sprdave
ArboristSite Lurker
I just dismantled a white maple that was sick for years and was constantly dropping widowmakers. There were a few sticks that I thought might let go when I was up in it. I threw my slickline around them, one at a time, pulled my rigging line through, yanked on them with all I had and then pulled it a bit with my truck. I guessed what about 3 times my weight was. I was surprised which ones just came right out and I was surprised which ones turned out to be ones I could safely tie into. Well, not safely. Still scared the crap out of me. Some that came out and had some green on them still shattered when they hit the ground. I'd tie into a branch on one side, and I'd rig the other side with a butt hitch so that the limb getting the trauma from the fall of the top side of itself was not the limb I was counting on holding me. None of them snapped off when taking the load, but I was ready. I also tried not to rig as much as possible. I risked my outbuilding a bit, because I figured I'd rather cream it than die. I risked my fence a bit. I figured I could replace parts of it, no problem. One of the limbs that I was climbing on had a rattle when I shook it. I got off that thing, tied myself higher on a better stick, tied my block to it as light on my feet as I could, and rigged that thing down right then. With a butt hitch. I was ready for it to snap off and send some crazy projectile through my chest. I turned myself sideways after I saw it start to fall. I'm not saying this is what you should do. I'm telling you what I did. I heard recently about a climber at a competition having a pretty hard fall after tying up to a tested branch. I can't help but think that the test might be what weakened that branch. I was thinking about that when I was pulling on these branches. Still, I had to do it.
