Feel Like A Kitty Cat........

[ClimbinArbor]

Just got down out of a tree........ is a silver maple probably 40'. whole thing is hollow, trunk and 4 leaders, only thing holding it together is bark lol. wind is blowing at about 25-30. went up the leader that i was going to rig out of. i knew it was gonna be hairy so i tied into a diff leader. got about 25-30 ft up and the good leader started swaying awful bad. sat there contemplating for a minute and heard the limb i was perched on start cracking. went down a few limbs and contemplated some more when my groundie started hollering for me to get down.... took his advice.... now i feel like a kitty cat......

but id rather feel like a wus for the rest of the day and go back monday than be in traction for a couple of months....

any feedback appreciated, good or bad..... let me have it

 

[newb]

It is better to be a scardie cat than a dead duck. I was kicked out of a Silver Maple from 40 feet. Not pretty. Pete

 

[ClimbinArbor]

wasnt really scared just knew it would go south on me. shoulda just waited till the wind died down and rescheduled.... pain in the azz maples lol

 

[TDunk]

It is better to be a scardie cat than a dead duck. I was kicked out of a Silver Maple from 40 feet. Not pretty. Pete

what he said

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Discretion is the greater part of valor

I walked away from 2 small spruce trees, right by secondaries and transformer, one with a rotten but and visible heave towards the pole to pole service 2 inches away. they allready had the checkered tape the local co-op forester uses for removal approval.

 

[lxt]

NO reason for how you`re feeling....you`re alive & safe from injury!! this is the commonsense part that some dont have!!! Props to ya!!


Take care Be safe!!


LXT............

 

[ClimbinArbor]

yeah without commonsense i would have bought dirt a long time ago lol. my problem is that i am 260 lbs plus equipment, and havent been climbing as long as most folks here. I am still learning what i can and cannot walk out on. So i just make sure to tie in somewhere that will catch me if a limb breaks on me(which only one has so far) and test my limits. Speaking of which does anyone have a link or books dealing with breaking weights per species???

 

[pdqdl]

yeah without commonsense i would have bought dirt a long time ago lol. my problem is that i am 260 lbs plus equipment,....

Is THAT why you posted a gorrilla as an avatar? Good choice!

... Speaking of which does anyone have a link or books dealing with breaking weights per species???

While you would get good infomation about the relative strength of different woods, it wouldn't help much in a tree. Dynamic loading on a branch in a tree would take a rocket scientist to calculate for each point in the tree. You would need to measure the length of spar from where it is materially unchanged in diameter to where you are tied off, and the diameters of those points. Then you would need to carefully measure where you would be located relative to the branch you are tied to. After that, you would need an accelerometer to measure your motion and direction (particularly in a tree on a windy day) and apply some really good math to the geometry of the situation. NOW you get to apply the number you get to another really good formula that uses a table for the wood you are in. Then add or reduce that figure by the decay or vigor present in your tree & branch.

Make your cut now, because you know it is safe!

If you are inclined to experiment: get yourself some pulleys and rope, along with a tension scale, and rig them up in a "removal" tree. Hook the scale to your rig, and start pulling ! When it breaks, you'll have a good idea how strong it was. By the time you have broken up a few trees, you will probably be the most expert person in the country on actual forces tolerated by trees.

 

[pdqdl]

VERY early in my career, I bid on removing a dead tree for the "Dangerous Trees" section of the city government. I had very little experience, absoluetly no training, only one chainsaw, and a lot of guts.

No experience whatsoever with large dead elms with no bark remaining.

I climbed happily up, nervously went to work trimming down the tree. At one point, I just didn't want to go any higher on that dead limb. "I can swing this just a little to the north with my cut, and miss the fence" says I, to myself.

As I began to make the angled cut on the mostly vertical 12" diameter branch, I began to feel a little guilty for not climbing higher, was I was going to hit the fence? Only about 1.5 inches into the cut, the whole limb broke off at my cut and fell to the ground and broke up like a glass vase. I just about died of fear at that point, and I still had to finish the tree. I haven't climbed a barkless tree since then.

Needless to say, I got lucky. There was no internet then, and I have spent a lot of time learning from other climbers. I STILL wish I had never climbed that tree, and that was in 1988? Can't remember. Old-timers disease is setting in.

Treat this tree like the one you won't have to try to forget for 20 years. Do it some way that doesn't risk your neck. There's calculated risk, and then there is stupidity. I was stupid, and got lucky.

 

[ClimbinArbor]

Treat this tree like the one you won't have to try to forget for 20 years. Do it some way that doesn't risk your neck. There's calculated risk, and then there is stupidity. I was stupid, and got lucky.

very good advice pd. i am having all the lines to the house dropped when i go back, this will let me top the three worst leaders. the other leader i shouldnt have to rope but two or three peieces out of.

will tell you guys when its all on the ground.