Brain, The reson alot of companies will not lift a climber into the trees is not that it isnt safe, it is because untill recently it was against osha regulations. It was recently that they changed the rules for tree work with cranes. The way I understand it is that a climber that is tied into the crane thru a tie in point on the crane not on the hook its self but at a popint where the rope cant slip off and the climber is tied in the same way he would tie into a tree then it is permitted. He can not be tied into a crane that is under a load from a lift in progress. Im assuming that you dont do alot of tree work with a crane, or you would know that it is safe, sometimes safer than climbing. There are still alot of companies that dont know about the rule change, that is why they will not lift a climber from the ground. As far as my injury, I will make sure im tied in at all times, there is a about a 1 min period that i may be tied into the crane and the tree during my transition. I dont see that the injury was my fault, the crane operator was on the phone when all he heard was the word "up". I have since told him that when I am in the tree to stay off the phone, And we also have two way radio when working out of sight. I have done 75 to 100 tree take down with the crane in the past 10 years. Im comfortable with the crane and I trust the crane operator. I will use a crane whenever it is quicker to do so. There are alot of times that a crane and a climber can do more in a few hours than two great climbers can do in a day.
Mike
