# Toughest trees to climb



## Mapleman (Apr 18, 2009)

"There's old tree men and there's bold tree men, but there's no old, bold tree men."

What's the toughest kind of tree you've had to climb? I'm talking species here, but you can relate an individual tree too. 

For sheer agony, my choice is a spruce with a lot of dead wood, with pin oaks a distant second. In Hawaii Tiger's Paw and Monkey Puzzle tie some climbers in knots. But for overall toughness...

BIG BLUE GUMS with peeling bark and the first branch 3 feet in diameter fifty feet up. Finished one up at UC Med Center with the headlights on highbeam.


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## StihlRockin' (Apr 18, 2009)

For me it's our huge cottonwood trees. The bark is very thick and there's no chance for your spikes to make it to the wood when doing removals... so you're always trying to visually spike a big ridge of bark instead. The bark makes for good hand-grabs if they're solid, but scary and dangerous if you have to climb them! Often the trees are so huge you have to use some sort of rope/lanyard tending device at the hip d-ring for easy adjusting because there's no using buckstraps or adjustable prusik lanyards or it will be too hard to adjust.

My second is our Red Oaks. Their branches are numerous in number, very strong and twist and curl into each other at times making for climbing harder. They're a ***** to chip too because you grab one limb and the whole pile wants to come with!

*StihlRockin'*


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## Mapleman (Apr 18, 2009)

I hear ya' Stihl Rockin' on those cottonwoods. Here in New England, Black Locusts have a similar deep bark, and thorns to boot. Using a flip line to inch your way up is almost impossible as you'll usually snag something on the back side of the trunk. Better to get a throwing ball up into a U-shape crotch and body thrust up.

An additonal note on blue gums (eucalyptus) is the spiral grain and thick, heavy gum. No matter how you make your cuts, the branches always seem to rotate off rather then break clean, making for some interesting scenarios when working over roofs and wires.


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## Mikecutstrees (Apr 18, 2009)

Almost every white pine in the immediate area received damage from the ice storm here in dec. I currently hate them the most. sap everwhere. Drippy nasty rope gumming sap. Big nasty pin oaks can be rough too. Dead branches everywhere to poke and snag...... Mike


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## tomtrees58 (Apr 18, 2009)

american elm there's no high point to the tree its gos out 50 ' tom trees


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## Rickytree (Apr 18, 2009)

Walnuts and Locusts are close together but if your deadwooding, the locusts. Black locusts are truly nasty with the 3 inch thorns that will puncher a tire.


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## JohnH (Apr 18, 2009)

tomtrees58 said:


> american elm there's no high point to the tree its gos out 50 ' tom trees




I'm right there with you on this. They are pain in the !##. There even more fun if it's wet.


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## Raymond (Apr 18, 2009)

Rickytree said:


> Walnuts and Locusts are close together but if your deadwooding, the locusts. Black locusts are truly nasty with the 3 inch thorns that will puncher a tire.


I like the walnuts for the most parts. Except in the heat of summer. You guys ever done one when it was really hot out? Man you get that sawdust on you and don't brush it off. You'll have little blister burn dots all over you.
It bad..makes it hard to get laid for a week or so. Gotta brush it off quick.

I've noticed it's more with the main trunk or big wood, saw chips. Yeah you get that on you when it's hot you'll know what I'm talking about.


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## Rickytree (Apr 18, 2009)

Raymond said:


> I like the walnuts for the most parts. Except in the heat of summer. You guys ever done one when it was really hot out? Man you get that sawdust on you and don't brush it off. You'll have little blister burn dots all over you.
> It bad..makes it hard to get laid for a week or so. Gotta brush it off quick.
> 
> I've noticed it's more with the main trunk or big wood, saw chips. Yeah you get that on you when it's hot you'll know what I'm talking about.



Do I ever. It's because of the Juglose in the tree. It is like a mild acid and will leave slight, what resembles, burn marks. Ya you can look like you caught some kind of illness. But it never effected me getting laid though. Cheers Raymond, get them drunk or turn out the lights.


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## woodchux (Apr 18, 2009)

Hawthorn or locust...


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## Bermie (Apr 18, 2009)

Poinciana, rarely have a high tie in, crown spread wider than it is high, rot pockets, wobbly and timber is snappy.
Ficus, gush sticky latex sap at the slightest provocation
Canary Island date palms...the thorns ALWAYS get you somewhere, two have sent me to hospital to have 2" thorns removed, one I had to have steroid pills to get rid of inflamation from a puncture...HATE them!


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## PurdueJoe (Apr 18, 2009)

Black locust here. Thorns are nasty, chipper hates it, and seems like every time I have the "luck" to win on a removal bid they always have shelf fungus on them or the bases are scared either of which I'm not to keen working above. One good thing they make great fence posts.


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## clearance (Apr 18, 2009)

Tough trees make you better, tougher, and you love the easy ones more.


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## treeman82 (Apr 18, 2009)

Shagbark hickory.


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## yibida (Apr 18, 2009)

*Gums*

I reckon smooth barked open canopied Eucalyptus sp. would be the most painful. Multiple heads are like four or five trees in one instead of a singular trunk tree and laterals tend to span horizontally all over the place but with a competent groundie it makes life easier. AND PHEONIX canariensis, had one in my knee and limping for a week.


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## Tim Krause (Apr 18, 2009)

spiking up a large shag bark hickory, or a sycamore in pollen are my least favorite


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## Slvrmple72 (Apr 18, 2009)

+1 Deadwooding Pin Oaks!


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## Mapleman (Apr 19, 2009)

Man, I got some bad ass euc stories, both from Northern Cal and Oz. But that will have to wait for later. 

Personally, I liked climbing American elms (live ones with the bark intact), that is when they were still around these parts. Back in the mid 80s we were in them at least once a week. I always climbed them with two ropes when pruning, plus a really long pole saw. Instead of climbing each individual leader, I would traverse the tree horizontally. Taking down dead ones with loose bark is another story though. We usually would chain bind the trunk above and below the cut to keep leaders from splitting apart. The old timers say big elms and eucs are what separated the men from the boys. I'd add a few other species in that catagory.


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## oldirty (Apr 19, 2009)

Rickytree said:


> Black locusts are truly nasty with the 3 inch thorns that will puncher a tire.



screw the tire. what about when you puncture through the meaty part of your finger on the backside of the branch your grabbing? and then the pain with the tree venom! youch.


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## sawinredneck (Apr 19, 2009)

Deadwooding PinOaks sucks!
Trimming Sugar/Silver Maple (because I am a large fellow!)
Never had to climb a Cottonweed, I hope to keep it that way!

But the WORST is a Hedge, Osage Orange! Thorns, twisted unpredictable tension on the branches, loose bark, that is thick and hard on ropes. Then the God awful sap that gets on EVERYTHING and WILL NOT come off of anything either!!


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## oldirty (Apr 19, 2009)

any one like the big rotten alianthus/ tree of heaven that is in between a couple triple deckers with all the power and cable/telephone lines running through that has absorbed the chain link fence?


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## sawinredneck (Apr 19, 2009)

oldirty said:


> any one like the big rotten alianthus/ tree of heaven that is in between a couple triple deckers with all the power and cable/telephone lines running through that has absorbed the chain link fence?



I've seen pictures of that! It's called a crane!

I think I will be dead and gone before I have the skill set to tackle a job like that! Most people I know don't like climbing those trees ALIVE!!


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## oldirty (Apr 19, 2009)

sawinredneck said:


> I've seen pictures of that! It's called a crane!
> 
> I think I will be dead and gone before I have the skill set to tackle a job like that! Most people I know don't like climbing those trees ALIVE!!





i try not to make a habit of those trees. they stink, literally.


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## sawinredneck (Apr 19, 2009)

Yeah, I have heard that as well. THANKFULLY they are not common around these parts!


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## gitrdun_climbr (Apr 19, 2009)

Try a Sycamore in mid summer. I had never seen a single tree make a whole crew of men cough, cry and vomit all day...makes these Cottonwoods feel like a day at the lake!


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## treeoperations (Apr 19, 2009)

difficult trees youll end up with a list a mile long for different reasons, here in nz monkey puzzles are a PIA follow by phoenix plams, london planes when there coverd in leaves, then has to be pin oaks one hell of a #### fight no matter how you attack the basturd.

ill stop now or i might clog the server our native tea tree or kanuka there a barrel of laughs if you have to spike them the woods so bloody hard you cant get your spikes into the buggers, all you guys that moan about gums i cant see why there such a dodle get a bit funky when there wet though haha


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## TimberMcPherson (Apr 19, 2009)

treeoperations said:


> difficult trees youll end up with a list a mile long for different reasons, here in nz monkey puzzles are a PIA follow by phoenix plams, london planes when there coverd in leaves, then has to be pin oaks one hell of a #### fight no matter how you attack the basturd.
> 
> ill stop now or i might clog the server our native tea tree or kanuka there a barrel of laughs if you have to spike them the woods so bloody hard you cant get your spikes into the buggers, all you guys that moan about gums i cant see why there such a dodle get a bit funky when there wet though haha



Pheonix and monkey puzzle are my top WTFAIDH (am I doing here) trees. Although pheonix is a palm, its just bad news for arborists.


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## John464 (Apr 19, 2009)

For pruning a Pin Oak it's the worst. Seems like every branch hangs up.. and for removing a declining Tulip Polpar...your hinge wood suddenly breaks and when its windy this can be a real battle with mother nature. Pray to God he is on your side today. Buttonwood trees have also had me coughing up blood from their fruit(balls). They just scratch the heck out of your throat. Ive even turned down a few jobs because I wanted to wait later in the year to work on them.


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## Mapleman (Apr 19, 2009)

Ahhh...moaning about gums...

I've climbed a bit in Christchurch, NZ and have seen some gnarly gums there. Maybe I didn't get around enough while there, but I don't remember seeing any blue gums as nasty as ones I worked on in Melbourne or San Francisco.

In my humble opinion, as an individual species, blue gums are the most difficult trees I've encounted. The wood is very heavy and requires extra care when lowering; the grain is spiral, so limbs twist when breaking off; they have multiple, twisted leaders which become separate entities; the bark is slippery, even in the dry season; scorpions and other venim lurk underneath the bark; they grow fast and tall and were over planted in urban settings; quite often they're hollow fifty feet up, but you would never know it unless pounding the trunk with a piece of wood or metal pipe. They have other nasty qualities which I seem to have mentally blocked out right now because of reoccurring nightmares.

I know there are many other species that fit the above criteria: black locusts, poplars, plane trees, cottonwoods, shagbarks, etc. I guess my main beef is that in San Francisco where I worked for a few years, blue gums grew in backyards the size of a 3-car garage, extending branches out fity feet over a half dozen roofs, and we had to wreck them by hand, as setting up with a crane in SF is almost impossible. We once took a big Monterrey Pine down in a backyard and walked it through a backdoor and out the front, but that's another story...


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## capetrees (Apr 19, 2009)

oldirty said:


> any one like the big rotten alianthus/ tree of heaven that is in between a couple triple deckers with all the power and cable/telephone lines running through that has absorbed the chain link fence?



Did one like that last month. Power, cable and phone through the branches, chain link imbeded at the base, directly over the chain link and wood fence, hanging out over a small cottage roof with a skylight right below the branches. And half was dead! Lot of fun.


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## treeoperations (Apr 19, 2009)

TimberMcPherson said:


> Pheonix and monkey puzzle are my top WTFAIDH (am I doing here) trees. Although pheonix is a palm, its just bad news for arborists.





when ever i get offered a pheonix plam i think of a company thats recently pissed me off then tell the client to get them in haha, we got pacific islander hacks here in auckland and they get alot of them cause they dont have a clue how to price them lol i always laugh when i see them doing 1 working off the roof of there truck with a blunt $299 special from mega mitre 10 chain saw haha.


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## Bermie (Apr 19, 2009)

Shall we start a 'Why I hate Phoenix Palms' thread fellas?


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## Rftreeman (Apr 19, 2009)

back in the day I use to hate climbing trees that were covered with poison ivy so thick that you had a hard time spiking some solid wood.


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## rahtreelimbs (Apr 19, 2009)

Mikecutstrees said:


> Almost every white pine in the immediate area received damage from the ice storm here in dec. I currently hate them the most. sap everwhere. Drippy nasty rope gumming sap. Big nasty pin oaks can be rough too. Dead branches everywhere to poke and snag...... Mike





I agree 100% with this but will add that Pin Oaks that haven't been touched in years are tough and frustrating to get through...especially when you are over 6' tall!!!


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## treevet (Apr 19, 2009)

Didn't read the whole thread but furrowed bark on big sections of white ash peels out sometimes with spikes when you don't expect it, it is so straight grained.

Elms with no bark make me nervous sometimes if I am rigging off what I am tied into.


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## md_tree_dood (Apr 19, 2009)

Oddly enough, I despise climbing Ash trees unless its late in the afternoon and they've had a chance to dry from the morning dew.

I despise black gum too


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## TimberMcPherson (Apr 20, 2009)

treeoperations said:


> when ever i get offered a pheonix plam i think of a company thats recently pissed me off then tell the client to get them in haha, we got pacific islander hacks here in auckland and they get alot of them cause they dont have a clue how to price them lol i always laugh when i see them doing 1 working off the roof of there truck with a blunt $299 special from mega mitre 10 chain saw haha.



That samoan crew are nation wide and better organised than you might think, part of some seven day eventist church for tax purposes. They are branching out around Aus to, boy do they suck. Standover tactics, price gouging, upping quotes and generally making the term Hack seem to nice for them.


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## ozzy42 (Apr 20, 2009)

Bermie said:


> Shall we start a 'Why I hate Phoenix Palms' thread fellas?


gave my groundie quite a laugh the last time I trimmed one.I got his attention,and then when into this charade;"did you see what that tree did?That ####ING THING INTENTIONALLY TRIED TO HURT ME.why i otta ,,,,,,:greenchainsaw:


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## Raymond (Apr 20, 2009)

I lived in Phoenix years ago and trimmed palms for awhile.
I did really mind trimming them but peeling them to the top sucked bad.
Was the only time in my life that the spurs bothered me.


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## OLD CHIPMONK (Apr 20, 2009)

Over here maybe Palms, Hackberry and Pecan trees, all tough climbs for removals or trims.


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## Raymond (Apr 20, 2009)

OLD CHIPMONK said:


> Over here maybe Palms, Hackberry and Pecan trees, all tough climbs for removals or trims.


You have them dog pecker gnats that like them Hackberry's in Georgia, in the heat of summer? 
Man them things suck. Get'em up your nose, in your eyes, mouth. It's bad here in the summertime.


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## outofmytree (Apr 20, 2009)

I cant believe you ladies are afraid of a lil ol gum tree. oke:

Now Phoenix canariensis is the reason God made groundies. Every time I have a discipline issue with my guys I tell em they are pruning that next Date palm. I get an immediate improvement.


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## ozzy42 (Apr 20, 2009)

outofmytree said:


> Every time I have a discipline issue with my guys I tell em they are pruning that next Date palm. I get an immediate improvement.



. That's what I'm talkin about,,REAL LEADERSHIP

Gonna rep you when I can.


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## Mapleman (Apr 20, 2009)

Okay, I give up on beefing about gums. Thankfully, they don't grow here in Vermont, and neither do date/Phoenix palms. When I worked in Hawaii, I hated doing coconut palms, especially the 70 footers that grew at severe angles over manicured landscaping. Couldn't get a bucket in there, and when you were hanging from a chain wrapped around the trunk on the down side of the tree, hacking away with a machete over your head, with roaches, ants, and other vermin falling inside your shirt...that's when I wished I was a piano player in a whore house.

The best climber I ever worked with was a Samoan named Soapa. We did this Ficus tree in Oahu using a 2100 with a six foot bar forty feet up. Man, he was goooood!


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## tree md (Apr 20, 2009)

Some of my hardest climbs were,

#1: an ancient Pine in Atlanta that was prolly 48" DBH with an ancient TV antenna installed near the top and covered in huge vines of Poison Ivy and over two houses. I spent the first half day dismantling the rusty TV antenna. I had to use a hacksaw to cut it in pieces and lower it with my rope. Pain in the arse. Then the second day I roped all of the limbs from over the neighbors house and most of the limbs from over the clients house. I was leaving my climbing line in the tree so I could belay back up without having to use my flipline in the Ivy when I returned. 3rd day I took out the rest of the large limbs from over the clients house and worked the spar down to where I thought I could drop it in the back yard. When I got down and looked it over I decided I wanted to take what was left of the spar in two pieces to be on the safe side. After climbing for the better part of three days in the Ivy covered tree, the 20' ladder the customer had laying in the back yard looked very inviting. I decided to use the 20' ladder to drop half the spar with my 044 and paid for it with a fractured heel. First and last time I ever used or will use a ladder for anything other than entering a tree. 

#2 was a large Cottonwood. It was prolly close to 48 DBH as well. The stump measured 68 inches. Sprawled over two houses. Another 2 days of rigging wood from over two houses. Had to lower the large laterals over the houses, take my time and make sure everything went perfect. Had to rig limbs as big as trees and block huge chunks. Ended up taking out a section of privacy fence when my green rope man didn't let my rope run when I asked him to and a large chunk swung back into me and I had to throw my hands up to try and deflect it. I had the chainsaw in my hand and it cut the rope. Fixed the fence myself in less then an hour but it was still embarrassing.

Any tree can be a biatch given the wrong circumstances but some of my least favorite are dead pecker pole pines, any really dead tree, live pines with razorblade bark that gives you several little paper cuts (especially under your finger nail. Hickorys of any species that are hard to gaff, give little penetration and have all the small brush growing up through the tree making it hard when you are trying to ascend, Large Cottonwood that sprawl over houses and are hard to gaff and climb. Most large trees that encounter I will set a line, have someone belay for me and gaff up the tree without using a flipline. On large prunes I will set a line and self belay.


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## sawinredneck (Apr 20, 2009)

The Hackberry I spicked to set a pll line in Saturday is my least favorite tree right now! I gaffed out and while sliding down got bark shoved up my armpit:hmm3grin2orange:
That sucker is dead now:chainsawguy::hmm3grin2orange:


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## Bermie (Apr 20, 2009)

ozzy42 said:


> . That's what I'm talkin about,,REAL LEADERSHIP
> 
> Gonna rep you when I can.



I got him for you!!! Love it:hmm3grin2orange:

The pic is two Phoenix thorns that I saved after they were extracted at the hospital...one went 90* into my elbow joint and disappeared from sight, not fun. The other one was full length, lengthwise under the skin of my forearm.

HATE THOSE PALMS!


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## tree md (Apr 20, 2009)

Bermie said:


> I got him for you!!! Love it:hmm3grin2orange:
> 
> The pic is two Phoenix thorns that I saved after they were extracted at the hospital...one went 90* into my elbow joint and disappeared from sight, not fun. The other one was full length, lengthwise under the skin of my forearm.
> 
> HATE THOSE PALMS!



Ouch!


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## oldirty (Apr 20, 2009)

tree md said:


> Ouch!



indeed.


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## tree MDS (Apr 20, 2009)

oldirty said:


> indeed.



Dude! empty your messages! 

I just typed you this long a$$ e-mail for nothing!

I guess it was my turn, lol.


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## treebilly (Apr 20, 2009)

My least favorite for trimming wold have to be big old silver maples that have been hacked up over the last 50 years. Nothing but candlesticks to use for a TIP and always full of rotten "nuckles" from the 15 times someone did a "crown reduction" on them. As for removals I would have to say any tree that has been dead about two years longer than it should've been allowed to stand. A guy up the road from me has 2 red pine that have not had needles since I moved in back in 98. What's sad is he's a park ranger and doesn't see a problem with them.


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## BlackenedTimber (Apr 20, 2009)

pines- live ones for trimming or removal, because I hate it when my big, wide, hairy forearms get plastered with sap and I spend days removing it with saw gas and lava soap, and dead ones because I am by no means petite, and I dont trust their structural integrity. They are everywhere in my neck of the woods. As for difficulty, they are a 1 out of 10, but I personally hate them. I won't even eat anything seasoned with rosemary because the taste reminds me of arms covered with sap. Yes, I am weird.


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## John Paul Sanborn (Apr 20, 2009)

Honeylocust that are not the thornless variety.






http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/g/gletri/gletri1.html







http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Honey_locust_thorns.jpg


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## ozzy42 (Apr 20, 2009)

John Paul Sanborn said:


> Honeylocust that are not the thornless variety.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Now that is a tree that does not want to be messed with.


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## treevet (Apr 20, 2009)

ozzy42 said:


> Now that is a tree that does not want to be messed with.



They can be a pain in the a$$ (laugh quietly haha)

Usually you can scrape the stem off with a polesaw and they don't get in the canopy too bad.


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## Bermie (Apr 20, 2009)

Oh man that's a NIGHTMARE!


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## Bur Oak (Apr 20, 2009)

*Airborne Projectiles*



treevet said:


> They can be a pain in the a$$ (laugh quietly haha)
> 
> Usually you can scrape the stem off with a polesaw and they don't get in the canopy too bad.



Buzzing them with a chainsaw is a nightmare, because they are then airborne projectiles. I read somewhere that pioneers used the thorns as nails!


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## oldirty (Apr 20, 2009)

tree MDS said:


> Dude! empty your messages!
> 
> I just typed you this long a$$ e-mail for nothing!
> 
> I guess it was my turn, lol.





send it.


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## treevet (Apr 20, 2009)

Bur Oak said:


> Buzzing them with a chainsaw is a nightmare, because they are then airborne projectiles. I read somewhere that pioneers used the thorns as nails!



I bet that is true. They get real hard when seasoned and lose flexibility.

Tough on groundies too grabbing and walking in them. Will go thru a boot or tire.


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## Raymond (Apr 20, 2009)

treevet said:


> They can be a pain in the a$$ (laugh quietly haha)
> 
> Usually you can scrape the stem off with a polesaw and they don't get in the canopy too bad.


That's what I'm sayin'
Just take a few minutes to clean the trunk and slowly to the top. 
Once you get in the canopy it ain't bad. Hell I do them in shorts in the 
summer, just gotta take a few extra minutes and figure it into the bid.


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## treevet (Apr 20, 2009)

Raymond said:


> Hell I do them in shorts in the
> summer,



I'm wit ya Raymond. I do em all in shorts in the summer.


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## tree md (Apr 21, 2009)

One of my buddies had one go through his flip flop when we were down at the river fishing a few years back. Made him deathly ill and he got a wicked infection. Some nasty thorns for sure.

I can honestly say that I haven't climbed a tree in shorts since I was a child.


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## JeffL (Apr 21, 2009)

Young pin oak, or big ones that havent been pruned before, and you have to literally cut your way into them. Forget using a throwball!


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## Raymond (Apr 21, 2009)

treevet said:


> I'm wit ya Raymond. I do em all in shorts in the summer.


Yeah a scratch or two on the leg will heal.
A pair of 35 dollar Levis don't.


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## treevet (Apr 21, 2009)

tree md said:


> I can honestly say that I haven't climbed a tree in shorts since I was a child.



Most people could honestly say they haven't climbed a tree since they were a child.


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## tree md (Apr 21, 2009)

treevet said:


> Most people could honestly say they haven't climbed a tree since they were a child.



Lol, well you got me there.

I used to work with a guy that climbed in his shorts. This was when I worked for a larger service in Atl. There were like 5 climbers working for this service and we all thought the guy was a little fruity. He was the only climber who wore a helmet but he climbed in shorts... Go figure. He was good at his job though.


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## Raymond (Apr 21, 2009)

tree md said:


> Lol, well you got me there.
> 
> I used to work with a guy that climbed in his shorts. This was when I worked for a larger service in Atl. There were like 5 climbers working for this service and we all thought the guy was a little fruity. He was the only climber who wore a helmet but he climbed in shorts... Go figure. He was good at his job though.


If you like wearing shorts, you should give it a try T.M.D.
I feel sorry for you guys wearing jeans in the heat of summer.
It's not as hard on your legs as you would think, the comfort alone is worth it.
Anything 60 or above and I have them on.


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## tree md (Apr 21, 2009)

Ray, the last time I wore shorts someone asked me if those were my legs or did I hijack a chicken...

I'll stick to my long pants thank you very much!


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## Raymond (Apr 21, 2009)

tree md said:


> Ray, the last time I wore shorts someone asked me if those were my legs or did I hijack a chicken...
> 
> I'll stick to my long pants thank you very much!


I hear ya...


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## outofmytree (Apr 21, 2009)

Raymond said:


> If you like wearing shorts, you should give it a try T.M.D.
> I feel sorry for you guys wearing jeans in the heat of summer.
> It's not as hard on your legs as you would think, the comfort alone is worth it.
> Anything 60 or above and I have them on.



You have saw proof shorts over there?? Wow, you guys got it all!!!


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## Raymond (Apr 21, 2009)

outofmytree said:


> You have saw proof shorts over there?? Wow, you guys got it all!!!


Nah I just make sure I don't cut myself.
Rumor has it, it ain't good.


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## treevet (Apr 21, 2009)

they makin' saw proof levi s now or outa must be climbing in chainsaw chaps. Not many guys can handle that.


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## jefflovstrom (Apr 21, 2009)

Red Gum, near 130' high on a slope over a house. Tree broke out a main lead at about 60' and ripped too far into the trunk and was a hazard. Climbed lite over the breakout to about 100' and tied a bull-rope with a block in a nearby tree. Anyway, I was kinda scared. Then again, that was a very long time ago.
Jeff


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## yibida (Apr 22, 2009)

*Lagunaria*

Just thought of another one, Lagunaria pattersonii - (Itchy Bomb Tree), it gets in all places of your body just throwin it through the chipper let alone tryin to climb it and cut.

The seed pods have filiments like microsopic needles, NASTY STUFF.


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## Mapleman (Apr 23, 2009)

Any tree that when you spur it, slabs of bark hang off your gaffs...


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## M.D. Vaden (Apr 23, 2009)

Never climbed a Lombardy poplar before, but I've been on-site and seen several climbers want to pull their hair out over old tall Lombardy poplars loaded with deadwood and widow makers and just sheer volumes of tall skinny stems. Especially if removal is in urban yards and the DBH is 3' plus, and a bucket can't reach it.


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## yibida (Apr 24, 2009)

*i agree*



outofmytree said:


> I cant believe you ladies are afraid of a lil ol gum tree. oke:
> 
> Now Phoenix canariensis is the reason God made groundies. Every time I have a discipline issue with my guys I tell em they are pruning that next Date palm. I get an immediate improvement.



I must remember that when my crew decides its too nice a day and go on a perve drive as opposed to doin any actual work.


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## asthesun (Apr 26, 2009)

anything with masses of vines. especially the ones that dont give when you pull on them. take a step, cut cut cut cut, take a step, cut cut cut cut, etc


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## treevet (Apr 26, 2009)

asthesun said:


> anything with masses of vines. especially the ones that dont give when you pull on them. take a step, cut cut cut cut, take a step, cut cut cut cut, etc



if a takedown, can't see if spikes are set or even get them to set sometimes


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## asthesun (Apr 26, 2009)

treevet said:


> if a takedown, can't see if spikes are set or even get them to set sometimes



we spike everything here, takedown or not. i havent seen a climber yet who climbs a rope in this city


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## jefflovstrom (Apr 26, 2009)

Are we rerally this bored or are we un-inspired?
Duh,Jeff


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## jefflovstrom (Apr 26, 2009)

Can you say "Redundant Idiotocricy" ( who cares, not in the same game)
Jeff
What a waste of a thread!


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## treevet (Apr 26, 2009)

jefflovstrom said:


> Can you say "Redundant Idiotocricy" ( who cares, not in the same game)
> Jeff
> What a waste of a thread!



looked thru 3 pages of threads and did not see one started by jefflovstrom, come on lovstrom fire one up there that is real exciting and never been talked about before.:bringit:


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## ozzy42 (Apr 26, 2009)

asthesun said:


> we spike everything here, takedown or not. i havent seen a climber yet who climbs a rope in this city



What part of fl. you in astthesun?


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## asthesun (Apr 26, 2009)

ozzy42 said:


> What part of fl. you in astthesun?



gainesville. a tree city


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## treevet (Apr 26, 2009)

asthesun said:


> we spike everything here, takedown or not. i havent seen a climber yet who climbs a rope in this city



Doesn't sound like a Tree City USA to me.


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## ozzy42 (Apr 27, 2009)

asthesun said:


> gainesville. a tree city



go gators

I'm down the hwy about 170 mi in Bradenton.


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## asthesun (Apr 27, 2009)

treevet said:


> Doesn't sound like a Tree City USA to me.



it is, in the sense that they make you replace the trees you remove, if you get a permit, but noone here does unless its in a place where you're likely to be seen by the 'tree police'. there's not enough tree police here to even begin to monitor all the work that happens. alachua county is severly overgrown, wherever there's no house or cleared lot, there's forrest.



ozzy42 said:


> go gators
> 
> I'm down the hwy about 170 mi in Bradenton.



go longhorns, lol. i'm pissed at alachua county atm.


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## Blakesmaster (Apr 27, 2009)

asthesun said:


> we spike everything here, takedown or not. i havent seen a climber yet who climbs a rope in this city



Same thing here. The main reason I do spikeless prunes is to try and carve a little niche out with the uber-green crowd. Most have responded quite well to it but there are just as many who say, "You can use the hooks if ya want, I don't care." There's only a handful of companies that even wear hardhats here as well. Lotsa rednecks w/ chainsaws in this town. Since I cannot yet afford to roll up with a half mil in equipment and look big time I do what I can to set myself apart, no spikes on prunes and hardhats on all the time. People respond to it.


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## asthesun (Apr 27, 2009)

Blakesmaster said:


> Same thing here. The main reason I do spikeless prunes is to try and carve a little niche out with the uber-green crowd. Most have responded quite well to it but there are just as many who say, "You can use the hooks if ya want, I don't care." There's only a handful of companies that even wear hardhats here as well. Lotsa rednecks w/ chainsaws in this town. Since I cannot yet afford to roll up with a half mil in equipment and look big time I do what I can to set myself apart, no spikes on prunes and hardhats on all the time. People respond to it.



yeah, no hardhats either. i'm not afraid to use one or tell my guys to use one if the situation calls for it, like roping out a dead tree where the limbs splatter when the hit anything, or throwing trees in the woods, or lots of hangers in a tree. 

my opinion on the spikes is that you're going up there to cut the tree, one cut is worth at least 1 spike mark. larger cuts might be equal to thousands of spikes. sometimes on prettier trees i'll put a ladder up so there's no marks on the first 20ft, which is where bugs prefer to enter.


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## outofmytree (May 5, 2009)

treevet said:


> they makin' saw proof levi s now or outa must be climbing in chainsaw chaps. Not many guys can handle that.



http://www.stihlusa.com/apparel/summer-protective-pants.html 

Standard year round wear over here Dave. Us tough Aussies aren't afraid to sweat a little....

And Aussie girls make us shower before contact!

Climbing in chaps is just not fun......


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## Mapleman (May 5, 2009)

"Standard year round wear over here Dave. Us tough Aussies aren't afraid to sweat a little....

And Aussie girls make us shower before contact!

Climbing in chaps is just not fun......"



BUT GIRLS IN CHAPS ARE


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## outofmytree (May 5, 2009)

Mapleman said:


> "Standard year round wear over here Dave. Us tough Aussies aren't afraid to sweat a little....
> 
> And Aussie girls make us shower before contact!
> 
> ...



I prefer chaps in girls old bean......


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## treevet (May 5, 2009)

outofmytree said:


> Standard year round wear over here Dave. Us tough Aussies aren't afraid to sweat a little....
> 
> And Aussie girls make us shower before contact!
> 
> .



guys are ok w it?:hmm3grin2orange:


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