Plasmech
Addicted to ArboristSite
Well finally have some time to do a full report. Figured I'd start a new thread since all the people who replied to Dan's PlasPine thread probably think I bailed on the forum. By the way, thanks for all the constructive replies and words of support guys!
So my GPS took me about 1000 yards away from Dan's house and it was 21 degrees at 8:00 AM on a day when it was supposed to high at 50. I figured for sure the weather #####es screwed the pooch. Dan came out of his house and I took one look at him was like what the...no just kidding. Actually he probably thought I looked like a dork.
Brought all my gear with me including my sissy little 11mm rope, I think I should have gotten something a little more commercial, although I did buy it at an arborist shop.
We spent some time in the garage going over different cuts and different ways people got hurt and killed, actually that was the theme all day as it well should have been. This business is a business where a lot more bad happens than good on some days I guess.
Dan sling-shot a line over a good branch and pulled up my gay blue rope. I tied in to the biner on my rope bridge using an anchor hitch but it scared him to the point where he said there was no way I was using a chainsaw today. That knot scares me a bit, looks like there's not enough to ii. I did use it last week to rig a heavy piece of equipment though, guess it works. Anyway screw the anchor hitch, I put in a bulky 'ol figure 8. No worries at all with that knot (till you have to untie it).
I was using a little 14" premade blue Prusic line and put 6 loops in it like the book says. Turned out to be a little impractical with 6 and we later cut it down to 4, nobody died, book's wrong. Went up a bit on my climbers and rope. Man did I feel confident with that rope! I don't think I looked like a total retard. I do think Dan is gay because he kept trying to get me to shake my ass.
One of the MANY things I took away from this is to have that lanyard a little BELOW waist level and really stiff-leg that tree which not only burries those spikes but also made my body become a branch of the tree...felt really secure as opposed to when I had the lanyard well above waist level and felt like a bird feeder hanging from twine swaying in the wind.
Once Dan was confidend (enough) about my stance in the tree, I took off some branches using a simple cut...just a slice, not sure what's it's officially called. I trie under-cutting one but got the saw stuck. Up came my hand saw. Practically the second I touched that virgin hand saw to the top of that brach she snapped and I got my saw back.
Speaking of the saw, the 192 T did almost all the work in that tree. It's not a bad saw and it's like 1/2 the price of a 200. Although I did try Dan's 200 and yea it rips.
Up some more, more branches down. Dan was correting me the entire way. Came down a few times for a break, my muscles are NOT conditioned for this #### yet.
Dan showed me how to bomb a chunk out using a single shallow face cut and a deep back cut. I went up and did one next, worked pretty good. Did one with a face notch, it got effe'd up a bit but was able to fix it with. Oh yea, I must have tied a running bowline 300 times in practice but when I was up there I drew a blank, on such a stupid simple know too. Finally figured it out though.
By the time the last chunk was dropped, my legs and feet were BEAT. I decided to come down instead of risking a gaff-out due to lack of strength. Rally wanted to block down a chunk or two but I was dead. Put a face cut in the bottom of the spar, Dan showed me how I was holding the saw in a completely unsafe way, good info there. I got the honors of doing the back cut with a 044, biggest meanest saw I ever handled. That was it, the PlasPine was down and I was alive.
Dan never yelled once, he was a great teacher. I could probably use a few more sessions at LEAST but not for a while.
I probably forgot a few things in this post, if I did, sorry Dan.
Cheers dudes.
So my GPS took me about 1000 yards away from Dan's house and it was 21 degrees at 8:00 AM on a day when it was supposed to high at 50. I figured for sure the weather #####es screwed the pooch. Dan came out of his house and I took one look at him was like what the...no just kidding. Actually he probably thought I looked like a dork.
Brought all my gear with me including my sissy little 11mm rope, I think I should have gotten something a little more commercial, although I did buy it at an arborist shop.
We spent some time in the garage going over different cuts and different ways people got hurt and killed, actually that was the theme all day as it well should have been. This business is a business where a lot more bad happens than good on some days I guess.
Dan sling-shot a line over a good branch and pulled up my gay blue rope. I tied in to the biner on my rope bridge using an anchor hitch but it scared him to the point where he said there was no way I was using a chainsaw today. That knot scares me a bit, looks like there's not enough to ii. I did use it last week to rig a heavy piece of equipment though, guess it works. Anyway screw the anchor hitch, I put in a bulky 'ol figure 8. No worries at all with that knot (till you have to untie it).
I was using a little 14" premade blue Prusic line and put 6 loops in it like the book says. Turned out to be a little impractical with 6 and we later cut it down to 4, nobody died, book's wrong. Went up a bit on my climbers and rope. Man did I feel confident with that rope! I don't think I looked like a total retard. I do think Dan is gay because he kept trying to get me to shake my ass.
One of the MANY things I took away from this is to have that lanyard a little BELOW waist level and really stiff-leg that tree which not only burries those spikes but also made my body become a branch of the tree...felt really secure as opposed to when I had the lanyard well above waist level and felt like a bird feeder hanging from twine swaying in the wind.
Once Dan was confidend (enough) about my stance in the tree, I took off some branches using a simple cut...just a slice, not sure what's it's officially called. I trie under-cutting one but got the saw stuck. Up came my hand saw. Practically the second I touched that virgin hand saw to the top of that brach she snapped and I got my saw back.
Speaking of the saw, the 192 T did almost all the work in that tree. It's not a bad saw and it's like 1/2 the price of a 200. Although I did try Dan's 200 and yea it rips.
Up some more, more branches down. Dan was correting me the entire way. Came down a few times for a break, my muscles are NOT conditioned for this #### yet.
Dan showed me how to bomb a chunk out using a single shallow face cut and a deep back cut. I went up and did one next, worked pretty good. Did one with a face notch, it got effe'd up a bit but was able to fix it with. Oh yea, I must have tied a running bowline 300 times in practice but when I was up there I drew a blank, on such a stupid simple know too. Finally figured it out though.
By the time the last chunk was dropped, my legs and feet were BEAT. I decided to come down instead of risking a gaff-out due to lack of strength. Rally wanted to block down a chunk or two but I was dead. Put a face cut in the bottom of the spar, Dan showed me how I was holding the saw in a completely unsafe way, good info there. I got the honors of doing the back cut with a 044, biggest meanest saw I ever handled. That was it, the PlasPine was down and I was alive.
Dan never yelled once, he was a great teacher. I could probably use a few more sessions at LEAST but not for a while.
I probably forgot a few things in this post, if I did, sorry Dan.
Cheers dudes.
