My 1st Spikeless Climb!

[Nailsbeats]

I got the new gear out today to give er a go. I targeted two hardmaple trees in my front yard that had a little deadwood to come down. I never wanted to do it before with spikes because they can be finicky trees. Well, this was my chance.

I shot a bag (a whole 15-20 feet) to the first limb with the Bigshot. Then I set the friction saver and pulled my climbing line through. Hooked up, tied the blakes and up I went footlocking.

Once I got to my friction saver I climbed up to a nice TIP with my lanyard and limbs. I made a few handsaw cuts then rappelled down and made the bigger cuts with the 200t. I had to go back up to get around a crotch so I got a clean line and footlocked up and over. Sweet. Then I jumped over into the next tree for one cut, down, and done.

I absolutely loved it. Not having to watch below you trying not to spike lines. Letting your feet grip the tree with no discomfort from the hooks. No weight from the hooks. It was more like mountain climbing with the body bending and twisting, handholds, footgrabs, throwing lines and whatnot. It was actually a lot easier than I thought and felt very natural, like climbing when I was a kid. It seemed limbwalking was easier too.

You will never see me spike another prune job, and if I do I won't post it on here, lol. Here are some pics my wife got.

Handsaw cut.

200t cut.

Jumping over to other tree.

 

[oldirty]

I absolutely loved it. Not having to watch below you trying not to spike lines. Letting your feet grip the tree with no discomfort from the hooks. No weight from the hooks. It was more like mountain climbing with the body bending and twisting, handholds, footgrabs, throwing lines and whatnot. It was actually a lot easier than I thought and felt very natural, like climbing when I was a kid. It seemed limbwalking was easier too.

You will never see me spike another prune job,

tree forced yoga poses man!

i'm telling you that you need to be an athlete to prune trees. totally different animal than spiking it. your wife is going to love the extra rip you are going to get from spikeless climbing too. you'll see. not only are you not "hurting" trees but you getting a good workout that in turn will get you an even better work out when you get home. lol

i came from takedown mentality and tried to force it on the prunes. the ideas didnt mesh. now that i have some time under my belt with a pruning mentality though i really have a different view towards tree work.

sometimes it feels better to have worked your balls off in a tree and still see it standing than just looking at a pile of stump grindings.



congrats on the climbing effort man, its awesome to see. stay safe.

 

[reachtreeservi]

As usual, Great pics nails !

Thanks for taking the time to post.

 

[tree MDS]

Hey Nails, what are you waitin fer a flood? :monkey:

 

[Job Corps Tree]

my 1st spikeless climb

Way to GO. I had it the other way ,climbed for 2 years and than had to go up on spikes. I stuck myself far to often tell I got it right

 

[oldirty]

Hey Nails, what are you waitin fer a flood? :monkey:

lol, i saw that too.

 

[kennertree]

Hey Nails, what are you waitin fer a flood? :monkey:

You better take your boots off before going inside, they are gonna be full of sawdust.

 

[newb]

Nails, Welcome to our world. The guy who taught me to climb felt if you could't climb a rope you didn't belong in a tree. He was a great mentor. Pete

 

[Mikecutstrees]

nice job nails, Also learnig to prune on a rope will make you much better and more cabable when it comes to takedowns. Have fun and be safe.... Mike

 

[Nailsbeats]

It's spring, (aka flood season) gottsta have the highwaters on. It's all part of the rotation, longjohns, highwaters, speedos. Stay tuned for the mid summer pics they will be simply stunning to say the least.

Here is some pictures I just took of the creek running through my back yard. She just came out of the banks today and up onto the lawn. Thus the highwaters. lol

 

[Bermie]

Check you 'bye!!!! (that's a bit of Bermy language)

There will be no stopping you now boyo!

 

[capetrees]

I remember my first spikeless climb. Seems like only a couple years ago .... Oh no, wait a minute, that was my last!! :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[tree MDS]

It's spring, (aka flood season) gottsta have the highwaters on. It's all part of the rotation, longjohns, highwaters, speedos. Stay tuned for the mid summer pics they will be simply stunning to say the least.

Here is some pictures I just took of the creek running through my back yard. She just came out of the banks today and up onto the lawn. Thus the highwaters. lol

Nice comeback bud, you sure you aint got too much time on your hands though? Aint no saws need sharper'in er nut'n?? hehehhehe

 

[oldirty]

I remember my first spikeless climb. Seems like only a couple years ago .... Oh no, wait a minute, that was my last!! :hmm3grin2orange:

i thought you bear hug trees while making topping cuts?

 

[Nailsbeats]

Here's what I do with my extra time and wood from jobs. That's some sweet splittin action with the genuine Stihl maul. I split 50 blocks a day, when thats done I will cut some more. You can see part of the 2 woodsheds I just build, they will hold 140 facecord together, so I got some work to do and two saws to touch up in the shed just for you Tree MDS.

Here's the stacked split.

 

[arbormonkey]

Congrats on the rope climb!
Are those pictures of your property? Nice!
Enjoy the spikeless style, it only gets better.
AM

 

[Nailsbeats]

Thanks Arbormonkey, yeah that's my place. Woods, river, house, yard, garden, fields, couldn't ask for anything more. The country is in my blood.

 

[tree MDS]

Nice to hear on the saw touchin up Nails, also I like the action shot. As for splittin wood I like my set up: crackhead @ 10 bucks an hour and husky 35 ton splitter=7 hours 2 cord =maybe 85$ with gas. Works sweet and he loves it + is good at it. I dont care what he does with the money once I give it to him.

 

[beowulf343]

Hey, nice job! But it's easy to see you're a spiker from the third photo. Feet on the sides of the tree as if you had spikes on. Hardest thing for me to remember if i'm not doing a takedown-feet go flat on the trunk instead of on the sides. Too many years on spikes, i forget, my feet slide off the side of the trunk and i crash.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

As for splittin wood I like my set up: crackhead @ 10 bucks an hour and husky 35 ton splitter=7 hours 2 cord =maybe 85$ with gas.

Around here many companies are letting the logs pile up and having Farmer Fred come out with his Cord King to process at 50 cord and hour if the prep the big logs with the whole tree splitter first.