*Why* are ladders contraindicated for pruning?

[imagineero]

I carry a 25' ladder on the roof of my truck and use it every now and then. I mostly break it out when I've got a lot of pruning to do. I only use it for accessing the canopy. If I've got a stack of trees that need pruning then that saves me a lot of rope ascension. 25' often gets you to the first branch too, which makes spikeless climbing a lot faster. I don't know if it saves a lot of time, but it sure does save a lot of energy. If I've got a dozen trees that need pruning, and I have a ladder, that's 300' of rope ascension I don't have to do that day. Once I'm in the canopy my groundie removes the ladder. I don't always rope in from the ground, but I often do.

I also use the ladder when pruning big palms. Like a lot of guys, I spike palms. Using the ladder for the first 25' keeps the lower visible part of the tree free of spike wounds. People don't notice the marks so much. It's slower than just spiking form the ground, but customers prefer it.

Shaun

 

[B Harrison]

OK,

Agreed not very safe, but can be safe if extra time is used to rig the ladder as well as yourself and the tree. I mainly use a ladder to set a rope.

 

[alonfn4]

We use ladders quite often mainly to save time on the initial climb but we take it away as soon as I start working.
They come in handy when Climbing onto the Roof tho, but your best bet is to just use a POLE SAW for those hard to reach branches.


We do use ladder for one trick its kind of a last resort on small trees where there isn't a great tie in point. You take your ladder put it Completely Vertical to the spar of the tree and you use tie down straps to secure it to the tree, putting one at the bottom and climbing up as if your on spurs using a flip-line around the back side of the tree. When u get 3/4 of the way up put in another strap and its now totally secured to the tree. I like to remain tied in with a Flip-line or another lanyard depending on the tree. This setup gives you quite a bit of access if you have a short pole saw 4' or 6' fiberglass...


We don't do it often but it has it uses...

good luck don't go falling off the ladder now:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[TreeGuyHR]

I only use a ladder to get in a tree to save time -- then have my groundman take it away, even after i am tied in to the tree.

Why?

Because aluminum ladders bend really easily. I lost a 24 ft. extension ladder THE DAY I BOUGHT IT because an employee (now ex, but not for that reason alone) dropped a 8 in. diameter limb on it from 40 ft. and bent it. Luckily, he had tied himself in first, but he didn't move the ladder.

That same ladder caused me more grief:

I sawed off a piece of the bent half and used it to access the trap door into my garage attic where I store stuff. Worked fine, until it slid out and I fell down through the trap door and I completely dislocated my thumb, after falling around 12 ft. from head height and catching my thumb under the ladder rail just as my ass hit it and the concrete slab.

Why didn't I bolt the ladder to the opening? :bang:

You really don't want the kind of injury where the doc calls in a bunch of other medical people to whistle at the x-ray. Didn't hurt until the doc pulled it back in...I made a noise kind of like Sasquatch in the beef jerky commercial that you could hear out in the waiting room. I just started climbing without a brace after around 6 weeks.

 

[Gologit]

You really don't want the kind of injury where the doc calls in a bunch of other medical people to whistle at the x-ray.

...or the kind where the Doc looks at it and goes "Oh wow...let me get some pictures of that"...and the nurse starts throwing up. :msp_smile:

 

[treemanbrisbane]

spikes are better

It's not that we don't use ladders, as you can see from all these posts. It's just that spikes are better if the tree allows it. I know there are purists who don't spike non-takedowns, but I'm not one of them. Spikes don't do the trees any harm (am I starting something here?)

 

[jefflovstrom]

Spikes don't do the trees any harm (am I starting something here?)

Sounds like you are trying to,, so either you are a hack or,,,,,,,,,,
Jeff