Bermie's crane job

[Bermie]

My first BIG crane job...
42" DBH, almost 100' Norfolk Pine, perfect weather the day before Hurricane Bill came by, HO sad to see it go but relieved not to have the worry during storms. It was discoloured all the way to the butt, smelly and damp in the middle, stubs where previous branches had snapped off were rotten and had loads of ants...newly enlarged house, some roots had been cut and lots of ground compaction.

I did leave some stubs a bit long...they made good footrests on the way down, and helped catch the lifting strop so I could throw it around and reach it more easily.

Three bits craned off from the top, then dropped the remaining 30/40' from the ground with the crane laying it over, last bit was about three tons. My longest bar is 20", had to cut the wedge from both sides, bore the middle then walk the saw around from one side to the other...fun once I was on the ground again.

It was hard work...my biggest tree takedown yet

 

[Bermie]

More pictures

 

[Bermie]

And the last lot

 

[Tree Pig]

Nice work Bermie and nice operation you have running there.

 

[John464]

nice! looks like a big one. only 1 ground guy and 1 crane op?

 

[046]

nice job!

you could use a longer bar...

 

[treemandan]

 

[Dadatwins]

Nice work, those big pines always have a ton of brush in them, seems to never end. Hope you are OK after little Bill stopped by for visit.

 

[oldirty]

bermie you gotta be careful.....next big take down you do manually you gonna be thinking how easy a crane makes it. lol.

couple q's and a suggestion.


q's.

whats the capacity of that crane? that thing must be able to get almost anywhere on that island and right up next to the tree. (you just maybe set yourself up to be the only female crane climber that can do any nasty tree that bermuda got!! that in itself is a good marketing ploy, no?)

how come you limbed it up, where you able to put the chipper right there or did you make bundles out of the limbs and crane them out to the chipper? (never seen a pine get limbed up for a crane pick)

suggestion.

go as light as possible. strip your belt down to the barest of necessities. camelback is cool though. might have to be my very next tree purchase due to the recent heat out here. but anyway climb with your rope in a ropebag and take the nicknacks and handsaw off. (you dont need the handsaw if you got a saw on your saddle) keep the first aid kit if you'd like.

ive found that the barest saddle is a fast saddle for crane work. i used to climb with it fully loaded as if i was doing a manual takedown but all the slings and biners and handsaws where in the way if i needed to move around the tree to set the slings.

also, not sure if you were using the hitchclimber or not but ,again for crane work in my opinion, 2 biners are best. one you deadend to and the other holding your prussic knot and micro pulley.

great job bermie! gotta throw a fellow crane takedown tactician some props!

 

[Treetom]

Nice job, Bermie. What is that pack on your back for?

 

[Sunrise Guy]

Thanks for the pics! Good job.

 

[treevet]

Congrats on your first craner. You have a huge heart. Never seen another woman handle a job like that before.

 

[oldirty]

Never seen another woman handle a job like that before.

definitely cool.

just went out and bought a camelback. we'll see if i like it, i got a streamlined one. the others seemed abit bulky.

 

[Bermie]

Yes, it was a bare bones job. Keep costs as low as possible. Even then its going to be around $4000. This was the most massive one I've done, and the first with a big crane, call me a crane newbie...! Done about nine others with different techniques, climb and bomb, rig from a high lift, small crane ride.

I sub everything but the climbing. I don't own any large equipment, plenty of people already do and its for hire, just add a few dollars and off we go.

One crane operator, one groundie worked just fine. Just have a load of needles to clean up now 'Bill' has gone by.

I'm not too sure about the crane capacity...just that the owner has done many Norfolk Pine picks and I trust his judgement...known him for many years, he's the real deal. The crane owner wanted to limb it up first.
Norfolk Pine is real heavy and some of those branches were almost 20' long...That crane got through an 11' driveway entrance...

Branches were laid on slings and picked up and put in the trucks, HO was ambivalent about chippings, would have cost as much sub out the chipping as trucking out per hour. Two loads of branches, the rest were the large trunk sections that no-one but the Government dump can chip. Free dumping.

Yes, I could have used a bigger saw in the tree, but I'm small, weight is a factor for ultimate control of a saw when cutting that close to my body! Cutting the base was fine with the bar I have, again, the amount of times I need a longer bar per year I can count on one hand.

I agree about the light belt...I didn't need the figure 8 and spare split tail, I needed the first aid kit as I gashed my finger pretty bad, took a while to get it to stop bleeding, stuffing it with wood dust helped...then slapped a plaster on it.

I needed a spare sling and crab to change saws, my 200t crapped out, then the 021 threw a chain, then I went to the 260...the crab makes a good pulley for hauling things up and down.
I like to have my handsaw, nice for cutting branches that are too close to my lifeline...I have a thing about safety...

Yes I was using a hitchclimber and VT

The backpack is a camelback, I needed all the water in it, been using it on most jobs for the last two weeks, its stinking hot just now and its much more convenient than a bottle clanking around on the belt. Full of ice cubes and water its a nice cool spot on your back too.

The day before I did another NP, 60' but only about 18" DBH with a double leader at about 20'...I went up on the 50' boom of a crane truck and just bombed the lot down. We had that one down and loaded in three hours.

We all gotta start somewhere!

 

[treevet]

Here is a nice handsaw option (and phone/camera option) I have become attached to (pun intended).

Works (both) fine with spikes too.

 

[Sunrise Guy]

(Snip)
I like to have my handsaw, nice for cutting branches that are too close to my lifeline...I have a thing about safety...
(Snip)

Roger that. I was going to say something, earlier, when you were advised to leave the handsaw on the ground because you had a chainsaw aloft. I would never climb without my handsaw, no matter what else I had aloft. It is definitely a safety issue. If you get snarled up in limbs and brush up there, a chainsaw is not the thing to cut yourself free, nor is it the thing to clear your ropes with. This is sort of related: The brother-in-law of one of my best friends liked to scuba dive off the beach in Chicago. He left his diving knife on the rocks as he felt that there were no threats in Lake Michigan. He was found, dead, in fifteen feet of water caught in fishlines that folks had cast off their reels. If he had his diving knife with him he would have made it out, most likely. I always think of him when I snap on my handsaw.

 

[treevet]

Roger that. I was going to say something, earlier, when you were advised to leave the handsaw on the ground because you had a chainsaw aloft. I would never climb without my handsaw, no matter what else I had aloft. It is definitely a safety issue. If you get snarled up in limbs and brush up there, a chainsaw is not the thing to cut yourself free, nor is it the thing to clear your ropes with. This is sort of related: The brother-in-law of one of my best friends liked to scuba dive off the beach in Chicago. He left his diving knife on the rocks as he felt that there were no threats in Lake Michigan. He was found, dead, in fifteen feet of water caught in fishlines that folks had cast off their reels. If he had his diving knife with him he would have made it out, most likely. I always think of him when I snap on my handsaw.

Maybe 30 years ago I had a huge limb I was rigging out of the tree blow in a way that the entire weight of it on the lowering line went over my left wrist and pinned it to the stub it detached from. Had I not had a handsaw I might have died from being pinned up 80 feet in a Silv. maple way out in the country and my circulation cut off by the 300lb branch on the line laying over my wrist.

As it was I thought about and grabbed my handsaw and cut the piece off and just had to trade a friend some firewood for a porch steps and bannister repair.

A similar incident happened to a Mexican (yeah they were here way back then too) in Princeton NJ in the 70's for Shearer Tree I used to work for and they were able to lower the limb over his arm but he was seriously injured.

 

[Dadatwins]

Roger that. I was going to say something, earlier, when you were advised to leave the handsaw on the ground because you had a chainsaw aloft. I would never climb without my handsaw, no matter what else I had aloft. It is definitely a safety issue. If you get snarled up in limbs and brush up there, a chainsaw is not the thing to cut yourself free, nor is it the thing to clear your ropes with. .

Agreed, good post. I have finished off cuts with a handsaw, just to avoid having the chainsaw running when the piece lets go. Granted it will not get used much on a crane removal, but it is always better to have it with, than have to wait for the ground crew to find it in the truck and tie it on.

 

[oldirty]

hey whatever works for you. keep the handsaw on for a CRANE removal.

me personally? dont need it when i am hanging off the ball. if i cant cut an obstacle away from where i need to be while while i am not even tied into the tree then i probably shouldnt be climbing. its on for a manual climb for sure.

but i am the main climber for one of the top 2 companies in this whole area. the most productive crane removal company actually. so what would i know?

lol.

hey bermie, how'd you get the gash on your finger? sounds an awful lot like a handsaw cut?

again. good job!

 

[treevet]

You tied into the ball the whole time OD?

I like to do a little clean up while the pieces are on their way. Started doing crane removals in the mid 70's and never stopped.