How to handle?

[coolbrze]

3 dead fast growing trees, 40-45' tall, 8-10" DBH, not much weight up top, next to/over fence & 10' from house. Trees can't be climbed b/c they've been dead 4-5 years but aren't rotten either. In back yard so no bucket truck access. For removal, would you ladder to these trees at a slight angle or what?

 

[tree md]

Would have to see it to really advise you on it but if you have questions about climbing it I would definitely not put a ladder on it. Ladders are very dangerous to work off of. I will enter a tree with a ladder but will never cut off of one. Once I enter the tree the ladder is promptly removed. Some of the ways I have handled unstable, dead trees is to descend from a neighboring larger tree. If you have a larger tree that is over the dead tree you can drop down on it and piece it out without having to tie into the dead treee (don't cut your lifeline). I have also used a crane with a man basket on large, dead, unstable trees (don't think it would be very cost effective for the job you describe though). I have also set a line in the tree and dropped it after removing any obstacles in the way. I once took down a section of fence so I could drop an unstable tree without having to get in it.

 

[Tree Pig]

I once took down a section of fence so I could drop an unstable tree without having to get in it.

That sounds like good advise to me, if you can drop it without hitting the house. I once saw a guy put a ladder on a very large branch to cut it. once he cut the end off, the weight reduction caused the limb to spring up and out from under his ladder. He was left holding his hand saw and nothing but air under. He didn't get hurt too bad so it was kind of amusing after.

would have made another good advertising video for a tree service.

 

[pdqdl]

Nothing wrong with cutting from a ladder. Just use your lanyard like you normally would. I always tie the ladder to the tree.

Ladder on dead tree would be another story. Orchard ladder that didn't lean on the tree might be ok, but there would be significant risk of getting knocked over.

 

[Small Job Tim]

ladder work

i agree, ladder work is fine as long as you have the harness and lanyard on.....do it all the time, and it is some times safer then getting in a tree.
Don't entirely understand the scenario, but any chance you can use a come-a-long or a ground man pulling a line to guide the trees down?? Try eliminating some weight from the direction you do not want it to fall??? Just a thought...

 

[coolbrze]

We ended up using a ladder & tying to the trees. For safety reasons, we couldn't get that high up b/c the trees were dead, but were able to get high enough that w/ the pole pruner we could take all the upper branches off, then rope, top, and guide down. After that it was cake, just tying sections off & lowering them down.

 

[pdqdl]

Pole pruner on a ladder. That's always a lot of fun.

At least it beats falling out of a tree.

 

[tree md]

Glad it worked out for you.

My thoughts on ladders are that they have their place. I'm a little biased because I got hurt on one when I was younger. Where I learned to climb using ladders were just not in our culture. Where I live now the trees are a lot smaller and ladders make a lot of sense sometimes. I save a lot of time and energy using a ladder to enter the canopy now. I don't have a lanyard for my ladder so I don't cut off of it, plus I have seen and read enough stories of folks getting hurt cutting limbs off of ladders that I just wouldn't do it. However, a pole pruner and orchard ladder would dam near put a climber out of work with all the scrubby trees we have here. I am wanting to get an orchard ladder myself. They are pretty slick. When I read your original post it made me think of a tree that taught me a lesson when I was younger and about 40 pounds lighter. My boss sent me up a pecker pole pine that was dead and told me to be real easy climbing it. As I was going up he kept yelling at me to go easy and not shake the tree. The tree was about 8" at the base and I was just setting a line in it to pull it over then spiked down. When I went to get a pull on the tree to pull it over as my boss cut the tree uprooted before he ever stuck a saw into it. Made me do some serious thinking. I now set a rope with a throwline and give it a good pull before hand if I have to enter a questionable tree.