Thanks for all the response to this. I always am open to new perspectives and this is the main reason for posting this thread. Before I even started this thread I knew there was the possibilty that this would get a bit nuts but so far its been objective and suprisingly reassuring at times.
Like they say, every tree and every location and every situation are never alike. I spent a lot of time thinking about this job today because it was so unique and different than the norm.
Thanks for the thumbs up on ladders I will use them more and be safe on them, they are a great tool. Someone coined the phrase" ladder high tree hack" and that left a picture in my mind. I guess I have taken that phrase much too seriously.
I checked my spikes this morning for sharpness. The profile is proper, the point is slightly dull but only to the point of not having the perfect crisp new tip that is perfect. Only at very close inspection do I find that the tip is not perfectly sharp. For lack of a better description , I`d say the points are a little sharper than the tip of a fine ball-point pen. I will start paying better attention to my gaffs and am considering doing a lght touch-up after every use.
Buckets and Cranes: Could have used these if two other healthy trees were removed and permission granted by neibor to drive across landscaping. A crane or a bucket would have been a cool tool if not for the accesabilty issues.
Now to talk about the very non-standard approach of climbing down after the face and back-cut. This was done with much thought and discussion between me and my groundie. We`ve worked together for over ten years and disscuss the details, dangers and expectations of every step of the job. He knows what I`m doing at all times and if we don`t agree on a certain step we find a better way.
This tree was lightning struck and very hard and brittle. While making face cuts and back cuts I would constantly watch the top and groundman for any signs that the tree was "settling" or "moving" Between all cuts I would ask the groundman what do you see? What do you feel through the Bull rope? The tree was hard and strong at this level , no cracks at this point and nothing making me fear that the tree was a "grenade" . After the cuts were made the top had not moved, not an inch...it hadn`t budged. This tree was clearly not going anywhere after I made the cuts. The tree was almost verticle with a very slight lean in the preferred direction of fall. But what I did question and my 2 areas of concern were widow makers from above and the hard dry brittle hinge wood and how it would perform its job of hinging rather than snapping durring tip-over. I did not want to be at hinge-level on this perticular tree. With my groundie on the rope and a wedge firmly knocked in the backcut, I was very comfortable climbing down that ladder in this particular situation. I would not attempted this in a green tree. I have never attempted this type of manauver before but in this situation it worked very well for us. In retrospect I should have had razor sharp spikes. That would have let me get up and drop a small top.
Maybe I`ll way overbid the next lightning struck, no bark , needle-free, rock hard, spruce stilagmite that comes my way. Or maybe not, It really wasn`t bad at all except for all the dull chains we made. This stuff was a chain killer.
Glenn
