# Post Your Climbing Pics



## Tim Gardner (Oct 20, 2002)

The weather was great today so I had to go do a little climbing. Thought I would share some pics with everyone. 

Let’s see some pics of you guys climbing. Now’s your chance to show your skills!


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## Tim Gardner (Oct 20, 2002)

Installing the climbing line.


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## Tim Gardner (Oct 20, 2002)

Starting up!


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## Tim Gardner (Oct 20, 2002)

Up, up and away.


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## Tim Gardner (Oct 20, 2002)

Getting there.


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## Tim Gardner (Oct 20, 2002)

On the way back down. The pics of me in the top were too dark. I have to work on them.


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## r/ctree (Oct 20, 2002)

What kind of throw bag is that where are they available?


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## kf_tree (Oct 20, 2002)

nice pics.

did you paint your helmet or did it come in green?


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## Tim Gardner (Oct 20, 2002)

I made the throw bag myself. I got tired of the others splitting open and having to tie the rope onto the ring. With the loop I put into the end of my line and the loop on the end of the bag I get my ropes up a lot faster without hanging in the crotches.

The helmet was yellow. I painted it fluorescent green.


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## treeclimber165 (Oct 20, 2002)

*1st crane pictures*

Here's a few from the first crane removal I ever did. As you can see, I started 'low and slow'.


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## treeclimber165 (Oct 20, 2002)

Getting my fat butt up the tree (second trip I believe).


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## treeclimber165 (Oct 20, 2002)

Startin' to get in the groove. Notice the saw, it gives you an idea how long ago this was.


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## treeclimber165 (Oct 20, 2002)

I was nervous crawling out this limb, about 25' over the power lines. Not a good angle on my lifeline, either.


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## treeclimber165 (Oct 20, 2002)

Watching the crane pick up the 10,000 lb stump.


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## StIhL MaGnUm (Oct 20, 2002)

Nice Pics Guy's


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## treeclimber165 (Oct 20, 2002)

After a few years, I was 'old hand' with cranes. Here is 3 of 16 pines I plucked from around a house. These 3 were coming up through the back deck, had to crawl under the deck to make the stump cuts.


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## treeclimber165 (Oct 20, 2002)

Second of the three. I had to cut them off at 35'-36' so we could get lengths of at least 17'6" for the sawmill.


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## Tim Gardner (Oct 20, 2002)

Great stuff Brian! Do you have any pruning pics (no gaffs)?

This is a pic of a tall & skinny tree. Four guys jumped on the pull line. Dang what a ride when the top came out. I was about 50 feet up.


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## treeclimber165 (Oct 20, 2002)

Grabbing the cable for the third one. We ended up with 40 logs at 17'6" out of the 16 pines. 

Only pruning pics I have are bucket work. Seems like the camera never makes it to the jobsite unless a crane is involved.


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## NeTree (Oct 20, 2002)

Speaking of fat butts up trees, here's mine- all 288 lbs....

Erik


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## Tim Gardner (Oct 20, 2002)

Brian,

I bet it is a little unnerving to have that top hanging over your head for a few seconds. I have used cranes but only for storm damage removal. Great pics!

I am hoping Tom will post some pics from his climb that was on CBS this morning. What about the rest of you guys?


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## John Paul Sanborn (Oct 20, 2002)

Only one I could find where you can see me. About 3 years old, a buddy took.

Cant seem to size it right with corel tonight.


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## NeTree (Oct 20, 2002)

John,

Ever try Irfanview? You can't paint with it, but it does just about everything else you can imagine.

http://www.irfanview.com/


Erik


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## John Paul Sanborn (Oct 20, 2002)

My sister installed Corel on my machine so she can do her moonlight stuff, mostly menues for diners.

So she comes in and changes parameters and I have to wait for her to fix it .

This way I ain't paying for the softwear I hardly ever use.


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## Nickrosis (Oct 21, 2002)

Erik: I can't see you in your picture.  

Brian: I'd feel vulnerable without a hemet! I'm glad you wear one now! Keeps you around a little bit longer, especially with all the thinking faculties.








Circled one is me...... I switched faces to make myself more recognizable.  I thought putting my other body in the picture would be overkill.

Nickrosis


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## treeclimber165 (Oct 21, 2002)

Nick,
I just started wearing a helmet this year, when I got back into climbing. I was required to wear a standard hardhat a several companies in the past, but common sense tells me that they are worthless in a tree without a chinstrap (but a chinstrap is a CHOKING HAZARD, so you cannot have one!). I feel much more at ease now knowing I have a small piece of plastic protecting my skull, and not having to keep it balanced on my head while climbing.


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## NeTree (Oct 21, 2002)

Nick, 

Maybe this pic will be a little better. My girlfriend brightened it up a bit and circled me. All the more reason to get a nice digital camera... hmmm, maybe for X-mas?? 

 
Erik


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## Nickrosis (Oct 21, 2002)

Yeah....and I need to send in the police report to the insurance company to get mine back.  

Nickrosis


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## Kneejerk Bombas (Oct 21, 2002)

Hey, I'm working.


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## Tim Gardner (Oct 22, 2002)

> _Originally posted by kf_tree _
> *nice pics.
> 
> did you paint your helmet or did it come in green? *




Ken sent me a private message with regards to painting Petzl helmets and that it might compromise the safety of it. My helmet is manufactured by Fibre-Metal and is made of fiber glass, not a type of “plastic” like the Petzl. It was painted at the factory so I repainted it the color of my choice. Check with the manufacturer of your helmet before painting it. 

Thanks for the heads-up Ken.


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## underwor (Oct 23, 2002)

You asked for it. My good side. About 2 years ago

Bob Underwood

Berg Takedown - Veterans Day - 2000


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## FBerkel (Oct 23, 2002)

I'm not sure this is compressed enough...


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## John Paul Sanborn (Oct 23, 2002)

With that big caboose I thought it had to be one of those cornfead, haybailin', farmgirl students of yours!


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## FBerkel (Oct 23, 2002)

Try that again...


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## seanlarkin (Oct 23, 2002)

Here I am at work, pretending to work...Tobe is the one up in the tree, taking the picture of me.


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## FBerkel (Oct 23, 2002)

Naw, I wasn't nervous about that piece...


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## FBerkel (Oct 23, 2002)

Back up to the top.


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## FBerkel (Oct 23, 2002)

And off it goes. This (cottonwood) removal took two days of rigging with lines, and one day to get the wood down with the crane. What a waste of time, not bringing the crane in right from the start! The bottom section was 22 feet high, averaged 7 foot diameter (nine at base) Estimated weight: 20 tons. I sold the wood to a guy who wanted to carve it into a sculpture (which he never did, it still sits on his farm, rotting now.


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## rbtree (Oct 23, 2002)

Very impressive, Fred!!

I've done some biggies, some that took that long, but never that big, specially not a cottonwood!


Some yrs ago, we got 2500 board feet of peelers from the bottom 50 feet of a cottonwood, that was 5 feet dbh, over 6 at the ground, but only 50 yrs old.

Today's tree, a young, double trunked 110 foot poplar, took about four hours to get down. It produced 12 yards of chips. We speedlined most of it. $ 900, a bit low, but 300 more for a one hour cedar teardown helped. Plus an hour bucking wood and cleanup...


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## kf_tree (Oct 23, 2002)

dammm, fred that was a monster. i love the pics when the climber looks like an insect. it really puts those big tree's in perspective. when you watch some one start going up a monster removal, it like how is that little guy going to cut that monster down. but piece by piece they come down.


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## rbtree (Oct 23, 2002)

Close up of the rigging. speed line, lowering/ control/return line, both white, and yellow lifeline. 

Some limbs are prerigged. One sling is wrapped around the lowering line, as I went over to work the other lead for a while. Later, I found no burn marks on it. Saved a $1.50 sling...!


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## rbtree (Oct 23, 2002)

Z pulley speed line tensioner. David wondering when the heck I'm gonna let 'er rip!!

Later, John removed the cedar in this pic, $300 for an hour's work...


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## rbtree (Oct 23, 2002)

Zipper!!


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## rbtree (Oct 23, 2002)

A big wind gust came up.....

or was it shutterbug John's hangover...?


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## rbtree (Oct 23, 2002)

Checking out the microcosm ecosystem in the lichen....


..or breaking wind...


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## rbtree (Oct 23, 2002)

After rigging the top of the other trunk, I had to come back to let these two top pieces fly, as they were in the way of speeding the other top.

Some of the 6 inch tops were 50 feet long!!


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## rbtree (Oct 23, 2002)

Freefallin....


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## rbtree (Oct 23, 2002)

I messed up on this one, and almost lost it onto the garage roof. Had a sling on it though, and held on long enough to easily clear the roof... 

..Phew


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## rbtree (Oct 23, 2002)

Kinda spindly, but not as bad as some pecker poles...


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## treeclimber165 (Oct 23, 2002)

*Roger*

Thanks for the nice shot of the speedline setup on picture # 11W. I printed the picture so I can use it to show future groundmen how to set up the speedline rope. Kinda hard to come down out of the tree to do it personally. Most people I've worked with have never speedlined anything.


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## rbtree (Oct 23, 2002)

Here's my online gallery again, with new pics:

http://www.pbase.com/rbtree/


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## Kneejerk Bombas (Oct 24, 2002)

Rodger, are you free climbing here?!?!?!

http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=53002


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## rbtree (Oct 24, 2002)

Nope.

I had just swung across from the other stem, and must have spiked up a few feet before taking in slack and clipping in...


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## Kneejerk Bombas (Oct 24, 2002)

If you are tied in, you are way above the TIP.
That's like the second or third picture you've posted, where you ain't tied in right.
Don't make me come out there and follow you around the tree with a cattle prod, to zap you each time you don't have proper tie in support.


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## treeclimber165 (Oct 24, 2002)

*LMAO!*



> _Originally posted by Mike Maas _
> *....Don't make me come out there and follow you around the tree with a cattle prod, to zap you each time you don't have proper tie in support. *



Mike- I'm constantly guilty of the same thing. Just send the cutie in your avatar picture. She can zap me with a cattle prod any time she wants!


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## Kneejerk Bombas (Oct 25, 2002)

Any a$$hole hack can cut down a tree.
The true professional can cut down a tree without puting the tree, himself, others, or property, at unnecessary risk. If you can do that, you have reached the upper echelon of arborists.
Notice that definition did NOT include, brave, fast, careless, or stupid.


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## rbtree (Oct 25, 2002)

Interesting some of your statements, Mike!!!

Just so happens my lifeline goes through a friction saver, which is tied higher than the lowering line and speedline.

Check your glasses....


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## John Paul Sanborn (Oct 25, 2002)

Rog, you gotta put some arrows in the pic, I cannot see any TIP ether


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## rbtree (Oct 25, 2002)

John and Mike, see the 5w.jpg. Highest line is goldstreak lifeline....


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## John Paul Sanborn (Oct 25, 2002)

OK, looked like a single line to me. Assumed it was a redirected control line or something.


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## jsirbasku (Oct 25, 2002)

Here is a pic from my office. Nice view aye!

(downtown St. Paul, Minnesota)


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## jsirbasku (Oct 25, 2002)

heres a pic of a big ole silver maple i had removed for a family member---$1000.00.
Took me and my wife 2 days , chip on site, leave all wood.
It is hard to tell from the pic but most all of this tree had to be rigged. There was a septic field just below and there were 20-30 pvc tubes sticking out of the ground up about 18" and located about every 6-8 ft.
The job was for my wife's grandfathers brother and he just about had a coranary when i told him what i would normally charge for a tree this size


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## jsirbasku (Oct 25, 2002)

Here it is all finished up, man was i beat!


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## Toddppm (Oct 25, 2002)

What size is that crane in the first pic? How far did it reach? Looks awesome.


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## jsirbasku (Oct 25, 2002)

Forgot the weight rating on the crane, but with the jib on, it had a 130' side reach. MONSTER crane.
Truck crane shows up with operater and spotter, a second truck shows up with just the counterweights.


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## treeclimber165 (Oct 25, 2002)

That IS a huge crane! Sounds like a 125 ton at least. Beautiful view! Too bad you had to work that day, looks like the perfect spot for a picnic.


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## John Paul Sanborn (Oct 25, 2002)

If that is the one where the grapple operator had the remote for the chipper in the cab, you said it was 145 ton.


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## Tim Gardner (Nov 4, 2002)

Thank you JPS for giving the tip about the cube at Pier 1 and ragging me about the cheap throw line I used. I went out today to test my new spool of 2.2 mm Zing-It and was able to hit limbs over 80’. I was able to hit great heights with the cheap throw line but it would not always come back down. Zing-It slides right over rough bark and limb tips with no problem. 

I wound up climbing the same tree I was in at the beginning of this thread and found out it is 92’ tall. That is not a big deal to most people at this site but here in SC it is unusual for trees to be over 60’. I am still looking forward to climbing that water oak that is well over 100’ I saw last week. If I get permission to climb it I will have pictures. Maybe I can get a few climbers from my area to join me.


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## Tim Gardner (Nov 4, 2002)

First pitch pic. It is not that clear. It was too dark and I tried to lighten it up a bit.


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## Tim Gardner (Nov 4, 2002)

Another. Can you find me in the pic? Way too dark.


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## Tim Gardner (Nov 4, 2002)

My boss dropping a white oak across a new driveway.


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## Tim Gardner (Nov 4, 2002)

Dropped.


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## Tim Gardner (Nov 4, 2002)

A small oak tree blown over in a storm.


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## Tim Gardner (Nov 4, 2002)

Small gum tree getting rigged to rope top out.


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## Tim Gardner (Nov 4, 2002)

Four guys jumped on the pull line when I was throwing this small top out.  Check that 020 floating in the air. That stub moved at least 6' in both directions! If I had not been cutting from the side I would have kicked out. Why they thought it would take 4 people to pull that top I will never know. Maybe they were testing my steel core flip line.


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## murphy4trees (Nov 4, 2002)

Tim,
That looks like no fun... no fun at all.
A couple of threads come to mind when looking at that last pic..
Skinny pines..
plunging the spar..
the thread on safety Brian started after your friend was killed..
Here's a quote from the safety thread that I wrote..
"Clear communication, especially from climber to ground support, and being willing to stop the work long enough to make sure everyone knows what's going on, even if that seems redundant... "
Now that's a perfect example... You'd expect the ground suppoprt to know how much pull to use and when to stop pulling and let it fall. They've probably done it right a hundred times.. so what happenned on the 101st??? It might have SEEMED redundant or a waste of time to check with them to make sure they knew how much pull you were looking for. To me it's worth the extra time just to make sure.
Also from the same thread... "getting a sense when the energy of a crew is off.. seeing the little warnings, the mini-mishaps (broken polesaws... mishandled chainsaws, damage to fences, planters....trips, slips,and scrapes etc).. these warnings are always present prior to accidents for those who are paying attention"
In my way of thinking you've had your warning.. Something is amiss with the ground crew... They did something that put your safety in jepardy... Next time you might get hurt. So a serious talk is in order... not over lunch or coffee. And keep your awareness up.. watch them and protect yourself.

What kind of notch did you use?...
There was quite a bit of discussion about type of notch and backcut speed , etc on the skinny pines thread.
I guess you were not using an open face because you didn't want the but to kick back towards the house.
Also were you tied in using a choked climbing line as well as the steel core lanyard?
And what kind of chain saw lanyard were you using?
To me that's another safety issue.. using a saw lanyard lets the climber drop the saw without thinking and use both hands to secure his safety.
Safe climbing to all.
God Bless,
Daniel


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## John Paul Sanborn (Nov 4, 2002)

Hey, things happen even to the safest people. 

I had a guy I worked for very often, alwys got dragers from a temp agency.

I got this guy on a line to rig a modest branch out, as I'm finishing the backcut, Jeff calls the guy to the chipper to go over safe operations. Nothing happend to the fence, glad it was not over the garage.

BTW, look Brian is cathcing up to me in posts!

http://www.ArboristSite.com/memberlist.php?s=&what=topposters&perpage=10


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## Tim Gardner (Nov 4, 2002)

Daniel,

It didn't do any good with the comunication on that one. I always tell them slow steady pull. I started cutting there were two pulling. I felt the tree lean over and there were 4. It was too late by that time. The top was coming over. The other two people were from a landscape crew. 

You bet your a$$ I was tied in with my climbing line wrapped and my steel core. I never throw a top without wrapping my line.

If you would have read the post you will see I wrote 020. And why do you think the saw was floating in the air? I was holding on to the spar. lol. I never climb with out a saw lanyard. You can see the lanyard in the pic.

The type of face cut I use causes the top to jump off as it comes over. Done it hundreds of times. If you look at the size of the tree where I was cutting there is not room for plunging the spar. lol. I was having to hold on because the tree was drawn over and the top came off. Not because the top pushed the spar back.


Daniel are you not looking at the pictures and reading the posts before you reply? The answers to most of the questions you asked are obvious.


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## murphy4trees (Nov 5, 2002)

Tim,
That pic and your story reminds me of another story I heard a few weeks back..
I was talking to the little brother of a local tree guy who told me about the time his big brother "tried to kill him". He hadn't been climbing very long and his brother sent him up a tall skinny ash leaning hard, directly over a house, to take the top out.. He set a pull line and big brother pulled the treee up straight with the winch and told him to cut it.
Now that had to be a ride....
And seriosly what kind of notch do you use to "throw" tops?
It works well as per the pic.. I would guess 15-20* notch and a quick backcut.. And I'd like to hear it from you.
The way I plunge skinny trees is to start with plunge... just about dead center.. then second cut the notch, leaving the desired thickness of hinge. Then third cut the back release... I haven't used it often and it seems to work well. I'll have to experiment with it some more though..
God Bless,
Daniel


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## Tim Gardner (Nov 5, 2002)

Danny,

Go find a chat room to chat in or a safety thread to try and blow your own horn in. This thread is for pictures. Do you have any of you climbing?


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## murphy4trees (Nov 5, 2002)

This is the only one.
D


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## Irradicable (Nov 5, 2002)

*Here's One*

Another Georgia pine bites the dust, or is that dusk. 

Firewall will not allow attachment... will add later.


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## Tim Gardner (Nov 5, 2002)

> _Originally posted by murphy4trees _
> *This is the only one.
> D *



Nice crane pic. I like the way your TIP is in the other tree. Helps a lot while limb walking. I trimed 7 trees today. Two of them were pines that thought they were oaks.


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## kurtztree (May 6, 2004)

Some nice pics in this thread. How come some of the older threads only have red X where there used to be pics? Rocky is this one of those threads?


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## MasterBlaster (May 6, 2004)

Nice thread!

Excellent Bump!


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## Tim Gardner (May 6, 2004)

This one is a dead removal. ABC stuff.


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## Tim Gardner (May 6, 2004)

Same tree.


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