Favorite tree to trim (climb) ?

[t6140p]

I'm a 15 year veteren of doing treework. Obviously if my spelling was better, I would have become an english proffesor.
Just wondering What some other vets. consider there favorite trees to climb? Obviously regionality will have something to do with your choice of tree.
Me, living in New Haven CT. Known as the Elm City. Elms are my favorite. I love the challenge of no centeral crotch, double crotch tie ins and useing redirects. that's what tree climbing is all about...

 

[rumination]

I'm more of a rookie than a veteran, but I'll second Rocky's vote for live oaks. Sounds like his in Florida get a bit bigger than the ones I learned to climb in back in Texas, but the shape is probably about the same. I love that spreading canopy, so much room to jump and swing around. I still remember with fondness the live oak that was my first climbing tree when I was little. Beautiful trees.

Speaking of which I got so much of a hankering to see a live oak that I'll send money for postage and a six pack of good beer to anyone in Texas who will send me some good acorns. Of course, now that I think about it , there probably aren't too many good acorns around this time of year, but the offer still stands. I don't know how well they'll grow out here, but I figure I might as well give it a shot.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Open grown Quercus macrocarpa

 

[t6140p]

Close to my home town, In Sunderland Ma. there is a sycamore tree that is absoluteley massive...Not to tall really, but wide as wide could be. Maybe 75' tall with a 110' spread.
At the base of the tree there is a plaque placed by the NAA stateing that, yada, yada, yada. This tree was standing here when our forfathers signed the declaration of independence.
It's a very impressive tree that I would love to climb just for the fun of it...

T

 

[Toddppm]

Nothing like an old never pruned except for the bottom branches Pin Oak.

 

[rahtreelimbs]

White Oak!!! Grand to look at. A blast to climb!!!

 

[MasterBlaster]

Like a lot of you, I'm partial to big 'ole plantation live oaks. But anything big without poison ivy or bees is cool.

The trees I don't care for too much?

Cottenwoods, hackberry, bodoc.

Sycamores when the fluffs'a flying!

 

[mikecross23]

A big live oak is definately a fun climb. The one that monkeypuzzle took us to last year is the biggest I've climbed so far. During the summer I hit a streak of live oak prunning and scampered through them one after another. Not too many lately.

Favorite $$$ making climbing removals. . . pines and gum trees in my area. Usually straight forward w/ not much creativity involved in getting them down, but yer up and down and out.

I climbed a long leaf pine in a state park down the road from my house. First branch was about 82' judging by my 150' line. The tree was about 115'-125' tall growing at the edge of a lake. That was a fun climb. Tied on a sacked dinner, cell phone and camera and watched the sun go down. Spotted 2 gators cruising in the water, saw a bald eagle come out of the trees BELOW me and talked to an old friend that moved away.

If yer readin' monkeypuzzle. . . Let's climb it this weekend!

Here's a pic from today of the top of a large sweet gum that failed.

 

[rumination]

Seems like oaks are sweeping the thread so far. I don't think we've heard from any of the northwestern folks yet, though.

I dream of climbing a sequoia someday. They are some of the most mindblowing trees I have ever seen. I hope I can make that happen.

 

[TimberMcPherson]

Fav tree

My favourite to work in is a NZ native we call pohutakawa.(metrosideros excelsa) Although they are not the best to climb they can be lifted, reduced, thinned in every direction and can come out fantastic. They are nicknamed the New Zealand Christmas tree as it blooms a brilliant red storm over summer (our xmas time). They grow up to 50ft high (and giraffes love it to eat!)
Hard, strong yet flexable wood that has good self healing properties. Tight crotches are a disadvantage though.

The pic is of little ones, but you get the idea.

 

[treeman82]

I took a bunch of pictures of the sycamore you are talking about earlier this year. I posted those, along with pictures of a LARGE elm tree only a few miles away. Here is the link.

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8864

I had gone out there one day with a friend a couple months ago. We were coming up on it and he was on the far side of the road from it. I tell him it's 8' in diameter and he says "no way." Turned around up the road, kid gets out in front of it "THIS THING IS HUGE!!!"

 

[rumination]

Timber,

we've got some of those pohutakawas in our garden. definitely nice trees. the native Hawaiian Ohia lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) is also a very beautiful tree, and one of my favorites. It likes to grow on lava flows. Incredible to see a completely barren black lava landscape with little ohia trees poking out of what looks like solid rock. not too many big ones left unfortunately.

 

[rwilk]

I'll have to say the Live Oak is my favorite also. It took some time getting use to the difficult (maybe for my shaky knees) limbwalks w/o a central high tie in point, but I have gotten faster and more comfortable now. It is also very rewarding to look at your work after you take care of tha Live Oak that has not been worked in years. And when you do that good job, you made an excellent reference and call back customer.

just my thoughts

rwilk

 

[jamie]

hmmm

beside the rest of you my tree time is limited but i like climbing lime (they were the first i climbed), despite the swathes of epicormics on T. x europea and oak, but i find them a bit 'sprouty', i hate cypresses as i always find them dense and horrible as they are filled with tiny dead twigs which poke you everywhere, under visors, in ears, eyes, inbetween your teeth and gums, everywhere...nasty, maybe thats because i have only been unlucky enough to climb small uns.....

Hollys arnt a favorite either

but i would like a to try a redwood

jamie

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Originally posted by rumination
It likes to grow on lava flows. Incredible to see a completely barren black lava landscape with little ohia trees

Now that is what I call a pioneer spiecies!

 

[MasterBlaster]

Sticks can be pretty boring!

 

[MasterBlaster]

Thats why I have a magnifying glass!

 

[SilverBlue]

Naw Butch doesn’t harvest them he only collects pictures of them right Butch?

Here’s a nice one to climb rather small but fun.In this woodlot there are over 35 different species of trees, including some of the largest beech, oak and maples in southern Ontario.

 

[Stumper]

Live oaks deserve all of their popularity. Of the stuff that I typically see locally my favorite is Catalpa.
I'm not a good enough climber to consider Elms fun and I don't like all the slipping around on scaly bark on Sycamores.

 

[t6140p]

Seems like the live oaks have it. I did have the pleasure of climbing a couple of these fine trees when I was in the swamps of Florida a couple of years ago. A fun climb indeed.
Treeman, thanks for the photos of the Sycamore. Reminds me of home. The Elm looks like one i've seen in Northampton. Although obviously pruned by the utility company, there is another very impresive Elm on the same road. route 47 right on the Sunderland Hadley line.
A year or so ago I took down an elm in a Yale University court yard. (suffering from ded) Myself and 4 groundmen (thats right 4 groundmen) finnished up in a measly 5 days. What a massive tree, what a project.

T