After a couple climbs.. Looking for tips.

[JimL]

Well ive climbed a couple trees now, 3 sycamores and a big ash that took me all day. All removals.
We climb with spurs, im still learning to climb with them but am getting better. Hardest part for me is learning to trust my equipment, The buckstrap I bought has a prusik tied on one end to the line. I still havn't got it to grip the line and it keeps slipping, i took a nice slide down the on my chest.

So I cut the prusik off and just tied a stopper on it and made a new prusik with 8mm cord and a biner, clip it on one loops and the factory hook goes on the other. Havn't tried it yet but i think its going to work alot better.

Anyone got any tips on climbing with spurs? I have a hard time not grabbing the tree and using my buck strap. Course my strap was screwed up so I can see why I didn't want to trust it. Once I get the going up part figured out ill work more on the going out on a limb part...

 

[Husky288XP]

It takes time, I'll know when your gaffs are grabbing enough to support your weight.

Tips when stationary you'll learn to lean back on your lanyard and angle your gaffs inward toward the tree. I like to keep my lanyard at about mid chest height too. Climb up as high as possible to set your line. And Practice, Practice, Practice.

You will gaff-out, eat bark, scrape your arms, etc.

Don't be afraid, it is counter intuitive, fear will hold you back.

 

[treeseer]

lean back on your lanyard .

That's the key, the more you trust your ropes and the less you hug the tree, the better a climber thee shall be.

 

[JimL]

when i stick my gaffs in the tree should I have the inside of my boot near the toe touching the tree? i seemed to climb better by doing that.

 

[darkstar]

instead of spiking in a downward motion try just kicking them in with a more sideways kick .....like kicking you anckle directly into the tree ... get some good gaffs and keep umm sharp ... dont gaff your own leg .... look into tree climbers companion book get the knots right youll love ummm ...dark

 

[Ax-man]

JimL

You are using long gaffs, not the short gaff pole spurs?? Spur climbing is one of the hardest things to teach, especially from a PC.

There are so many variables involved, I tend to just use the points of the spurs more than anything with my foot and knees pointing slightly outward pushing the point of the spur in till I feel solid wood and then step up with the opposite foot. Takes practice.

Try climbing on a small dia.to medium size light pole, this will surely get you good at spur climbing. A pole will be harder than any tree you will come across to get your spurs to bite in, not to mention the smaller diameter will give you good balance and technique with the lanyard.



Larry

 

[BostonBull]

I learned to climb with spurs on poles with a local CATV co on production work!! I learned quick to make a paycheck to say the least. Keep your foot pointed up at a 30 degree angle and your knee at a 45 to the pole/tree. Lock your knee with every step and dont get your ass or knee to close to the pole. If you get close with an unlocked knee you are pretty much guaranteed to come down quick. If you are circling around the pole or spar dont take equal height steps always one step up and one down.

Coming down take your gaff out of the wood lock your knee and drop with your weight into the wood low enough that your other knee is at about waist level. Dont try to come down gaffing into the tree like you came up more of a chance to mess up. Look up when climbing up and down when climbing down. You will get comfortable with this. If parcticing on a straight pole and want to get used to not "hitchhiking" with your lanyard JUST use your hands. You shouldnt use your wrists and especially not your elbows.

Good luck!!

 

[JimL]

Im going to try this , i just untied my buckstrap and came up with this. feels good here.

My spurs have 3 1/2" gaffs, buckinghams with super climer pads.

ive got a cherry tree behind the barn that lost 90% of its top at around 40 foot. no limbs till around 35 foot. around 12" dbh im going to see about using it for practice, be good firewood when its done. got 1100 acre to practice on..


im going to try some of these tips on tueday, got ehap tomarrow.

 

[JimL]

forgot pic.

also dont recomend those ball lock biners, junk.

 

[Husky288XP]

Jim tie the swabish on the lanyard with a biner and micropulley to tend the slack. For one hand adjustment.

 

[Bermie]

Are you using your flipline off your side D's?
If so it won't grip too well if you gaff out, try using the flipline (buckstrap?) off your centre D, if you fall it grips tight quickly.
I know, I gaffed out coming down a casuarina, only about 6' from the bottom but it was a one way ticket, only had the flipline on the side D's and it didn't grab worth a darn, if I'd had it off the centre, no problem!

 

[Toddppm]

The thing that helped me the most when I was learning was the boss kept telling me to stick my butt out. I had no ass so no he wasn't checking me out. If you try to stand up too tall you can't spike into the tree right, need to kick it in from the side not the top.

All of my belts have had side D's , no center D, except for the butt strap which would drop you even farther?

 

[JimL]

ok, i got done with the ehap at 2 so i spent 4 hours working up and down this cherry tree .

just started with small steps, go up 10 feet or so and back down, worked up to 20, then to 35. my buckstrap worked alot better. I just went slow and talked out each step to myself. Also tried to break myself of grabbing the tree when moving my buckstrap up the tree. 2 steps, move strap, 2 steps, move strap. Seems to be working better. I also went around the tree in circles at the top of each climb.


Tree is pretty chewed up now. oh well make good firewood. lightning struck anyway.

 

[CoreyTMorine]

Don't worry about the tree, some of them are meant to come down.

one thing i don't understand is why folks would choose to climb with a soft rope for a safety/flipline. once i starrted using a wirecore i could not even imagine using a rope. not only does the wire give the flipline more body it makes the safety much more difficult to cut.

if anyone really likes the rope lanyards could you please post why they work for you.

Jim L you seem to have the right idea, practice practice practice. thats all it takes,two steps, advance, repeat.
you seem to be getting that down, good work. keep your hands on your flipline, no grabbing the trunk for balance. i ascend with enough slack in my flipline that i could lean back so my belly is 20" from the tree, but i grip the flipline and pull myself in to about 18" from the trunk. take two steps up and then advance the safety.

currently i use a newengland ropes, safety blue, 1/2", wire core flipline, ussually 8' long. it works for me because of the ropeman ascender i use for length adjustment. but i'm thinking about going back to a 5/8" or 3/4" three strand, wire core and using an overhand knot for adjustment. The thicker line is SOOOO much easier to grip. im worried about my hands getting stuck in that tight knurled grip with wich i hang on to my current line.

oh another thing to try is to let go of the flipline and reach with both hands out to one side, and then the other. really anything you can do that simmulates actually working is good.

get a good teacher, your fear reaction isnt honed yet. so it can't differentiate between scary and dangerous, dont try and figure this out on our own, find somebody who knows.

good luck, be careful.

 

[BostonBull]

Good tips Corey! Also once you get comfy reaching out to the sides you can take one hook out of the pole and then reach out to the side with a gaff still in and cross the free leg over the other leg. This will get you comfortable reaching way out to get at something.

 

[JimL]

No wire core lines are allowed working around utilities.

 

[Ax-man]

if anyone really likes the rope lanyards could you please post why they work for you. .

I'm one of those guys who really like a rope lanyard, took a lot to trust a rope after changing from a pole climbers leather buckstrap.

I do have a wire core and tried it out twice last winter, which was enough for me to know that I don't like a wire core to use as a lanyard.

To me a wire is just to stiff, I couldn't find a big difference between flipping a wire verses regular rope. A wire core is heavier than a rope lanyard. I found a wire core harder to throw up into a crotch than was just above head height because of the stiffness of the core, my throws we off because the wire would twist a little due to it's stiffness. Those big clunky rope snaps are a pain compared to the light weight aliuminium snaps.

I carry lanyard and chain saw on left side, tried it vice-a-versa I can't change it, the tail of the wire would get in my way when reaching for chainsaw, wouldn't hang as straight down as a rope lanyard would.

As far as the safety issue of a wire core, some are cut resistent, others not. My feelings are that your not using good judgement with a chainsaw if you cut or nick your lanyard, I also feel that if a chain saw came in contact with a wire core your kick back factor will increase, JMO only!

I'm sure if you climb a lot of single stem, straight type trees for removal a wire core is the way to go, I don't do much of that type of climbing.

I know my comments may seem a little predjudice, but I'm also a little spoiled from using a DEDA lanyard that has a length of 18 ft from snap to snap. Once you get onto using a lanyard like this a wire is pale in comparision and some what limiting.

Larry

 

[rahtreelimbs]

The thing that helped me the most when I was learning was the boss kept telling me to stick my butt out.

This can't be stressed enough..........especially when hooking a tree with a real hard lean!!!

 

[geofore]

Loop the prussik around the rope one more time to get it to catch sooner, hold tighter, three loops instead of two and dress the loops before you try them. I know with my weight the two loops around the rope will not hold me but three will. 5/8" rope for a lanyard is easier to grip. Dressing the prussik out before you use it makes the difference between sliding a few feet before it catches or not sliding. Check your prussik for rope burns if you've been sliding on it, a glazed rope will break easier and slide sooner. Keep an eye on it.

 

[CoreyTMorine]

Boston Bull, Jim L, and Ax man; thankyou, duh , and wow maybe I'll try out a rope lanyard ;respectively.

oh, BB, did you ever figure out the cherry picker thing?

And just to try and stay on post; in order to get really familiar with the wood its not a bad idea to split some . take a whole year and work for a firewood guy. if you dissect 4 or 5 hundred cord of wood you'll have a really good idea of whats strong and whats not, also you might develope a "sixth sence" for rot and imperfections.