Old veteran requests supervision

[kz1000]

Where are you guys? This is a vet in need, thanks Jomoco.

 

[jomoco]

YouTube video.

Philbert

If you insist Phil.



Jomoco

 

[Philbert]

If you insist Phil.

Nice.

I meant of the current project.

Philbert

 

[jomoco]

I'm fairly amazed by the progress EZ's made gettin it down!

But enough's enough!

Most horrendous vid I've watched was of an old gardener at a church. Startin his camera, sayin prayers, makin the trinity chest diagram, goin up a ladder into a tree crotch, cuttin a six inch lateral, straight down with an electric chainsaw, no undercut, lateral splits, brush end takes a step in, hits the ground first, stub end comes in and nails the old man into that crotch, shattering his leg and pinning him into the crotch, his leg dangling out the other side.

But this old man's made of stern stuff, no screaming, just a few groans as he muscled the limb off his leg n away, yanked his broken leg outta the crotch, tries to hop down the ladder on one leg, gets halfway down before falling off the ladder, groaning on the ground a bit, then crawling over and shutting off the camera.

His prayers worked!

Jomoco

 

[EZ1]

...You guys gonna let this fine brave vet kill hisself?...

Whoa! I'm going to try to avoid death as long as possible.

No, I don't do video. But I'll try to take photos whenever there's some kind of progress to show or if I need to checkout a setup I'm not certain of.

Have watched some of those speedlining videos. And in fact, trying to prepare myself for this project, have spent many hours watching Youtube videos of pro's working on trees and discussing gear, rigging, climbing, etc. Had thought seriously about getting spurs, but came to my senses and decided to use ladders and bosun's chair/climbing saddle instead. Will have to see how it goes and reassess later.

I have quite a bit of decades ago experience using chain saws from clearing a heavily wooded building site. And have climbed and worked on a few tall sailboat masts. I'm no hero--I get that gut-wrenching feeling when looking down from 40 or 50 feet up, making me want to cling hard to the mast, and I just have to bight down and do my work without thinking of the danger reflex. And I have to admire the courage of you guys that can do this work day in and day out, and I marvel at the physical conditioning you all have to have to do this kind of work.

 

[jomoco]

Didn't yu see enough blood in Nam EZ?

Those trees'll get yu.

I've hauled too many of em off to ER's, includin meself!

No fatalities yet.......knock on bark.....

Give it a day or two EZ, let's see what developes?

Jomoco

 

[Philbert]

In Northern Cal they are just using wildfires to remove trees . . .

Seriously, it looks like a complicated tree and I am glad that @jomoco has offered to help. I would be interested to see how he approaches it.

Philbert

 

[jomoco]

I'll bet I can piece it out with a handsaw and a good TIP, wood pieced out too with an 020, then 365 comes alive slicin n dicin.

I'd be shocked if it takes more than an hour or two.

Jomoco

 

[EZ1]

Yeah, I've seen enough and lost some friends.

And I've been taken, and taken myself, to the ER. It's part of a life of having to do for oneself and ignoring the occasional: "You'll put your eye out!" So I'm just chipping away at it, frequently standing back to envision how to approach the next step in the safest way, knowing that each branch that comes down takes some of the pressure off the shop and gets me another step closer to having the whole thing down. The trailer is my home and, though it's no cherry, I wish to preserve it and not damage it in the process of removing this tree, which has grown so close that I can only open the door enough to pass.

J said: "Those trees'll get you."

Part of my healthy respect for them comes from being badly injured by one, resulting in a fractured pelvis, a painful injury I can only describe as indescribable. While clearing that building site previously mentioned, I was running a backhoe, excavating the root balls of large trees, which I would then push over with the backhoe and cutup on the ground. While I was digging at one tree, a phone-pole sized tree close by, that had rotted through above the ground, snapped off due to the disturbance caused by digging. It fell so directly toward me that, by the time I could detect the motion, I did not have enough time to get entirely off the tractor seat. The blow was mostly taken up by my hardhat and shoulder as I twisted sideways while trying to swing my leg over the seat support tube. It knocked me out cold and threw me to the ground. I did not regain consciousness until sometime after the paramedics got me loaded up and en route to the ER.

One might conclude that I'm accident prone. It's really more that I've lived a very active life full of risks and some of them got me. As a boat builder I work around powerful cutting machines that can do a lot of damage to something as soft as flesh. But, instead of living in fear of these risks, I live with a heightened awareness of them, as most of you pro's certainly must.

 

[jomoco]

Thank god for modern medicine n gifted surgeons, eh EZ?

Have yu seen those new pooper scoopers paramedics just slide underneath n lock together?

Slicker than chit!



Jomoco

 

[EZ1]

I've also gone down at 55 mph riding a Harley. Nothing broken. Coulda used a few stitches but didn't get them. Healed just fine.

 

[jomoco]

How far are yu from the 405 n 10 EZ?

Are yu in the boat marina itself?

Jomoco

 

[EZ1]

I'm very close to the 405 and 10, about 2 miles north of the marina, near the Santa Monica airport.

 

[EZ1]

Before moving the big ladder I took a photo looking down on the platform I built (~ 9'-10' up). You can see the plywood I placed to protect the trailer.

And one photo with the ladders re-positioned for the next stage. I've fastened 2x material at the base of the upper ladder, trapping it so it can't move, and also attached a ratchet strap to hold the ladder down and a line at the top to keep it from shifting.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

Not exactly like I would do it, but the steps look just fine. I just happen to have a great deal of scaffolding so when nothing else is available set up scaffolding. Here you made some of your own. Looks pretty stable so get on with it thanks for the pictures. You have gone this far keep going. Thanks

 

[EZ1]

Of course a professional arborist wouldn't do it this way but, as a handicapped and overweight 74-year old, I must have work-arounds. And I have no scaffolding. The two 4 x 8's are supported at three points: the trailer roof, the shop roof, and where one crosses at the tree crotch. It's extremely stable and well supported, held together with 3" drywall screws, so I can easily disassemble when I get down to that point. I already had the plywood and 4 x 8's; just had to pickup some extra 2 x 4's and (1) 2 x 6. The platform could support many times the load I will be imposing on it, which should be limited to just me, a ladder and a few tools, possibly the momentary impact of a branch or chunk of wood.

 

[JeffGu]

You can almost stop now and just open a theme park.

 

[EZ1]

You can almost stop now and just open a theme park.

Or at least a local tourist attraction.

It's only 82 degrees in the shade but feels hotter working with the manual pole saw. After tipping 2 pretty good size branches I had to climb down, to take a sorta break, and cut them up on the ground. Drinking a bunch of water and resting before going back up.

 

[jomoco]

Gives me a sore neck just thinkin bout it!

Jomoco

 

[EZ1]

It's hard on my feet and legs working off a ladder. I can just imagine what it must be like hanging from spurs all day! And it doesn't take me long to break a sweat working with the manual pole saw. In fact I'm not so certain I have the right blade for this.