jomoco
Tree Freak
I did this removal about two weeks ago in Descanso here in SoCal. An old buddy of mine that I helped get started in the tree biz got the call from the customer who was concerned about this dead oak ( Quercus agrifolia ) leaning over their house.
My buddy took a look at the tree then called me to see if I'd take a look and sub to him to get it safely on the ground for him and his crew.
I went up with him to take a look, and didn't like what I saw. The tree was obviously rotted out and hollow all the way down the main trunk. It also had very recent root excavation on one side for a new retaining wall. I consulted with the owner who informed me that he had received two very reasonable quotes to rope the tree down from two separate companies in the area.
I calmly informed the owner that his tree was an extremely hazardous tree, and that trying to rope it down on itself would likely end up resulting in damage to his house and more importantly a dead or injured climber. I suggested the only safe method of takedown was to use a crane to ensure no shaking of his hollow and rotten tree. He agreed, a price and date for the takedown was set.
An eight man crew including the crane operator and myself arrived on the job that morning. Some fairly serious cribbing was required on the downhill 40 ton crane tires to get into the driveway and position the crane effectively for the takedown.
I had already determined that there was no way I was going to tag into this rotten old tree until some serious weight came off it. The crane was equiped with two blocks and had over 125 feet of main boom. I tagged into the larger block using the smaller one to very carefully catch and lower each choked and cut section, staying with the crane until the tree was reduced to standing main wood structure.
But this old hollow tree had a few surprises in store for both the crew and I.
I had just tagged into the main wood structure of this old hollow dog and was making excellent progress craning some of the larger sections of the remaining wood from the backside of the codominant leader, when bees started emerging from a cavity about 50 feet up the leader that I was tagged into attacking both the ground crew and I. This effectively put a stop to an otherwise smooth operation.
I consulted with my buddy and the crane operator on our options. My bee suit was a couple hours away round trip. The crane operator was highly allergic but could seal himself inside his airconditioned operators cab. I decided to seal myself in long sleeved shirts and gloves with bandannas and bugeye safety glasses over my head as the crane operator positioned me with aerosol bee killer spray over the cavity and I took the fight home to their queen as the ground crew hid. We built a fire in the ground crew LZ and stoked it with green leaves to generate as much smoke as possible. I sprayed three cans of bee killer into the cavity, then set an additional three cans of fogger into the cavity itself for emphasis, then was lowered down by the crane for lunch. The queen gave up the battle and flew off as we ate lunch.
Anyway, after lunch the bulk of the hive had flown off with their queen, but left enough kamikazi soldiers to make my job and the crew's miserable as we doggedley completed the job and left at 3:00pm that afternoon. I was stung through my bandannas 5 times in the face. My buddy and a few crew members were stung a few times also.
The job was completed on schedule, the crane operator drove off safe in his airconditioned cab, the customer was happy, the bees not so much so. Another very hazardous tree safely removed.
jomoco
My buddy took a look at the tree then called me to see if I'd take a look and sub to him to get it safely on the ground for him and his crew.
I went up with him to take a look, and didn't like what I saw. The tree was obviously rotted out and hollow all the way down the main trunk. It also had very recent root excavation on one side for a new retaining wall. I consulted with the owner who informed me that he had received two very reasonable quotes to rope the tree down from two separate companies in the area.
I calmly informed the owner that his tree was an extremely hazardous tree, and that trying to rope it down on itself would likely end up resulting in damage to his house and more importantly a dead or injured climber. I suggested the only safe method of takedown was to use a crane to ensure no shaking of his hollow and rotten tree. He agreed, a price and date for the takedown was set.
An eight man crew including the crane operator and myself arrived on the job that morning. Some fairly serious cribbing was required on the downhill 40 ton crane tires to get into the driveway and position the crane effectively for the takedown.
I had already determined that there was no way I was going to tag into this rotten old tree until some serious weight came off it. The crane was equiped with two blocks and had over 125 feet of main boom. I tagged into the larger block using the smaller one to very carefully catch and lower each choked and cut section, staying with the crane until the tree was reduced to standing main wood structure.
But this old hollow tree had a few surprises in store for both the crew and I.
I had just tagged into the main wood structure of this old hollow dog and was making excellent progress craning some of the larger sections of the remaining wood from the backside of the codominant leader, when bees started emerging from a cavity about 50 feet up the leader that I was tagged into attacking both the ground crew and I. This effectively put a stop to an otherwise smooth operation.
I consulted with my buddy and the crane operator on our options. My bee suit was a couple hours away round trip. The crane operator was highly allergic but could seal himself inside his airconditioned operators cab. I decided to seal myself in long sleeved shirts and gloves with bandannas and bugeye safety glasses over my head as the crane operator positioned me with aerosol bee killer spray over the cavity and I took the fight home to their queen as the ground crew hid. We built a fire in the ground crew LZ and stoked it with green leaves to generate as much smoke as possible. I sprayed three cans of bee killer into the cavity, then set an additional three cans of fogger into the cavity itself for emphasis, then was lowered down by the crane for lunch. The queen gave up the battle and flew off as we ate lunch.
Anyway, after lunch the bulk of the hive had flown off with their queen, but left enough kamikazi soldiers to make my job and the crew's miserable as we doggedley completed the job and left at 3:00pm that afternoon. I was stung through my bandannas 5 times in the face. My buddy and a few crew members were stung a few times also.
The job was completed on schedule, the crane operator drove off safe in his airconditioned cab, the customer was happy, the bees not so much so. Another very hazardous tree safely removed.
jomoco
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Reminds me of when I was climbing around on some of the rocky outcroppings off the peninsula in WA (near the Hoh rainforest). I guess I got too close to a seagulls(?) nest. The mom started diving and screeching at me. She eventually started letting loose with turd bombs. Me, I was running back and forth across the 15' top waving my tripod over my head to keep her away from me. I eventually whacked myself in the head and made as quick an escape off the little top as I could. My friends were down below rolling in the sand laughing at me. I'd like to think I did not scream like a little girl, but I probably did too, 
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