# How to attach cable from the ground?



## davidwyby (Dec 10, 2009)

I'm not real into swinging a saw around in a tree, I'm not a pro, so I usually climb, hook the cable on, and pull the tree/limb down with the truck. I'd like to be able to hook up the cable without climbing but haven't come up with a method I really like. 

Thanks


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## oscar4883 (Dec 10, 2009)

Throwline and throwbag maybe? Search the archives for those two things and you will find lots of info. I am sure there are videos on youtube as well.


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## MillerTreeMN (Dec 10, 2009)

i get ALOT of use out of these Jameson poles-

saw / pruner / hook attachment. 

i can set my rope with them,

5-6 feet long, attach together, i keep 6 of them in my truck, have been using them for 7-8 years. 

http://www.jamesonllc.com/treecare.cfm


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## davidwyby (Dec 10, 2009)

oscar4883 said:


> Throwline and throwbag maybe? Search the archives for those two things and you will find lots of info. I am sure there are videos on youtube as well.



Well, yeah, that will get me a rope up there, but how do I then pull a cable up there and attach it?


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## davidwyby (Dec 10, 2009)

MillerTreeMN said:


> i get ALOT of use out of these Jameson poles-
> 
> saw / pruner / hook attachment.
> 
> ...




There's an idea, thanks.


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## MillerTreeMN (Dec 10, 2009)

David B said:


> Well, yeah, that will get me a rope up there, but how do I then pull a cable up there and attach it?



throw the rope through, then tie the cable onto one end and pull the other end of the rope to slide the cable through. 


ive never used a cable though, pulled plenty of trees over with a climbing style rope, 5,000 LB breaking strength or so and only a 1/2" or so thick


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## davidwyby (Dec 10, 2009)

MillerTreeMN said:


> throw the rope through, then tie the cable onto one end and pull the other end of the rope to slide the cable through.
> 
> 
> ive never used a cable though, pulled plenty of trees over with a climbing style rope, 5,000 LB breaking strength or so and only a 1/2" or so thick



I'm wanting to be able to choke the tree/limb but don't want to have to pull the cable up over around, 20'+ back down to the ground, put the hook over the cable to make a choker and then puill the cable back through to choke it back up 20'...but that looks like the way to do it. 

I'm pullng with my truck/12k winch, don't quite trust rope, and don't have any good rope anyway...have lots of cable.


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## Tree Pig (Dec 10, 2009)

Why are you using cable. A good piece of rope is more then strong enough to pull most tree plus it wont kill anyone or damage much if it snaps. Also a lot easier to do from the ground. As mentioned throw line to get it up pull the rope through then tie a running bowline and your ready to go.


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## davidwyby (Dec 10, 2009)

Stihl-O-Matic said:


> Why are you using cable. A good piece of rope is more then strong enough to pull most tree plus it wont kill anyone or damage much if it snaps. Also a lot easier to do from the ground. As mentioned throw line to get it up pull the rope through then tie a running bowline and your ready to go.



I'm pullng with my truck/12k winch, don't quite trust rope, and don't have any good rope anyway...have lots of cable.


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## Bearcreek (Dec 10, 2009)

You need to get some rope. If you really feel the need you can get 3/4 samson stable braid that has a tensile strength of 20,400 lbs. It's very rare that the average person and even most tree workers will need a rope that strong but if it makes you feel better.....BTW you've mentioned a couple times pulling a tree/limb. Are you hooking a cable up to a limb and then ripping it off the tree with a winch without cutting it?


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## MillerTreeMN (Dec 10, 2009)

ok......

my 120 foot rope has a carabiner style hook at the end of it. 

i use the poles to set the rope where i want it, go around the other side of the tree and use the poles to grab the hook, 

i then pull the rope down and snap the hook around the other end of the rope. 

it takes about as much time to do, as the above description takes to type. 

ive been using the same rope since 2002, do tree removal for a living and ill take that rope with a 5,000-7,000 pound breaking strength any day over using a cable. 


i also wont use a winch... if you are relying only on the winch to pull it over, what happens if you need to go faster ? if you are pulling with the truck you can step on the gas or let off depending on how you need the tree to fall. 



anyways, you came to the pro's for advice, do it how ever you want to.


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## davidwyby (Dec 10, 2009)

Bearcreek said:


> You need to get some rope. If you really feel the need you can get 3/4 samson stable braid that has a tensile strength of 20,400 lbs. It's very rare that the average person and even most tree workers will need a rope that strong but if it makes you feel better.....BTW you've mentioned a couple times pulling a tree/limb. Are you hooking a cable up to a limb and then ripping it off the tree with a winch without cutting it?



I'm not buying expensive rope for occasional recreational use. I alreayd have lots of cable on hand. 700# is a lot for rope, but that's how much my truck weighs, so on a hard pull or with the winch I can exceed that pretty easily. 

I also do off road recovery and scrap vehicle removal for fun, so that's why I have what I have aready set up. 

http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/DavidWhymore/95Dodge/

As mentioned above, I avoid climbing with a saw and mostly just rip the limbs off...mostly using the truck, not the winch for speed. I use the cable on the winch because it fits my snatch blocks so I can reach into a tree-crowded area/yard and use the trunk of another large tree or another to direct where I want the tree or limb to come down. I can also spool in or out to get the length of cable I need. 

Example. Last weekend I hade a 12" dia tree coming up off a 18"+ old stub 10' up. Next to house/power lines and crowded by other trees. I climbed up about 20', hooked on the cable. The cable went down and south to a snatch block at the base of a big tree across a clearing, my only clear shot. From the snatch block it went across the yard, over a fence and to my winch. I snugged the cable up tight with the winch before I pulled bacuse I only had one or two truck lengths before I'd be in the road. 

Make sense? 

Sure, If I was a pro, I'd climb the tree, tie off the pieces I was cutting off, and work my way down...but this works good. 

Miller, I can see how throwing/pulling the rope down would work good, but the trees I'm working on are a tangled mess which makes it a little more difficult, but not impossible. 

Just got a Skytrack for this weekend, so it's almost all a moot point now.


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## treemandan (Dec 10, 2009)

Dude, Umm, uhh, what in the hell are you talking about? Ripping branches out of tree with your truck? Is that right? Your kidding.


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## davidwyby (Dec 10, 2009)

treemandan said:


> Dude, Umm, uhh, what in the hell are you talking about? Ripping branches out of tree with your truck? Is that right? Your kidding.





http://s639.photobucket.com/albums/...m Pix/Trees/?action=view&current=MVI_3544.flv

What is it about working on trees? I run a machine and welding shop. I would consider myself a "pro", but at no time would I consider saying I know everything or there's only one way to do a particular job. I have people bring all kinds of junk in all the time they tried to fix themselves and goobered all up. I don't berate or harass them, I help them. I've haven't ever goobered anything up and you guys act like I'm some kind of idiot. Whatever happened to manners, tact, courtesy, or common sense? Just because you only know one way to take a tree down doesn't mean it's the only way. 

Careful, you stay inside that box too long, you may never find your way out.


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## davidwyby (Dec 10, 2009)

TreeCo said:


> .....all it takes is a big jerk!



More of a smooth, firm, pull...but that's funny right there! 

Salt Cedars are weak...anything up to 12" is an easy pull for the Dodge...and don't cry to me about the tree's gaping wound. It's a salt cedar, you couldn't kill it if you wanted to and more than likely the rest of it is coming down as well. 

Some background, or where I got my methods. I grew up in Washinton State on acreage in the woods. When my dad needed more room, he'd get out the extension ladder, string his deuce and a half's cable up the tree, through a snatch at the base of another, and down came the tree, roots and all. Cut off the root ball, haul it off and burn it, rest is firewood. Pretty safe and easy. I'll take it over swinging around in a tree with some logs and a chainsaw like a windchime any day.


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## treemandan (Dec 10, 2009)

David B said:


> http://s639.photobucket.com/albums/...m Pix/Trees/?action=view&current=MVI_3544.flv
> 
> What is it about working on trees? I run a machine and welding shop. I would consider myself a "pro", but at no time would I consider saying I know everything or there's only one way to do a particular job. I have people bring all kinds of junk in all the time they tried to fix themselves and goobered all up. I don't berate or harass them, I help them. I've haven't ever goobered anything up and you guys act like I'm some kind of idiot. Whatever happened to manners, tact, courtesy, or common sense? Just because you only know one way to take a tree down doesn't mean it's the only way.
> 
> Careful, you stay inside that box too long, you may never find your way out.



Hey, i didn't berate you, Treeco did ( and it was mighty funny). I just ask what in the hell you were talking about that's all.

I just can't beleive you were able to yank that one down. Did you put a cut it the limb first? I employed that technique a time or two myself but I have to say there was no other way and the tree were dead so I knew they would break before my winch snapped or I ripped my truck in half. It does look like the guy in the cowboy hat was getting a little close to the action.


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## treemandan (Dec 10, 2009)

David B said:


> More of a smooth, firm, pull...but that's funny right there!
> 
> Salt Cedars are weak...anything up to 12" is an easy pull for the Dodge...and don't cry to me about the tree's gaping wound. It's a salt cedar, you couldn't kill it if you wanted to and more than likely the rest of it is coming down as well.
> 
> Some background, or where I got my methods. I grew up in Washinton State on acreage in the woods. When my dad needed more room, he'd get out the extension ladder, string his deuce and a half's cable up the tree, through a snatch at the base of another, and down came the tree, roots and all. Cut off the root ball, haul it off and burn it, rest is firewood. Pretty safe and easy. I'll take it over swinging around in a tree with some logs and a chainsaw like a windchime any day.



A Buick? For tree work? I have to try it.


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## Tree Pig (Dec 10, 2009)

Just because it has worked for you doesnt mean it is a good or safe way to do it. If it works for you then keep doing it and I hope it never bites you in the rump.

You have to understand the reason for the hostility. It comes from the fact that homeowners and weekend worriers consistently hurt or kill themselves with their inventive ways of doing tree work which results in the tree care industry having to pay higher insurance premiums. Everyone here gives the honest opinion on most posts and you may like some and may not, but dont get upset if you get a negative response to what many of the pro's in here may think is unsafe, they not going to support improper techniques.


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## treemandan (Dec 10, 2009)

Sorry, misread I thought you said duece and a quarter.


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## davidwyby (Dec 10, 2009)

OK, sorry, my misunderstanding. 

Eh, he wasn't close when things were coming down...and it's his property, and he's a tough old nut...you try telling him to move! 

Buick? Huh? I was referring to an M35A2 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M35_2-1/2_ton_cargo_truck M35A2...

Like I said, they're weak...Dodge weighs 7000#, 38" tires, lockers in both axles, hopped up Cummins...7000# + a little momentum and 20' of leverage...the one I yanked down was one that had popped up around a stump cut off years ago, so it was kinda hanging off the side of a dead stump. It's twin is next. 

The first limb I pulled down I actually started to back cut a bit and I only got 2" in and it started cracking..._before_ the truck was pulling. Needless to say, I quickly quit cutting and yelled for them to pull, before it fell on the house.That's why these are coming down...they do a number on a mobile home when they hit and they come down pretty regular in a windstorm.


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## davidwyby (Dec 10, 2009)

Stihl-O-Matic said:


> Just because it has worked for you doesnt mean it is a good or safe way to do it. If it works for you then keep doing it and I hope it never bites you in the rump.
> 
> You have to understand the reason for the hostility. It comes from the fact that homeowners and weekend worriers consistently hurt or kill themselves with their inventive ways of doing tree work which results in the tree care industry having to pay higher insurance premiums. Everyone here gives the honest opinion on most posts and you may like some and may not, but dont get upset if you get a negative response to what many of the pro's in here may think is unsafe, they not going to support improper techniques.



I understand...I have to cover my rear for liability, etc. sometimes too...but it gets old. Can I get a non-idiot sticker or something? It's not like I'm picking up a little forklift with a big one and climbing a ladder duct-taped to the mast.


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## Tree Pig (Dec 10, 2009)

David B said:


> I understand...I have to cover my rear for liability, etc. sometimes too...but it gets old. Can I get a non-idiot sticker or something? It's not like I'm picking up a little forklift with a big one and climbing a ladder duct-taped to the mast.



lol I think Ive seen a pic here of someone doing that


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## yooper (Dec 10, 2009)

TreeCo said:


> .....all it takes is a big jerk!



lol.... thats funny.


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## davidwyby (Dec 11, 2009)

TreeCo said:


> Ever wonder how many of those people that bring you their poor quality work to repair go to internet welding and fabrication forums asking how they can do even more poor quality work? ......or go there to justify their doing of poor quality work? .....or say just because you know one way doesn't mean it's the only way?
> 
> Just saying.



I think you've been in the box too long. Explain to me how pulling a tree down with a cable is more dangerous than swinging around in it with a saw while you cut pieces off it. All I have to do is watch "pros" on youtube to decide I'm not interested in trying my luck at that. 

You're mighty brave calling my work poor quality on a forum vs. to my face. People seem to lose their manners when they don't have to look someone in the eye. 

My work is no more (work or money) than it needs to be and no less quality or safe than it needs to be. When a guy brings a geothermal part in that needs precision work, we do precision work. When a farmer brings something in and wants it quick and dirty we do it quick and dirty. 

All I asked was if there was a trick to hook up a cable without climbing. I didn't ask for any judgement from you who do trees for a living on how I do what I do.


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## treeslayer (Dec 11, 2009)

opcorn:opcorn:opcorn:opcorn:


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## daytondedrick (Dec 11, 2009)

The Gloves are off boys! Rarely a dull moment! Love it! I'll hold your coats.


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## danieltree (Dec 11, 2009)

First off I would like to say that I too have done this. It works in some instances were the tree is too dead to climb and there is no other way. I put risk in every bid some jobs have no risk and some have a lot and I charge accordingly. I have zero room for injury to me or property the occasional fence gets a little dinged but that is it. I pride myself in safe removals with no damage. Your method leaves a lot out of your hands and in the hands of the wood , gravity, and I think luck. I do this to feed my family and guys like you come in and do the job with no insurance for the equivalent of a case of beer sure it gets done and I am sure that you are no idiot but there are years of education and pride in our work that tell me that your method is wrong. Maybe when you ask someone that is not in it for recreation show some respect for were we are coming from and respect our methods, which are proven and used every day.​


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## davidwyby (Dec 11, 2009)

TreeCo said:


> Yo dofus I'm talking about your tree work!



So am I. 

danieltree, I'm not disrespecting anyone's methods. I have a lot of respect for a pro's skills. It takes years to learn this stuff. My methods are the ones that are being disrespected. Can you explain how is anything left to chance? The truck pulls the limbs easily, the cable is way or-rated for what it's doing, and the pulled tree is yanked straight down to where the 24k# snatch block is. I also loop around the butt with another chain to a nearby tree sometimes so it can't go anywhere either.


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## davidwyby (Dec 11, 2009)

Also, danieltree, I understand your feelings on guys like me taking your work...I have ex employees competing with me working out of their garages, and they win on all except the real big stuff because they have less overhead. However, I'm not taking anyone's job. First off, I don't think there ARE and real pros in my little corner of the desert. I've done two of these jobs so far, last one was 2005. I only do them for friends whose houses and lives are endangered by the trees and don't have the funds for a pro.


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## treesquirrel (Dec 11, 2009)

David B said:


> you guys act like I'm some kind of idiot. Whatever happened to manners, tact, courtesy, or common sense? Just because you only know one way to take a tree down doesn't mean it's the only way.



There are a lot of folk that do have a tendency to be abrasive but do keep in mind that this is a very dangerous business. Most of the time when folks here react with shock at what you are doing its because they know just how risky your techniques are or what the potential for property damage or injury or even death is.

To respond to your question, using a throwline as mentioned previously and rope is what you need to focus on. You can use methods to gain mechanical advantages with pulleys or use a come-along with the rope that will not exceed the ropes str. But the rope is much safer than the winch by a long shot.

Whatever you decide to do the FIRST thing to think about is safety. Stack all the odds in your favor, don't do anything unless you are very sure of what the results will be. I've been fortunate in this business to have never suffered any significant injuries nor cause property damage beyond a broken fence or a damaged azealia bush. Sometimes I am slow because I want it to work exactly like it should.

There are a lot of seasoned pro's here so take all the advice you get and just try to ignore useless chatter and insults.

Just like with welding, (I do a fair amount of fabrication and repairs to equipment), if you want a job done right you don't just grab the torch and start welding, you make all the proper preparations, clean base, proper fit up, the right welder settings, the right filler material, everything set up as well as possible so it turns out the way it should. Yes, sometimes you are working in a mud pit on some dirty steel tracks and have very poor working conditions but you still do what you can to maximize your success.

Best of luck!

Squirrel.


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## danieltree (Dec 11, 2009)

Thanks David for your comments. I do not really think your method is so wrong but I also think you should consider ours. The rope set in the tree high enough to gain some fulcrum and then a good face cut apply some pressure(does not take much ) then do your back cut and the tree is down and you maintained complete control. I don't so much get bothered by guys taking my work as i do the bad name some of these guys give to the industry, I have heard so many times a homeowner tell me how he saw so and so do it , you know the guy that drives up and fells the 30 inch pine next to the house and 5 ft from the pool he didn't use a rope or hit a thing that guy was good, maybe so but it still leaves to much to chance. If you ever have a mechanical failure at a critical moment in your pull who knows what could happen, all I was saying really is a job with a 99 percent success rate is not acceptable it has to be 100percent zero incident all the time and I have to do everything I can to ensure that happens.​


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## yooper (Dec 11, 2009)

David B said:


> I only do them for friends whose houses and lives are endangered by the trees and don't have the funds for a pro.



You remind me of a dude that lived in the town I grew up in. He was a car mackinac who would fix cars for people who couldn't afford a PRO. If ya had a loud muffler for 25 bucks he would "fix er up fer ya" You would get the car back and it would be all patched up with soup cans and chicken wire If the choke was stuck for 25 bucks he would "Fix er up fer ya" by simply wiring the carb open and fixed, and a reminder of "put the peddle to the floor when ya start it"..............Are you serious that you "rip" the limbs off with your truck?


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## davidwyby (Dec 11, 2009)

danieltree said:


> Thanks David for your comments. I do not really think your method is so wrong but I also think you should consider ours. The rope set in the tree high enough to gain some fulcrum and then a good face cut apply some pressure(does not take much ) then do your back cut and the tree is down and you maintained complete control. I don't so much get bothered by guys taking my work as i do the bad name some of these guys give to the industry, I have heard so many times a homeowner tell me how he saw so and so do it , you know the guy that drives up and fells the 30 inch pine next to the house and 5 ft from the pool he didn't use a rope or hit a thing that guy was good, maybe so but it still leaves to much to chance. If you ever have a mechanical failure at a critical moment in your pull who knows what could happen, all I was saying really is a job with a 99 percent success rate is not acceptable it has to be 100percent zero incident all the time and I have to do everything I can to ensure that happens.​



Big trees get done as you said. I'm not a "pro", and these aren't nice straight, even, balanced pines. They're funky, unbalanced junk. I wedge cut them and back cut a little at a time til the truck can pull them down. I've seen funky trees twist, spin, break off uneven at the bottom, I prefer to be at the other end of 150' of cable when she's goin' down.

http://s639.photobucket.com/albums/...m Pix/Trees/?action=view&current=MVI_3526.flv

Just little ones and limbs off trees that are being removed anyway get yanked/ripped out by the roots. 





TreeCo said:


> Your below comment highlighted in red was the statement I was talking about. You went back and deleted it so it looks like you've changed your mind about making it. Good idea! A lot of us are arborist and hopefully you understand why such a statement would rub some of us the wrong way.
> 
> 
> I don't think any of us have a problem with using cables and winches to pull trees over. I use ropes but if I had the winches and wire rope I'd find uses for it.



I didn't delete anything, it's still there. I see your POV, but they're coming down anyway. I yank branches off to unbalance the tree and prune it down to make it easier to take down. This is a house in the coutry with Salt Cedars, not some nice pines or eucs in someone's front yard in town. I did my neighbors eucs in town but I used a lift and a saw for trimming.

I'll get more pics this wekeend, but for now, try this link. 

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

go to get directions and punch in 

dogwood and harris, imperial, ca

and zoom all the way in the "Street View" and you'll see the big picture. 

Also, if you read up on Salt Cedars, (I have a thread or two around somewhere) you'll find they're a tough, troublesome, invasive species which is why no one cares about "hurting" them.

I should probably be posting on a logging forum or something....


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## tree MDS (Dec 11, 2009)

Or maybe a redneck forum. :hmm3grin2orange:


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## davidwyby (Dec 11, 2009)

tree MDS said:


> Or maybe a redneck forum. :hmm3grin2orange:



Yep. Contrary to popular opinion, not all Kalifornians are liberal, metrosexual tree-hugging surfers.

Just found out one of my buddies is a lineman and said he'll help out this weekend. Score 2!


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## davidwyby (Dec 11, 2009)

I just thought better of my tree-hugging comment...how about...environmental extremists?


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## lumberjack333 (Dec 11, 2009)

This all sounds familiar, where have I seen this before...??? oh ya! Good ol' youtube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HckaMP3avY

:biggrinbounce2:


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## tree MDS (Dec 11, 2009)

YEEE-HAAA!! 

Why, shoot Mildred, that thar was a full pull!

Lol.


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## davidwyby (Dec 11, 2009)

He planned it that way so he can just haul it off now. :hmm3grin2orange:

When i have small dead trees I just back the equipment trailer up to 'em and winch 'em down on to it.


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## danieltree (Dec 11, 2009)

David you are right on the spot with your cable pulling, its what you are comfortable with and more power to you. Good luck with the removal and sorry for going on the defense with you.​


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## davidwyby (Dec 11, 2009)

danieltree said:


> David you are right on the spot with your cable pulling, its what you are comfortable with and more power to you. Good luck with the removal and sorry for going on the defense with you.​



Thanks, have a good one.


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## treemandan (Dec 11, 2009)

David B said:


> Yep. Contrary to popular opinion, not all Kalifornians are liberal, metrosexual tree-hugging surfers.
> 
> Just found out one of my buddies is a lineman and said he'll help out this weekend. Score 2!



Oh thank God for that... on both counts.

Metrosexual= pretty boy. When I first heard that expression I knew we were in for nothing but the worst.


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## mattfr12 (Dec 11, 2009)

do you get paid for this? because if so i been doing this the wrong way for years. heck i wont have to buy anymore saws.


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## davidwyby (Dec 11, 2009)

mattfr12 said:


> do you get paid for this? because if so i been doing this the wrong way for years. heck i wont have to buy anymore saws.



The saw is for cutting them up once you get them down. 


...and no, I don't. My reward is my enjoyment.


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## Rftreeman (Dec 11, 2009)

GIT-R-DONE........


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## davidwyby (Dec 24, 2009)

More big ones away from the house to come down yet, but here's most of it. 

http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/DavidWhymore/Trees/


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## yooper (Dec 24, 2009)

David B said:


> More big ones away from the house to come down yet, but here's most of it.
> 
> http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/DavidWhymore/Trees/



Wow, you should move to a tropical island and get a job picking coconuts.:hmm3grin2orange:


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