What did it for you?

treevet said:
I once worked all day in pouring rain down pour. My fingers all had that wrinkled, just out of an hour in a hot bath tub look. I was removing a 100' plus 40" dbh pinoak in a relatively open space...by myself. Bills to pay, help intoxicated or suffering after effects. On the way up just off a 36' ladder and hanging on for dear life (no tie in...no buckstrap) spiking up a FAT stem with no laterals at that point...my manilla became lodged in the ladder...and I was now climbing with the added weight of a 36' ladder on my saddle. Got to the top and tied in and pulled it up the rest of the way...and enjoyably tossed it to the ground mostly destroying it and finished it off with some big wood intentionally sent in its direction. All suffering done in quiet in a N. Brunswick NJ suburb with wives cooking dinner or vacuuming or whatever they do while a crazy person rids them of a dead monster in their yard. I loved that ladder, and I loved smashing it to smithereens. :)
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Love it! Double like. I'm guessing the ladder got hung up at the end cap by one of those magical clove hitches that just appear out of nowhere? Or the rope got caught under the ladder lock assembly.
 
If I have to go with one choice...it would, without a close second, be...Al Shigo. He was another father figure to me, I respected and even loved him for what he did...for me. I spent a LOT of time in his audience and witnessed genius and philosophies (not just arboriculture related), respect for fellow arborists and he had a life long goal to teach his subjects...us. Best said by his best friend, Charlie Owen (to me in a conversation)..."he was the ultimate teacher".

I own and have read every book and probably most every publication he ever issued. I own and rewatch every dvd/vcr and cd rom he ever sold and went to every topical seminar and others especially the week long seminars in Boone NC, where only 25 students were allowed and everyone had their own microscopes issued, in the woods of Boone. I miss my often "Shigo fix" especially in the midst of times like now hammering down eab victims for clients most days.

It was funny at my first seminar after meeting him at Phil. Arbor Expo in '80, in the Saranack Mts. watching a group of followers (actual groupies...I schit you not) and I was walking and talking with him alone...and they followed him around like the cartoon Dick Tracy "One man gang" grouped real tight maybe 8 or so of them and they shamelessly hid behind trees and bushes etc....whatever it took...trying to capture every morsel of wisdom emitted.

I know there are current and past teachers that have some resentment of him (read jealousy), but if you talk to the top of the industry teachers , Kim Coder, Ed Gilman, etc., the vast majority of them had their own worship thing going for him and the bulk of their base of learning is rooted in him.
 
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TreeLogic said:
Love it! Double like. I'm guessing the ladder got hung up at the end cap by one of those magical clove hitches that just appear out of nowhere? Or the rope got caught under the ladder lock assembly.
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prob the "magical clove hitch" lol. But no forensic investigator would ever be able to gather enough evidence to make a decision.
 
treevet said:
If I have to go with one choice...it would, without a close second, be...Al Shigo. He was another father figure to me, I respected and even loved him for what he did...for me. I spent a LOT of time in his audience and witnessed genius and philosophies (not just arboriculture related), respect for fellow arborists and he had a life long goal to teach his subjects...us. Best said by his best friend, Charlie Owen (to me in a conversation)..."he was the ultimate teacher".

I own and have read every book and probably most every publication he ever issued. I own and rewatch every dvd/vcr and cd rom he ever sold and went to every topical seminar and others especially the week long seminars in Boone NC, where only 25 students were allowed and everyone had their own microscopes issued, in the woods of Boone. I miss my often "Shigo fix" especially in the midst of times like now hammering down eab victims for clients most days.

It was funny at my first seminar after meeting him at Phil. Arbor Expo in '80, in the Saranack Mts. watching a group of followers (actual groupies...I schit you not) and I was walking and talking with him alone...and they followed him around like the cartoon Dick Tracy "One man gang" grouped real tight maybe 8 or so of them and they shamelessly hid behind trees and bushes etc....whatever it took...trying to capture every morsel of wisdom emitted.

I know there are current and past teachers that have some resentment of him (read jealousy) such as Ekka and sometimes Guy and I suspect others, but if you talk to the top of the industry teachers , Kim Coder, Ed Gilman, etc., the vast majority of them had their own worship thing going for him and the bulk of their base of learning is rooted in him.
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I wish I could say that Shigo himself was a big factor, but at least I can get a glimpse of who he was through his writing AND through you, Treevet, and the others that knew him and learned directly from him. Thanks for sharing what he gave you!
 
I started climbing right after I got out of the Army. I learned on a Blakes hitch but was forced to use a tautline for a season when I worked on a Mountain Crew for Asplundh. After that every thing just kinda evolved into what I do today. Who remembers the first time they clipped a micro pulley underneath their friction hitch with a dog leash snap? Hard to believe that was 15 years ago. How many of us working arborists wish they had invented any of the cool time and energy saving devices that we see each time we open a Sherrill catalog?
 
There was no solid reasoning behind anything that we did. I argued my point in vain on several different issues. The Asplundh foreman and GF were pretty ignorant about a lot of things. We spiked to the top of lodge pole pines and aspens that were growing under the transmission line just below tree line on the continental divide and blew the tops out, then rapped down on a tautline. Up and down, up and down, up and down 10 hrs a day. The logic being that Asplundh had been doing it this way for 80+ years so it must be safe. They wanted the most basic, idiot proof Standard Operating Procedure for their hoards of tree trimmers. As a Veteran I understand the concept of Keep It Simple Stupid for the simple minded masses. Unfortunately I am a Special Ops Vet and like to think outside the box. That was the only season I worked for 'Big Orange'
 
kstreehuggerco said:
There was no solid reasoning behind anything that we did. I argued my point in vain on several different issues. The Asplundh foreman and GF were pretty ignorant about a lot of things. We spiked to the top of lodge pole pines and aspens that were growing under the transmission line just below tree line on the continental divide and blew the tops out, then rapped down on a tautline. Up and down, up and down, up and down 10 hrs a day. The logic being that Asplundh had been doing it this way for 80+ years so it must be safe. They wanted the most basic, idiot proof Standard Operating Procedure for their hoards of tree trimmers. As a Veteran I understand the concept of Keep It Simple Stupid for the simple minded masses. Unfortunately I am a Special Ops Vet and like to think outside the box. That was the only season I worked for 'Big Orange'
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Yes sir ! I believe tree work is perfect for outside the box thinkers . Otherwise we'd all be framers!
 
Treetopflyer said:
Yes sir ! I believe tree work is perfect for outside the box thinkers . Otherwise we'd all be framers!
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Nothing wrong with Framers. One of my best friends and old Army buddy is a framer. In fact he is gonna help me with the construction of some non-invasive tree house projects. Getting back to the tautline issue. The Asplundh GF didnt like it to well when I told him that 80 years ago they were still giving mental patients lobotomies. Today they have meds for people like him.
 
I didn't see the Blakes as much improvement over the T Line. I did not like the fact that that one strand took most of the friction and degradation. The tautline got the job done was functional but just rolled out with the advent of nylon lines from hemp. Then slack tending set ups blew them both away.
 
Several separate epiphanies would best describe it for me. The first came when it dawned on me that tree work had everything I could ask for; a mental, physical and emotional challenge, adrenaline, science, physics and puzzle solving as well. And not the least, though every job was similar, no two were the same and we could always see completion of our work. All these were what drew me to my first love, firefighting and made tree work my second love. This led to an insatiable appetite to learn all I could about it.

The second would have to be about half a dozen years ago. I have no idea what it was or why but I woke up one morning and realized, "Holy Crap! I really am an Arborist!" I had been an ISA CA for years but never really considered myself an "arborist" for some reason. Of course that realization resulted in upped confidence and really improved my service, customer relations and business.

The most recent came as a result of Geezers In The Treezers. After participating for a couple of years I learned so much, not just about technique but also about being free in the tree. Each year I have come home with new skills and much, much more confidence. While I have climbed trees for the past 20 years or so, I have never really considered myself a climber. However, each year I came back from Geezers thinking I might actually be one. Then last year I came away finally certain that I am actually a tree climber. Still not the best, fastest, most efficient or even most graceful, but by gawd, I'm actually a freakin' tree climber!
 
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