Dead Elm Climbed and Roped Down

[ropensaddle]

I don't think I have ever walked away from a tree. I just figure out how to get them down without climbing barkless dead ones.

I admit, I'm a chicken about that. I suppose If I had more experience with them, it wouldn't be a problem. I just refuse to get that experience.

Trees in KC are not as big as other parts of the world. 65'-75' is about all we ever see. Biggest tree I ever took out was about 90' in a cottonwood, 60" dbh. I bid it to do with my old bucket truck, but I discovered that I had completely misjudged the size of the tree. When I got up in the tree with the bucket, I dicovered that I needed about another 20' to do the job: start climbing ! A bit scary at first, but I got back into the program pretty quick.

It probably was not a big deal for most climbers, except that it was the first tree I had climbed since my nasty accident with the wood planer. The one that took my right thumb & finger. Yep, I run a ms-200t with only three fingers on the right hand. I did make sure that I had a rope tied to the saw all the time. Didn't want to drop it.

Yes I have been their most trees look like overgrown bushes but
cottonwoods, me no like. I trimmed a power line in or around Alma
kansas back in 92 they had some big cotton but the groundman took
off to the store and lost my suitcase all my pics everything I owned
back then:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[pdqdl]

Don't you just hate it when the groundmen let you down?

 

[ropensaddle]

Don't you just hate it when the groundmen let you down?

Well most times it is me but yeah it seems when someone else
pull a doosey ya sure can make more of it I have learned
to be a little more forgiving these days, if it is just a blond moment!
I however won't tolerate incidents caused by laziness or the don't care
syndrome and I have learned how to be a thorn in someone like thats
azz ! Make them see the sh1t they are it helps them sometimes, if not
send them packing good groundmen are hard to come by but lazy slobs
are not.

 

[rbtree]

Most limbs were 500-700 pounds. That dead Elm is quite strong, as long as it hasn't been dead too long.
QUOTE]


not trying to pick at ya, but from the looks of your photos, the limbs look to be more like 75-300 pounds. Weren't most of them under 7 inches?

Example, a 14 inch average diameter 10 foot long elm would weigh about 500 pounds, but that's limb or smaller trunk wood, not branch ends.....


111", now that's one huge elm stump! There's a few big elm in our area, where, of course, they aren't native. I've been in some that are over 120 feet tall, and 4.5 feet dbh

Those four DED killed elm that we did a few years back produced 2 good sized log truck loads, which all went to a furniture maker.

I put up a new page at my flickr site. It's mostly of technical removals we've done in the last 6 years. 4 pics about in the middle of craning the elms. This link goes to a slide show...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rbtree/sets/72157605289684115/show/ There's a box to choose show speed on the lower left...

Here's one, shot in awesome December sunset light:

 

[Nailsbeats]

Rb, what you see me cutting are limbs. We were bringing down whole leads buttheavy that we didn't have pictures of. Most of my cuts were 12"-14" and 20' or longer. You see me do a couple quick cuts on the ends and butthitch a couple over the house, but that was it for small stuff. I asked my dad what he thought the weight was and he said 500-700lbs average. He has 35 in the tree business and 20 as an operater with a lot of crane experience. According to the figures you gave me, I would say he was right on.

You are correct, the pictures do not show 500-700lb limbs, but they don't show the majority of the roping we did, which were buttheavy, not butthitched.

Nice picture by the way! Crane work looks like fun.

 

[rbtree]

Well, there ya go!


you'd love using the GRCS for butt heavy lowering. Makes the job a breeze.

did ya check out the slide show?

 

[Nailsbeats]

Yeah RB, I checked some out before and just checked it out again. That is some good tree work. The pictures are very nice. Looks like the kind of outfit I would like to work for if I didn't already run my own gig. I especially like the catching wood shots and the zip lining.

I don't think the GRCS is too far in our future. My brother has been talking about one. Thats a good sign.

 

[oldirty]

Yeah RB, I checked some out before and just checked it out again. That is some good tree work. The pictures are very nice. Looks like the kind of outfit I would like to work for if I didn't already run my own gig. I especially like the catching wood shots and the zip lining.

I don't think the GRCS is too far in our future. My brother has been talking about one. Thats a good sign.

nailzy. if you are going to get one get one, i too would love to have/run a GRCS.

but

you gotta give a crane a shot at the title. you want to move wood and get it to your pile faster, nothing gets wood to the floor faster than a crane. and she'll put it where ever you want. contains the mess too.

just for sh1ts and giggles you should rent one for the next big'n just to get a chance to see it go. make sure whoever's crane comes in they got tree experience. thats important.

you say your pops got some time on the stick. look into 23ton. the type you can load wood on the deck with. that way you can take the wood from your jobs and put them in your pile without all the hassle in between. you kinda got to get right near the tree to use them but versatility is key. plus your ol' man can stay in the game until you feel like retiring him. lol

lol, i love spending other peoples money. i know its no grcs but it something to think about.

 

[Nailsbeats]

The crane would be slicker than dog turds no doubt. Off the tree and right to the chipper and trailer. The quicker the wood gets to my sheds the better.

The GRCS is a pretty probable option for us, though I would love some crane treework experience. Now if I had your money OD, I would buy a crane and a GRCS. lol

 

[oldirty]

if you had my money homie, every time you reached into your pocket you'd be scratching your balls.

 

[Nailsbeats]

That wouldn't bother me none.

 

[treemandan]

if you had my money homie, every time you reached into your pocket you'd be scratching your balls.

If you had my money you'd be a thief! Not to do anymore bullying but I couldn't resist to share with the world some of my best jokes. Actually I don't know who has my money but its not me.