How long should I drag brush?

[ropensaddle]

Lol was that toward me?

Sure mate any pointers?I mean I know I need eyes in the top of my head and stuff but like half wrap or full, when to get two? Do I constantly ask the climber which rope to send stuff up? Am I in control of the homeowner and general public getting near the lz? Do I pull too much slack out of the lowering rope so that it falls out on its own? Do I rig a 5 to 1 when the climber needs a top pulled over? Do I just snug a speedline or get it tight as a banjo string? Do I move the climbers rope when he is going to bomb brush and logs or is it bad mojo to touch his rope and should I yank it first? I'm a newbie so any help would be enlightening

 

[Zale]

View attachment 437964 View attachment 437962 This is the view from about 105" up in a 115" White Pine. I was installing a line so my groundmen could pull the top over as I cut. As any climber can tell you, there's nothing like the feeling of dropping 30" of top out of a tree like that.

Do you really need a rope to pull a 30" top? Seems you could just push it over.

 

[ScottinAK]

Spurred my first tree today, it was only to get a dead hung up branch, but still.

 

[Warren89]

I'd rather have a rope in a top and not need it then not have it and need it. Besides it did lean back and behind me was distribution line.

 

[Zale]

Still, a 30" top isn't that hard to handle.

 

[Warren89]

Spurred my first tree today, it was only to get a dead hung up branch, but still.

Nice. You've got to start somewhere.

 

[Warren89]

Have you dealt with white pine much? Did you look at the picture? The tree, mostly because of its position on a hill, was 10-20 feet taller then all others near it. White pine breaks hinge easy and with "just" 30ft of top, a breeze could easily push it completely over backwards.

 

[Warren89]

And your right. It was incredibly easy to put the top exactly where I wanted it..... with the rope.

 

[ropensaddle]

Have you dealt with white pine much? Did you look at the picture? The tree, mostly because of its position on a hill, was 10-20 feet taller then all others near it. White pine breaks hinge easy and with "just" 30ft of top, a breeze could easily push it completely over backwards.

I have done many whites in Michigan regardless of species though I want a rope. I'm just not in the business to take un-necessary chances. I'll do my gamblin at the horse track !! I was thinking in your picture looked more like 65 feet tall to me but good on you for the rope

 

[ropensaddle]

Still, a 30" top isn't that hard to handle.

It is if its on you

 

[treebilly]

I think Zale was picking at the mismarked 30' top. " denotes inches.
I'll use a rope to pull when it's necessary.

 

[Warren89]

He might have been. I thought it odd that he'd argue the point of a rope in that much top. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[ropensaddle]

I think Zale was picking at the mismarked 30' top. " denotes inches.
I'll use a rope to pull when it's necessary.

Well see theres where we had different trains of thought lol I was thinking 30" diameter top

 

[Zale]

I think Zale was picking at the mismarked 30' top. " denotes inches.
I'll use a rope to pull when it's necessary.

Treebilly is the winner! I'm fairly certain there are no white pine 30" diameter at that height.

 

[Warren89]

For clarification, the top was 30 feet tall and 16-18 inches in diameter. It was nice and full top with lots of green. I have a video looking around from the top of the tree. I'll see if I can upload it on YouTube or something.

 

[Zale]

30 feet tall? Why didn't you say so? I definitely would put a rope in that.

 

[Warren89]

Lol I'll make it simple and avoid quotations of any kind as I am apparently unable to use them properly

 

[Zale]

Just takes practice.

 

[ropensaddle]

Be careful warren, those spelling and pronunciation police are brutal

 

[Warren89]

Well I think we've digressed enough lol. Congrats to you Scott on climbing your first tree. The most important thing in tree, at least in my opinion, is positioning. Always think about what's going to happen when you make your next cut and where you should be. Every time I started my saw, when I was new to climbing and after I graduated from a handsaw, my foreman would always ask, "Do you know what happens if you cut your rope. You die." It was a crass way of putting it, but it invoked a thought process that continues today.