First bucket truck ride

[buildmyown]

Ok, I already have my flame suit on. I am not a pro by any means and never will claim to be one. If there was any doubt in my mind that I could not do this safely I would have passed in the blink of an eye.

Long story short I worked out of a bucket truck the first time this weekend doing a favor for a friend. What a blast. A good friend of mine just bought an income property and was putting a new roof on. Theres a maple in the back yard that had a couple of 10" limbs going out over the back of the house. He was in a tight spot to get the roof done this weekend so the leads had to go. The whole tree will becoming down shortly do to a new garage.

He called me to see if I knew anyone that could get it done yesterday. Everyone he called said they couldnt be out to Mid week. So I made a few calls and ended up borrowing a bucket truck from one of my other friends that has a couple of commercial properties and bought the truck to do regular mainteance. The truck is just an old ford elec line truck with a 40 foot center mount boom. I have used the truck before to do some work so I did know how to run it.

I have never used a chainsaw off the ground befor yesterday. What a difference almost nonething but the basics from the ground transfers when your up 40 feet with a couple of targets below you. You really have to move slow and think every move out. Thats just what I did took it nice and slow made small cuts and just thought everything out. Took me about 2 hours to do what a pro could have done in about 15 mins.

Sorry no pics this was a last min thing. I didnt butcher the tree even tho it will be coming down in the spring. I used this as a learning experiece to practice different cuts and to see how limbs of different weights and shapes reacted when cut. A lot of what I did is from what I have read on here. All in all it was a very good experience and a whole lot of fun.


PS. If this is the wrong saction feel free to move it.

 

[Mikecutstrees]

Thats cool glad it all went well. What kind of saw did you use? Did you use ropes/ slings/ snap cuts? How did you work it all down? It does take alot of thought and planning especially when you are new to it all. Work safe..... Mike

 

[buildmyown]

Thanks Mike. I used the only saw I have my Husky 345 would have liked to have a smaller lighter saw and can really see where a top handle comes into play when your off the ground. My forearms were burning by the time I was done from having to hold that saw up and out.

Being mainly a firewood cutter I dont have anything in the form riging besides my pull rope for droping trees. This being the first time working off the ground I didnt want to play around and risk anything or waste any time. So I just used what I assume to be snap cuts. I cut everything into about 2 foot sections and cut all the limbs about half way threw from the bottom and then cut from the top leaving about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch of holding wood killed the saw put it in the bucket took ahold of the branch worked it back and forth till the holding wood broke and tossed the chunck clear of the back deck and landscape.

 

[Mikecutstrees]

thats cool, yes those are snap cuts. You will learn that with different woods you will have to make the two cuts closer or further so that they hold and don't break too early but can easily be broken. Yeah a top handle is a big help but learning with a rear handle will make you think more and do things right. Setting up correctly is key though with a top handle, you want to always cut with your right hand and hold with your left. That is keep the truck to your right if you can. Keep up the good work.... Mike

 

[randyg]

Thanks Mike. I used the only saw I have my Husky 345 would have liked to have a smaller lighter saw and can really see where a top handle comes into play when your off the ground. My forearms were burning by the time I was done from having to hold that saw up and out.

Being mainly a firewood cutter I dont have anything in the form riging besides my pull rope for droping trees. This being the first time working off the ground I didnt want to play around and risk anything or waste any time. So I just used what I assume to be snap cuts. I cut everything into about 2 foot sections and cut all the limbs about half way threw from the bottom and then cut from the top leaving about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch of holding wood killed the saw put it in the bucket took ahold of the branch worked it back and forth till the holding wood broke and tossed the chunck clear of the back deck and landscape.

Snap cut is when you cut 2/3rds of the way through from one side, and then 2/3rds of the way through from the other side missing the first cut by a couple inches. Then you kill saw and grab limb with both hands and SNAP. That back and forth you did was a lot of extra work. One other thing - doing the 2/3rds like I described and cutting the bottom first and the top second (like you described) will not work as the weight of the piece will snap it before you get your hands on it. The cuts need to be made vertical on a horizontal branch, then you snap it sideways. Be very careful and if there is anything below that needs to be protected tie a rope on it first. After saw is stowed, you can untie rope with one hand while other arm is around piece, and still throw it. Glad to hear you had no miss-haps.

 

[squad143]

With each different tree, I'll practice a snap cut on a limb in a non-hazardous area (or tie it off if none available). A snap is a great technique for fast limb removal and target limb placement.

 

[buildmyown]

Thanks for the positive feedback guys a really appreciate it. Like I said this was one of those things that I really wasnt planning on doing. Thanks to this site and all the pros out there that do it everyday I have done a ton of reading just because I like to be knowledgeable of a lot of different topics not that Im always going to go out and do it.

I was supposed to borrow the truck to (trim read NOT TOP but just to remove all the lower dead limbs and raise them up a little) some pines around my own property that was going to be my practice run. That job will be coming in a couple of weeks I will try to get some pics of that.

 

[Bermie]

Good on you - slow and steady wins the day...

For snap cuts that you need to hold and throw...you can do them sideways as someone else said or...
Do the top cut first, then cut up from the bottom carefully until the piece settles onto the bar and starts to slow down the chain, throw on the chainbrake, the bar in the cut will stop it from snapping, use your left hand to lift the piece and free the saw,snap the piece off and chuck it down, carry on... If the piece is a bit heavy choke a sling on it so you can hold it better, won't slip out of your grip when it snaps.

Works well with a top handle saw and does not require one handed saw use or the hold and cut method which can lead to some NASTY NASTY injuries!

 

[davej]

Snap cuts? I don't like the idea of bringing the saw up vertical to make vertical cuts. In my one bucket experience I just kept using the rope if I didn't want it to fall straight down. I had a 191t.