Greenhorn Climber Wanna-be

[TimberJack_7]

opcorn:

 

[troythetreeman]

4 or 5 times in 15 years, its called repeat business
and i can see with my own eyes the trees health
ive never killed a tree, 95% of the local trimmers spike, if it was an issue, at some point in the last 30 years it would have come up
and when i said, its not because i work cheap, it was meant for you to infer, i dont
to be perfectly honest, i wish the state would require people to trim spikeless, or more cities anyhow
but until they do, i wouldnt have a job if thats the only way i did it, id be too slow
but i have been talking to my boss about being spikeless, he shows some interest, not a lot tho
hes trying to get line clearance contracts... i dont want anything to do with that

 

[troythetreeman]

and guns do not kill people, guns are inanimate objects

 

[chad556]

So you spike trim a tree to deadwood it, then come back in three years to find more dead wood. So you spike trim it again and sure enough you come back and there is even more dead wood. The solution: spike it again and deadwood it... Ever ask yourself why all that deadwood is dying? If the tree was healthy 5 prunings in 15 years seems like a little overkill. Maybe that is the business plan, get the tree to go into a slow state of decline so you can squeeze the HOs for deadwooding work every 3 years until you really get your big payday for the inevitable removal. Just don't let your Angies list customers figure that one out.:msp_rolleyes:

Sorry to pick on you man, but as a CA hearing someone defend spike trimming as an acceptable practice even for economical reasons kind of gets me going. I do applaud your effort to try to get your company to go spikeless. Its all about educating your customers. Maybe tell them yes, it is more expensive and time consuming but at least in the long run you wont have to pay for a crown cleaning every 3 years, and your tree will live longer be healthier and more valuable to your property etc...

 

[VA-Sawyer]

I just love the way that 'spiking pruners' try to justify their actions. Never mind the scientific evidence, just keep doing it the old dumb way.
Sounds like a few others I hear from time to time.....,

" I don't need a helmet for climbing."

" I often rig with my climbing line".

"Topping trees doesn't hurt them, they grow right back".

Some folks are just too lazy to be real pro's

Rick

 

[kdslocum]

I just love the way that 'spiking pruners' try to justify their actions. Never mind the scientific evidence, just keep doing it the old dumb way.
Sounds like a few others I hear from time to time.....,

" I don't need a helmet for climbing."

" I often rig with my climbing line".

"Topping trees doesn't hurt them, they grow right back".

Some folks are just too lazy to be real pro's

Rick

opcorn:

 

[g19fanatic]

Climbing on a friction hitch (climbing knot?) is the norm as long as they are tying a proper hitch. I as many here will, suggest you learn as much as you can from them ( as long as they know what they are doing). Live experience from someone who can tell you when your about to screw up beats learning the hard way... Plus its much safer. Here is a link to something that could help expand your knowledge a little but it is no substitute for real instruction.

climbing guide

please be careful with this tree climbing guide. On page 21, Figure 3f, they show an incorrect way to tie the blakes hitch (also with a cowboy'd bowline, but thats a different story...). The way it is shown in 3f, it is actually what is called the 'suicslide knot' and is NOT how you tie a Blakes.

be sure to tuck the tail back underneath the climbing rope and not ontop of if when putting it through the two rounds...

Check out Blake's Hitch | How to tie a Blake's Hitch | Climbing Knots for a proper tying example.

It is difficult to see if figure 3g is actually done correctly or not, but following 3f will get you into situations where it won't grab properly.