Spellfeller
A noob wising he had more time to cut trees...
Well, THAT was awesome!
Yesterday, I got tired of waiting for my gear account to grow and decided to get in the tree with an "arborist" rig made mostly of what I had around, which included the following:
My wife's visual documentation of this adventure started after I was in my work position, secured by the Tree Saddle's lanyard. As you can see, I had to clamber to a point almost even with my anchor, which I know is a major no-no and was a huge PITA. I just couldn't hit the higher crotch I wanted with the throwbag. (Actually, with the small water bottle I had to substitute when my only throwbag got hopelessly snagged in the dead bark of the limb I was trying to remove! I DID get it back but need to get a backup.)
Out comes the Samurai...again! (Dead limb already has a kerf in it.)
I have to say that getting to this spot using a traditional Clove hitch /pulley-less Blake's hitch and the green foot prusik you see at the lower right of the frame was slow and TOUGH. I was gassed, and I hadn't even started working yet!
In fact, the only thing slower than the climbing was the sawing...
And the sawing...
And, um, more sawing...
I pretty much thought my arm would fall off before the limb came down.
In the below picture, there may have been some prayer involved.
Finally, gravity prevailed!
And I could start my descent.
Why the hate face?
Could have been the saddle...
So my main technical safety/question--aside from the Reagan-era equipment (I kid)--is whether my descent was "by the book." All I had was my left hand above the Blake's and my right on the rope at my hip (see below). I came down slowly, stopping at points, but had no Figure 8 or other belay device. Was that dumbassery or not?
Here's the last pic, and the most whipped I've felt recently. Looks like I am mumbling incoherently. I may have been at this point. Mad props to the guys who do this all day!
Regardless of the agony, it was a LOT of fun and the sense of accomplishment was great. I plan to do more; the trees on my property need a lot of deadwooding.
Things I learned. Alas, most of these lessons cost money!
Yesterday, I got tired of waiting for my gear account to grow and decided to get in the tree with an "arborist" rig made mostly of what I had around, which included the following:
- Trophyline Tree Saddle: (link) A discontinued hunting saddle that relies on the hunter using tree steps to get into the tree. It is not a bad place to "hang out" for a few hours--once up the tree--but climbing in it is pretty much agonizing. Given the abuse I was suffering, I told my wife it's a good thing the children are already born. This unit is certainly NOT to be confused with the New Tribe Aero Hunter, which might be less of a torture device.
- 50m of Mammut climbing line: 15 years old but almost no hours on it and used only as a top roping line, never for lead climbing. It's absorbed exactly zero falls and been stored in the proverbial clean dry place.
- Petzl helmet & REI carabiners: same vintage
- Foot Prusik: it's made of two smaller pieces and therefore has twice as many knots as it should. dopey.
- Throwbag and line: from setting pull lines to control the felling of dead beech on my MIL's land in NC, purchased last year
My wife's visual documentation of this adventure started after I was in my work position, secured by the Tree Saddle's lanyard. As you can see, I had to clamber to a point almost even with my anchor, which I know is a major no-no and was a huge PITA. I just couldn't hit the higher crotch I wanted with the throwbag. (Actually, with the small water bottle I had to substitute when my only throwbag got hopelessly snagged in the dead bark of the limb I was trying to remove! I DID get it back but need to get a backup.)
Out comes the Samurai...again! (Dead limb already has a kerf in it.)
I have to say that getting to this spot using a traditional Clove hitch /pulley-less Blake's hitch and the green foot prusik you see at the lower right of the frame was slow and TOUGH. I was gassed, and I hadn't even started working yet!
In fact, the only thing slower than the climbing was the sawing...
And the sawing...
And, um, more sawing...
I pretty much thought my arm would fall off before the limb came down.
In the below picture, there may have been some prayer involved.
Finally, gravity prevailed!
And I could start my descent.
Why the hate face?
Could have been the saddle...
So my main technical safety/question--aside from the Reagan-era equipment (I kid)--is whether my descent was "by the book." All I had was my left hand above the Blake's and my right on the rope at my hip (see below). I came down slowly, stopping at points, but had no Figure 8 or other belay device. Was that dumbassery or not?
Here's the last pic, and the most whipped I've felt recently. Looks like I am mumbling incoherently. I may have been at this point. Mad props to the guys who do this all day!
Regardless of the agony, it was a LOT of fun and the sense of accomplishment was great. I plan to do more; the trees on my property need a lot of deadwooding.
Things I learned. Alas, most of these lessons cost money!
- Stay ahead of hydration and calorie intake.
- Get. a. PROPER. saddle!!
- Upgrade the old equipment for peace of mind
- Have a backup throwbag and keep trying to get the crotch you need, not the crotch you can get.
- A Micro pulley and a foot ascender would be pretty awesome.
- So would a top handle saw.
