Work Photos

Reach · Jul 12, 2020

Steve Connally said:
Yep it’s my every day since I only sub out. Nobody calls me for the easy jobs.

I believe that. Nobody wants to pay for the specialist for easy work. We do a lot of large and limited access work, with and without cranes. We do some easier work too though, which is nice on occasion. Every now and then it’s nice to not have to think much.

27RMT0N · Jul 18, 2020

Got to do another extremely nice madrone the other day, a 6-stem cluster almost totally surrounded in buildings. It was just deadwood and house clearance as some of the limbs were touching the skylight (fun to work over...) and chimney, those were the only live cuts. A good challenge to move through and couldn't ask for better scenery.

Then yesterday did this 120-footer hanging over a garage....

Reach · Jul 18, 2020

Just a little tree-lifting the other day. Oh, and did I mention the nice steep hill we were set up on, that took every stick of cribbing we had?

southsoundtree · Jul 18, 2020

Tight squeeze between the septic tanks and firepit to back the chipper in, and soon 180* with the pneumatic swivel caster bolted to the tongue.
Was able to spray can where they need them.

Glendon biofilter systems are raised mound septic leach systems developed locally. This cabled tree was probably a kids zip line anchor tree, launching from the mound.
The scanned tree was in the back side of the mound, with a tight landing zone next to the chipper.
Just enough room.
Swiveled the first tray over the rhododendron to protect it.

Arbor trolley fill of brush is from another tree, from across the yard.

27RMT0N · Jul 21, 2020

Tall dead grand fir next to a cabin (1 of three on the project), climbed to about 8" at the main top and it also had a side top that grew out at 90-degrees for about 8' before turning upright as tall as the primary top, that was a fun challenge.

Left the stick as a wildlife snag, giving it as an old co-worker used to call it, 'the Bart Simpson cut.' The customer got a kick out of that and brought out his Simpsons chess set as a photo prop.

southsoundtree · Aug 7, 2020

Sorry that the pics are not loaded well.

Double-whip tackle all day, except the last lower is sometimes straight NC, counterbalanced by the previous DWT.
Maples can offer be natural-crotched for DWT. Speedline slings and biners for the rest. All preloaded by hand.

A stub that is barely long enough can be used to wrap the standing end of a rigging line, which can be flipped free (numerous wraps to back up the wrap or two that is enough hold-back power) from the ground.

I'm working solo about 4.5-5 hours a day, between summer camp drop off and pick up.

Previous project.
"Deadwooding" a madrone that has been dying. Recent widow want to hold onto what she can of the tree, even if it's just a shorter wildlife snag.

Four mats with alturnalinks made this hill possible, after I cut the grade a little with the bucket, and filled the large, hollow, steel drum buried in the slope, the rim of which had eroded out of the slope, Barely!

I make my "grapple piles" as close as possible to where the material falls/ as few steps as possible, usually making a couple brush piles, and a firewood pile.

Yesterday, the mini carried and fed all the maple brush, and carried all the wood, except for the two small loads in the Arbor Trolley, rolled over flat pavers. The mini route is not for rookies...Tight!

southsoundtree · Aug 7, 2020

southsoundtree · Aug 7, 2020

(Dead) Tree house at home. 9' high deck, 8'x12'. Knotted rope climb or ladder access. Western redcedar decking that my neighbor milled from a removal job.

Should be able to lower-out from the deck to nearby Doug and Grand firs, or climb an alder straight off the deck.

New, angled AT mount. If I pop of a wheel, I can use the tongue-jack. Room for half-sheets of plywood between AT and engine cover.

27RMT0N · Aug 8, 2020

Had a nice challenge today, a pretty large big leaf maple in serious decline. These trees usually die from the top down and wind up with very large, dead and brittle tops. This one had the dead tops cut out... a decade ago maybe...? It was past time to do it again, as the customer wanted to remove the dead so it was safe, but keep the tree a few more years. For whatever reason, THREE other companies passed on this job, but honestly I didn't see what the big deal was...

The maple in question, maybe 80' tall, in the corner of a yard, fences on two sides, lean towards the open yard and partly towards the house. Luckily I had a tall fir in the neighbors yard (other side of the fence) to use as a tie-in when working the dead maple stems, and that made all the difference in being a safe project.

Looking up at two of the three dead tops. Set a redirect on my climbing line and did a bunch of limb-walking with a pole-saw to remove the lower dead branch tips, before trying to piece out and drop the tops through the remaining live limbs.

Looking down, on spurs to work the dead trunks.

And since I've never actually posted a picture of myself... This is after removing the three dead tops. Most of my work is out on properties in the forest, so working in town was a nice little change.

The mess below. It was a 'cut and leave a mess job' that I did solo, no rigging, just careful aiming on this project.

The results. Obviously the maple will continue to decline over time, but this work brought the tree down to a level and to trunk material large and solid enough that it shouldn't be a safety hazard anymore. Maybe in 5 years I'll be back to finish the job, who knows.

Edit: And oh yah, like an idiot I tried to karate-chop a small piece of deadwood, annnnnd it didn't break. Now my hand hurts. At least the customer gave me a piece of her freshly baked chocolate zucchini cake....

southsoundtree · Aug 8, 2020

A lot of companies have no way to tie into the fir. A steel-core flip line won't reach.

27RMT0N · Aug 8, 2020

southsoundtree said:
A lot of companies have no way to tie into the fir. A steel-core flip line won't reach.

I know at least one of the companies absolutely has guys with the skill and experience to do this project, which is the part that confuses me. I mean, big dead maple tops around a house can look a bit intimidating honestly, but get the high line in the fir, then just go one step at a time... The trunk wood was dead but was actually almost totally solid other than decay at the tips. That let me go higher and take smaller pieces than I expected actually, and gave a lot of control.

Serf Life · Aug 14, 2020

Looking down

Looking up, yuck

southsoundtree · Aug 14, 2020

Winching up low hemlock limbs over the roofs.
Roping down rotten hemlock.

Her first day roping anything down.

chiselbit · Aug 20, 2020

Smoky today

Reach · Aug 20, 2020

Ganoderma, anyone? This tree was so bad you could watch it move at the ground every time a piece came off the top. We had a trainee up in the air for the first time, hence the second person in the basket.

27RMT0N · Aug 29, 2020

Yesterday's project: A doug fir that was topped maybe 15-20 years ago, next to the house. The weight was all on the back/house side, and the plan was to pull it over the other way into the parking area.

I climbed it and took off about 20' of limbs over the house so it would clear the corner of the garage, then set a pull-rope.

Limbed to the point I needed, tall stump to shorten it as much as possible, open face to keep it on the stump for the amount of time I wanted.

The pull-line was a 1/2" static attached to a More Power Puller (great tool by the way) 200' away, across the parking area and over the lavender field.

Pull and wedge to overcome the back-weight, then the pull finished it off.

It ended up being about 10' shorter than I'd guessed it would be, but cleared the corner of the garage perfectly and dead center between the old apple tree on the right and the fence on the left.

The top. It had about 10 regrown tops, as large as 10" and 30' tall. It must have been a very healthy and vigorous tree when it was topped because it actually sealed over the topping cut completely and had very little decay. Obviously the re-grown tops were poorly attached, and that was the reason for the removal.

Trevor Balgavy · Sep 3, 2020

New belly band, transition, discharge, fenders, tank, etc on a Woodsman 18x.

27RMT0N · Sep 30, 2020

Removing some dead and weak limbs off a fir before a semi-permanent wall-tent is setup on the platform. Shot a line at about 80', walked up the rope, and for this kind of thing (when working solo) I have a sling I tie to the base of the limb then a foot or so out, cut and hang it on it's own stub and piece the limb out for total control and no heavy swings on my shoulders.

Oh, and a nice commute.

27RMT0N · Oct 9, 2020

Had a perfect job for my gas portable winch: removing a bunch of small dead trees from a hillside below a driveway, pulling them uphill, chipping and broadcasting the chips back on the hillside.

The ugly hillside: first impression at the driveway, lots of dead/dying western hemlock 2-8", 10-40' tall.