Bitten again! From my 200T

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Big hug?
Now someone is going to post that picture of MB's.

 

[Tree Machine]

Here it comes.....

 

[Tree Machine]

Big hug?
Now someone is going to post that picture of MB's.

I searched that one out, the gang hug from the San Francisco Arborists Association. It has been purged from this site.

Anyway, that's a little off-topic anyway.

A former trainee of mine did an Eagle1 earlier this Summer, nipped his finger but good and the hospital trip (uninsured) cost him a bit over $2,000. He wasn't taking the top out of a tree, but just removing limbs, not rigging with ropes, but was directing the limbs by hand and got hand and saw together. My first question was, "Were you using a sling?" He'd seen me do this a hundred times, controlling the limb while keeping your hands well away.

Little oversights will cost you big. I'd shown him how to choker a limb one-handed in under three seconds, again and again as one of the bread and butter moves to sling a limb for removal control or to set a redirect.

Now he understands, but it cost him to have the importance driven home.

I would rarely sling a top unless I needed to lower it and retrieve my rope from up in the tree.

 

[Dadatwins]

I put a rubber band around the throttle to keep it full on. Then as the top goes, I detach all ropes, because they might wrap around my throat and choke me. My hardhat and safety glasses are on the ground, as a point of reference, a target if you will.
Saw lanyards are for loosers.
Because my safety gear is hard to see sitting on the ground, I have my crew stand right where I want the top to fall, they just run just before they get hit. Chances are the truck pulling the top, will make it go where I think they don't know where it will go.
Workers compensation is for dummies that don't know about tax free cash.
The taut-line hitch ROCKS!
If I ever get out of this stupid hospital, I'll get some pictures of me showing you rookies how to work on trees.

LMFAO, why not just add the price of the saw into the bid and when the top goes, let the saw go too? No sense having that loud, dangerous machine up in the tree while the trunk is whipping around.

 

[pantheraba]

I'm a big proponent of chainsawing the wedge out, starting the back cut with the saw, shutting it off, pulling it out, finishing with the Silky saw. When you do the full backcut with the saw, everything happens all at once; saw running, tree top falling, situation like Eagle1.

If you stop your back cut early and shut off your saw, you have time to triple check everything. Remember, this is not a moment to be in a hurry. This cut is for all the beans so if you take an extra 10 or 20 seconds to make sure all systems are go, it could make all the difference.

With the saw shut off you open up your sense of hearing. Being able to hear the fibers cracking you can hip your handsaw and get both hands on the tipping base.

Those are good tips...I always tried to slow cut the last bit so I could watch it start to fall and have time to kill the saw and hold on...the bucking bronco ride was always disconcerting.

I watched the Husqvarna demo at ITCC and they recommended what you do...finish the cut with the hand saw (they did use bore cuts, left a back strap and then cut through that with the handsaw).

It was a very controlled...and SAFE...looking procedure.

Thanks for sharing your expertise.

 

[Tree Machine]

Using bore cuts (plunge) has safety issues of it's own. This is a felling technique best left for use on the ground. Taking out a top is usually a smaller diameter issue and doing a bore cut when fliplined in tightly would be asking for kickback in a confined working position.

Everyone has, or eventually will, have an instance where you cut out your wedge, do your back cut, the piece begins to fall, the wedge cut slams shut and the hinge doesn't break. This is a very dangerous situation where you're going to be taken for a ride. The bigger the cut, the bigger the potential for that top to shake up your world and if it pulls the spire you're fliplined into over, and then snaps all of a sudden, the recoil can pop you in the face and cause serious harm. This is where you get those videos of the guy getting slingshotted off the spire.

Use extreme care. Popping tops is one of those less predictable maneuvers in our line of work.

 

[Eagle1]

Tree Machine. Correct.
I wear that tee shirt with pride... "Take the top off, go for a ride"

 

[Tree Machine]

Personally, I like the snap-cut. It takes a few moments longer to cut as the cut is longer and at a very steep angle. The advantage it when the top starts to tip, it doesn't go far as the wedge cut is only 1-3 kerf widths wide. When the limb lets loose it snaps, or pops off at an angle somewhat beyond vertical. The advantage being it doesn't gain enough forward momentum to swing the top around with you on it.

This is also known as a 'spear cut' as the cut end is sharp like a spear and usually the cut end goes to the ground first and can impail the earth like a spear. With evergreens it can end up looking like you planted a Christmaas tree

Disadvantage, if the top has a limb that comes back over top of your head, when the spear cut lets loose, that overhead limb can whack you. With evergreens this is not much of an issue.

This is not recommended for bug diameter stuff, but it's a geed method for smaller diameter tops. Let me try drawing this.

 

[Tree Machine]

from the ground

Here's a series I took from the ground, which is a good place to try it out to understand the behavoir.

 

[Tree Machine]

from way up high

This is what it looks like from 'real life'.

Now remember, do not try this at home. These are professionals. Not recommended for children under the age of 5.

 

[Eagle1]

Nice stuff. I had been whacked in the head before doing that
Nice Pics.

 

[diltree]

On the cut you made over the wires....i don't see the advantage of a slip cut, over a conventional notch. Could you explain your reason??????

 

[pantheraba]

Treemachine, thanks for the info on the "snap cut"...it is a new cut to me. Your pictures helped a lot.

 

[pbtree]

AT THE VERY LEAST hit that kill switch when things start moving.

Amen to that!

 

[Tree Machine]

I'm sorry about the nomenclature, and I'll agree with Dan. I've always referred to it as a 'spear cut' but in a long-ago thread (which I tried to look up but didn't find) another (highly respected) member called it a snap-cut. I am glad to know the proper terminology.

On the snap cut Dan describes, that's one of my most often used cuts, and I didn't even know it had a name. Thanks for clarifying that, Mr TreeCo.

On the REAL snap cut, where the two cuts come in parallel to, but from opposite sides to one another just, slightly differing heights, that is probably my most commonly used cuts for wrist diameter and smaller limbs. It keeps your hands away from the saw, and lets you pop the branch off predictably once the saw has been put away. Throwing the limbs allows you better control than just letting them drop. Residential city work is filled with obstacles (esp wire) that need avoiding.

The reason I did a spear cut in the picture was more for the picture than anything. It was a job for my brother in-law (no $) and I spear-cutted most of the limbs on that tree. The camera has a short delay between the time you shoot and the time the picture is actually taken, so we kept missing the action. By the time we got to the very top, the last chance, we got the photo. It was also a non-spike takedown done SRT, and it started out that I wanted action pics of SRT and redirects and such, but we were going for the spear cuts too.

Normally I work solo, so pictures of myself in the tree are rather rare. The pictures have pretty limited use for myself, personally. I take them for you guys because the pictures really help in backing up a description.

 

[CoreyTMorine]

3 basic techniques for topping? +one suggestion

I have seen one chainsaw bite like you describe and two instances of guys putting their fingers in the face before it closes, and losing the tip of a finger as the result. Topping may well be the most variable step of wrecking a tree. It is definitely an issue i come back to again and again, the big problem being there is no single way to do every top. 3 basic techniques off the top of my head, each with many highly nuanced variables.

Face and backcut: ¼-1/3 face for soft wood unlikely to split, 1/3-1/2 for fine-grained wood likely to barber chair. [close routine, as top starts to go over bump the chain brake with left wrist, and hit stop switch with right thumb, drop saw to right (saw lanyard lays over flipline, preventing my saw from flying around and helping to tightening my flipline ) then place hands on top of the tree (where you started the backcut) and wait for the ride. Never put your hands around the tree or in front of it, its to easy to end up with a finger in the pie.]

TM’s snapcut/slice/spear :good for trees on the more brittle side of the spectrum (big leafed maple, alder, poplar) and its best if the top is leaning out into the fall zone. It is less likely to smack your head this way. But beware of this procedure on strung fibry trees (hickory, elm, red oak in the fall) I’ve had them hang on by just a strand and swing out one way or the other, not real dangerous, just unpredictable. [close routine, the top will fly before I have a chance to do much of anything, ussually I turn the saw off, hold it tightly and in front of my face to fend off any limbs that may be rushing past.]

Over/under snapcut, secure your saw, then wigle/push the top over. Suitable for tops under 14 feet and 5” dia. This is a great option, probably the safest, I would recommend it as a good way to teach new guys although sometimes they get spooked because the wood they are standing on is so small. [close routine, (always do the undercut after the topcut, so if the work/top does break off while you are cutting the saw is stuck in the pole and not the falling piece. Over Under) after you finish the undercut hit the chainbrake and kill the saw, I put my left hand on the work about 2’ above the cut to stabalize/ keep track of it, and pull the saw out with my right and lay it to my right side. Then with both hands push the top over. Sometimes I have to rock it backwards to get the snap to brake.

Face and backcut with a pull line: probably the best way, but if the ground guys pull to hard to soon your going for a ride (they ussually pull as hard as they can) I find its best to have them secure the pull line to an anchor and get them to hang on the rope, this gives them a lot of force, but only until the slack/belly hits the ground. Just enough to get the top over center. But again that is a very situational situation.

One thing you might try is to cut a limb over your head and opposite to the desired direction of fall, leave the stub about 2-3 feet long.(this little beauty was shown to me by my good friend Jon O'Shea of oregon) Make your face cut with the saw at high chest level,and about 18” below the stub, then your back cut. When the top starts to get wobbly set the chainbrake, and leave the saw tip in the cut for a wedge/in case you need to cut more. Now with both hands reach up and push on the stub, if it goes over center the saw should fall out, now reach out and push on the pole/tree to brace yourself. If the top won't go over cut a little more, but be careful, the stub doesn’t give you much more leverage it just trains you to keep your delicate parts away from all the action. I have cut to much hinge and lost them thinking that I had enough leverage with the stub. If the top sets back hard on the saw throw a pull line up as high as you can and get some help from down below, I ussually go around to the face side to set my pull line, if the top does break off backwards at least I’m out of the way.

I could write on this stuff forever, im sorry to be so wordy, it just is hard to hear about someone getting hurt. Your hand will grow back soon enough, good luck and god bless.

 

[Tree Machine]

popping tops

Good stuff, BlueSpruce.

I found a couple images that reminded me of a technique I use, not only for technical tops, but a lot in tip reduction over top of houses or up above wires. This is where you can't just drop the branch, or limb, and where lowering on a rope is not a good option. You need to cut it, handle it and toss it.


In this first pic it was a super-dead locust. Second, it was over top of where one utility pole serves three houses. There were power, phone and cable lines x 3 right below me, so lowering with a rope was not much of an option. I was concerned that the whole limb I was on could go, so I was very concerned about shock load, but the top had to come out.

You can see in picture one, I have a redirect in the spar behind me. I'm up above it, but not too bad. To the left of my left arm, I left a big stub that I could lace my arm over for stability. I was not willing to flipline into this one because, like I said, I thought the whole limb could go, plus what I was climbing on was getting pretty small and it was shakey up there.

(This is the kind of work I LIVE for!)

It's hard to see in the first picture, but I have two choker slings set ~16" apart, and clipped together. You, of course, cut between the two slings. The key on preventing the shock load is, as mentioned earlier, put the chainsaw away, and pull out the Silky saw. I think I skipped the notch cut on the back side altogether as I wanted the limbs back fibers to help slow the fall. You clip the biners together and work slowly, relishing every moment of the process, thinking your way through what you're doing, what you think will happen, and what could possibly happen.

Then, as the picture shows, you pull out your little trim saw (heh heh) and cut most of the way through. Actually, I was able to skip the Silky part and just pushed the top. Once it started to go, I reversed the push and tried to slow the limb to prevent a sudden impact. I love this job!

On the second image you can see clearly the two slings, and the tree guy about to remove one of the slings and do the toss. Actually, I had no more use for the sling so I tossed the limb, sling and all.

You need to limit yourself on size using this technique. I use my forearm as a gauge -no bigger than my forearm because after the cut you have to unhook and toss while doing acrobatics at a good height. I repeat, this is for small tops. Picture two is really about as big as I'd go. This is a good technique for keeping your hands away from the saw.

 

[Tree Machine]

I would never attempt catching it back on itself in that size of deadwood while tied to it for fear of injury or death.

I wasn't tied to it.

The other option was to go up higher, but that would have crossed the threshold of ballsey into stupidity. I could have used the technique where you use the pole pruner jaws to clamp a branch, pull til it snaps off, rotate around and open jaws / drop, repeat. You do that til your limb is smaller and lighter, then use dual slings, or if you can, just knock off firewood chunks at a time. If the limb was more vertical, I would have done a frontside shallow notch, back cut and then pull/snap and toss over my right shoulder. However, it was a leaner and my scenario below was what it was. Trust me, I weighed the options.

I would love to do highly technical, hairy-scary dangerous work, all day, every day. I love that level of problem solving, being in the crucible. That's where I feel most alive. But that's not what being a well-rounded arborist is all about.

 

[Tree Machine]

Hey, here's another locust job, this was probably one of the most technical doozies yet to date. You can't appreciate how far overhung it was. Below the wires is a restaurant, and all their walk-in refrigeration was beneath me.

I climbed this one, dropped the big left-side top, looked around and it became clear that I was in for much more than I bargained for. It didn't look that bad from the ground, but it overhung everything a lot more than I'd anticipated.

I rappelled back out, got the pole pruners and a few more slings and went back up. Then I started pulling the tree apart with the pole pruners as described in the earlier post. When I got the Waaaayyyy overhung limb lightened up, I set a choker out on the tip with the pole pruners, put a face cut in my direction, back cut, applied the dual sling method in case it snapped (which it did) then pulled the tip toward me. The tip was rigged. The hinge area was rigged. The wires were only about ten feet below me so I couldn't just let the tip fall like in the previous pictures or I'd have been in deep doo doo. This was a high precision, tight tolerance 'no mistakes allowed' situation.

This crown-out took better than an hour, the problem of just that one limb about 30 minutes or more. The time-lapse video here crunches it all into 5 seconds. Click on the little black traveler thingy to be able to see it, more or less, frame by frame. 3.1 meg. Sorry dial-up guys, but this one's worth the wait.

 

[Tree Machine]

Crap. It's 3.1 meg, and arboristsite only allows me 2.o meg. Let me try dropping into a different website and link you to it, try this http://www.treeguy.info/videos/wirewhip_locust.mov

Cool, it works (ya learn something new every day!) Let it load, and it'll start by itself.