Biggest Top you've Taken?

[1I'dJak]

Recently i was windfirming on an island off west coast vancouver island... we treating (topping and spiral pruning) the leave trees along the edge of the cutblock... a big wind had hit there earlier and knocked down some of the trees we treated earlier, so the forester wanted bigger tops taken out... I had grappled into a huge balsam fir (pacific silver fir) from a smaller tree i had treated... This tree was a pipe...was close to 200'... i couldn't really see how much taller it was above me, but i was at a good spot to put in my notch...so i did... had to walk around it with my 16' bar to notch it.. a guy was climbing alongside me so i asked him how big the top was...he said over 20 meters...(60+')! Whatever...put my back cut in and dropped a big hammer top! Wasn't the fattest top i took but definetly the tallest...had the big creeeaaaak sound followed by a fun ride... rappelled down with the adrenaline pumping!

 

[diltree]

wow

200' tree...crazy, we don't have trees that big in newengland! Great story, I have never dropped a 60' top, but I have dropped a 60' tree The adrenaline must have been pumping hard!

 

[booboo]

Did some white pines last summer, pegged them to be about 80', had enough space to take them in 2 pieces each. Put a tag line in the top, dropped down to about 40', took the top out, put another tag line in, took 'em at the base. 20" bar wasn't nearly enough for the tops but they all went smoothly. Big ole' whoooosh as the tops went by, all the logs lined up nicely on the ground and it saved a lot of cutting. Wasn't much free space left in the driveway though!

 

[Timberhauler]

I worked out a patch of virgin poplars a while back.....The tree itself was seven feet in diameter and 200 feet tall.I climbed a little more than halfway up and dropped about 75 feet of top...It was 30 inches where I made my cut.

 

[SteveBullman]

this is about 60ft, i wasnt very high off the ground myself though

http://media.putfile.com/Oak1

 

[John464]

I've done only about 40' top drops. If I ever get around to orderin a GCRS I may be inclined to take bigger. We've picked with cranes between 50' - 60'.

 

[oldirty]

big bull white pine

falsecrotched about 40 ft of the top of a big ol' white pine (i was at 85 ft with a 372 and still needed more bar)
and the peckerhead running the rope never let it run. THAT ,my friends, is what i call a ride. took a couple days before my arsehole finally uncleched.

i know for you west coaster's out there that a 125 ft pine isnt that much but round here you wont find too much over 150 ft.

highest i ever been was 132. (again a pine)


oldirty

 

[Ed Roland]

OLDIRTY< i hear you fella, a good, learned groundsman is worth his weight in gold!

 

[feller]

Ignorance

falsecrotched about 40 ft of the top of a big ol' white pine (i was at 85 ft with a 372 and still needed more bar)
and the peckerhead running the rope never let it run. THAT ,my friends, is what i call a ride. took a couple days before my arsehole finally uncleched.

i know for you west coaster's out there that a 125 ft pine isnt that much but round here you wont find too much over 150 ft.

highest i ever been was 132. (again a pine)


oldirty

I have worked with many greenhorns and there's nothing like being with a skilled helper. A skilled helper who not only lets it run, but knows witch side of the trunk to stand on when simply drop crotching tops. A vet knows the impact of binding the rope. A new guy could get you hurt. This is one of the differences between a rookie and a true tree bastard

 

[oldirty]

funny thing is that i told him to let it go too. "hit the breaks when the top nears the ground" (so it could be limbed up and logged)

what he did was let that top go far enough to bend the hell out the stick and then just absolutely stopped it (about 10 ft). if i wasnt tied in, and fliplined in i probably woulda gotten shot out up over the house like an old fashioned catapult. i swear that thing rocked and swayed for ever.

and you are correct sir, a good groundguy is worth his weight. long as he isnt tipping the can before knock off time. which is a what i have had to go through working for a few jerks here and there. not too soon after i left this one company the crane op went to rehab. loved it at that place. pfffft


oldirty

 

[treevet]

nothing like blowing a big top , taking a ride watching the swan dive and crash to the ground. biggest worry if other trees nearby - just a small piece of the top catching on even a small limb of a tree in the fall direction the butt comesoff and the momentum of the top changes towards you w the butt going away from you. could tear your head and arms right off and just a saddle w a torso left in it. l50 foot sycs etc around here aren t 250 foot eucs but if they were around here, guess what, we d be in the tops of them too.

 

[tree md]

Tallest one I have dropped was about a 75' oak that had 3 huge forks leaning back over the back yard and swimming pool. It was dead in the top so I couldn't get up into it. I got as high as I could, ran a rope around all three forks and sinched them together then tied the rope off to the truck to get a pull. made my notch right under the three main forks (first forks off the trunk), about 40' up and had three guys pull it off of me. I was using a 3' bar. When it hit the ground dead wood exploded and came up to my level.

Biggest one I have collared was about an 80' pine. Cut about 30' of the top out. Helluva ride.

I am working with new guys now and they want to hang on to the rope for dear life. I had them let a 5 foot chunk about 2 1/2 feet in diameter swing back in my face last week. Gotta luv it. :biggrinbounce2: