Walnut Removal

[startopper]

I thought it would be cool to post an upcoming job that people could see from start to finish. I just looked at this tree today. It's a removal of an old walnut tree in Chico Ca. I posted a pic I took today, the job starts on Friday so It will be a couple of days. I'm setting up a new climbing system as well, transitioning from the blakes hitch to the VT micro pulley setup. I will post pictures of my progress. I just got 20' of beeline and a bigshot. I will post a picture of all the gear I'm using soon. I have been climbing for about 14 months, always used the blakes so i'm excited to try something different. I know there are a lot of climbers out there in the same transitioning phase like me where you go from newbie to dare I say experienced, I hope people can learn from the pics I post and get excited as I am about climbing.

 

[superjunior]

awesome man. take your time and be safe! good luck with the removal and post them pics up!!

 

[Zale]

Inspect the limbs covered in ivy very carefully before you start any rigging. Ivy hides defects in the limbs really well. Good luck and be safe.

 

[formationrx]

walnut

zale is right on.... be careful around that ivy... you never know what is under there.... "impalers" maybe hiding... be sure to "feel" your way up those bigger limbs..... make sure you are aware of how sturdy they are.... lots of times these trees can be hollow and rotten in the middle, so what you think is solid.... might just be an empty shell. if you have to lower anything out or make any big cuts.... watch out for any dead pieces that may fly your way.

 

[tree md]

Looks like a fun removal!

Looking forward to pics!

Be safe! :yoyo:

 

[startopper]

different walnut

well the first walnut may be postponed for a week but today I'm going after this little spar on a different walnut. I tried out my new beeline, tied the VT with a micro pulley like tree climbers companion shows in the book. I tied my eyes for the VT with double fishermans. The action was smooth on my pulley going up but that knot has a real tendancy to not grab when your weight is applied to it. I didn't try the distel or any other hitch but will keep experimenting. After looking at more threads on this site I realized that because the outer core of the beeline wont melt to the inner core it really needs to be tied at the ends with twine to prevent "milking, I didn't do this nor do I want to so I am just going to order the 28" grizzly spliced beeline to eliminate the need to sew and to keep the bulkiness down. So today I'm going to stick with the Blakes until I get the hang of the more advanced splittails.

 

[thepheniox]

I'm not a fan of the grizzly splice. I would just order a regular splice. If your used to using a Blake's hitch a distel might be better to try a vt requires more tending then most hitches.

 

[rbtree]

I hope you are able to salvage the wood. Craftsmen will love it.

Years ago, I heard of a behemoth with an alleged 8 foot butt that was sold for $20k..in Sacramento, stump included, which was slabbed into veneer.

I just cleaned up a large English walnut which uprooted during our ice storm. It is hard to access, but the craftsmen will find a way to slab it and get it out. No equipment access possible. It will be turned into tables and bowls.

Climb safe!

 

[Paul@Arborworks]

Looks like a fun job, wish we got nice walnuts up here. as for your knots i started on the blake and then moved to the swabbish(distel and Vt arent aloud here) but its a huge diffrence imo, I personally like swabbish but it tends to lock up after an hour or so of constantly working on it.

 

[tree md]

Looks like a fun job, wish we got nice walnuts up here. as for your knots i started on the blake and then moved to the swabbish(distel and Vt arent aloud here) but its a huge diffrence imo, I personally like swabbish but it tends to lock up after an hour or so of constantly working on it.

Hey Paul, Just curious, why aren't Distel and VT hitches allowed at your company? Safety considerations?

 

[thepheniox]

He works in Ontario and works under a rule book called Ontario safe work practices. Years ago they did some knot testing and they failed. His company must work from this rule book just like mine. Here's a photo right out of the book hope it works.

 

[tree md]

Thanks, Good info. Not sure why the distel failed but I bet the VT failed due to it's ability to invert and not bite. That has happened to me before while using it. Don't get me wrong, I love to climb on that hitch but you have to be uber careful when you use it.

The gripping hitch is a new one to me. Any idea how to tie it?

 

[mattfr12]

Thanks, Good info. Not sure why the distel failed but I bet the VT failed due to it's ability to invert and not bite. That has happened to me before while using it. Don't get me wrong, I love to climb on that hitch but you have to be uber careful when you use it.

The gripping hitch is a new one to me. Any idea how to tie it?

the VT just makes me feel un comfortable i put a distel on and i don't ever think twice i can tie it in my sleep. the first time i climbed on a VT i was taking over a removal for a guy and he had a VT on his line and i didn't feel to good about it i climbed out of a bucket at 60 foot and got right back in and tied a distel. to touchy for me. but then again I'm not use to it.

when i tie into the shackle above the crane ball i usually have to use like to more wraps on my distel. i don't know if its legal but I've converted into using an arbor block above my ball on the crane we welded up a platform that holds it perfectly straight off the side of the ball. and we welded the block closed. used a brand new one for sure but the rope runs silky smooth through it. its a super fail proof system ill take a picture when i remember it i welded anything that can come open closed and the block to a shackle then the shackle is welded. you would have to burn it off with a torch.

 

[tree md]

I love it for ease of movement in the canopy and it is great for limb walking. You just have to learn to keep a close eye on it when you are ascending to make sure that it doesn't invert on you and I am in a habit of checking it every time before I step off on it now.

 

[mattfr12]

I love it for ease of movement in the canopy and it is great for limb walking. You just have to learn to keep a close eye on it when you are ascending to make sure that it doesn't invert on you and I am in a habit of checking it every time before I step off on it now.

a mexican that came worked for bartlett on a green card was on my crew for 6 months and taught me how to tie it and he swore by it actually was a really good climber. was a welder in mexico i told him if he ever gets a citizenship to give me a call for work. guy was only like 4 foot tall could climb like a monkey.

theirs a gun club that we drove by all the time that shot clay pigeons and he had never seen them before. we had him convinced that those where a special prized mushroom that was really good eating because he could only see them from 300 yards away. he went down their on the weekend to pick some and man was he mad on monday.

 

[sgreanbeans]

We took out a black walnut last week, nice straight trunk, thought about getting the machine and the log truck for the mill..........nah, its fire wood now,lol! Buddy came over, seen the wood all cut up, thought he was going to cry, he is a wood worker and I think I may have tarnished our friendship! I promised "next time ill call u"

I climbed with the taut, blakes and now the swabbish. Tried VT, think that one works better for bigger guys. I don't care for the grizzly's either. Thought about trying one of those lock jacks, someone told me that the handle is real easy to bump, sending ya for a ride, guess I will leave that one with the rock climbers

 

[mikegar]

I've been climbing on the vt now for a few year and somethings I've come to learn are
1. Always check it before you sit into it.
2. If the legs coming out of the braids are uneven the knot won't set right
3. If you keep the legs coming out of the braids short you can greatly reduce inverting of the knot
4. Changing up wraps and braids will yield different characteristics of the knot

For me I prefer the grizzley splice because after the eyes there is no stiff portion of rope like the regular splice. As for economics I prefer the fishermans.