequently you do it.
Sounds like you’ve got some healthy, productive strategies for resetting the nervous system though. It’s amazing how much we can release and decondition the stress stored in our bodies and minds through meditation.
