How much is too much lean?

[TackleTree]

What is the best way to determine if a leaning tree is safe to climb? Does anyone attempt to climb minor to moderately storm damaged trees?

 

[treeseer]

Pull on it.

No, not that. Pull on the tree.

 

[TackleTree]

I just did a large oak. It was leaning say...at a 70-65 degree angle. I put my bull rope around it, and put it on the truck. Pulled it tight then climbed. I weigh 270lbs so that makes me more concerned. It had some ground breakage around the base. Climbed slow and checked for any movement. Probably looked like a gorilla up there. It had 3 large leaders. Got it down but was crappin my pants

 

[Jlarnard]

I was taught that a storm damage tree is no to be climbed. And usually there is an option to at least tie into a different tree. I have used bull rope to make a sling but I still won't climb it. There are tree services that are equiped for these types of jobs, and I let them bring in their $500k of trucks and get them down safely. Sometimes it takes more bravery not to climb a tree, than to climb it. I worked for a company when I started out, and we were the only ones in the county that did tough storm damage work. I have seen some pretty bad injuries. And we were super safe. I can only imagine what could have happened if we did carless things, like climb a damaged tree. I don't gamble my money, and I sure wont gamble my life or livelyhood. Live to climb another day.

 

[TackleTree]

I am not going to make a habit out of that. Didn't care for it much. I stayed low on the tree to minimize my weight. But still I tried it once, not sure about again?

 

[rbtree]

I just did a large oak. It was leaning say...at a 70-65 degree angle. I put my bull rope around it, and put it on the truck. Pulled it tight then climbed. I weigh 270lbs so that makes me more concerned. It had some ground breakage around the base. Climbed slow and checked for any movement. Probably looked like a gorilla up there. It had 3 large leaders. Got it down but was crappin my pants

Your weight is minimal compared to the tree weight, and besides, you had the tree guyed back.
Storm work takes lot of common sense and understanding all the physics involved.
Each tree and situation is different and requires intelligent engineering and evaluation of the risks and hazards.

 

[elmtree]

caution

What is the best way to determine if a leaning tree is safe to climb? Does anyone attempt to climb minor to moderately storm damaged trees?

a tree that has a natural lean is TROPISM and this tree will have reaction wood that helps stabilize the tree. But storm damaged tree that have anchorage problem takes training in load dynamics and physics. with this knowledge you can lower a 600 lb log on a branch that will only hold 100 lbs. Look into these techniques.