We have a job to top off over 700 pine trees at 30 ft topping height - we have done this before and averaged 100 trees a day with 1 climber working his a** off. This is in a forest and we are leaving the tops on the ground for wildlife habitat. Any ideas on how to be more efficient and save him from having to climb so much. Up & down all day is tiring, I'm sure. Most of the trees are close in proximity.
Topping 700 trees effeciently
- Thread starter Rosek
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
Grappling hook and swing over. I seen some crazy Canadian heli loggers do it on TV.
Or since you only have to go 30 foot get a 24 foot extension ladder and a guy to tote it around climb up ladder take a couple steps off ladder and dude takes ladder to next tree, climbing a ladder is easier then spikes.
Or set up a zip line past as many trees as possible hold the throttle wide open and go fer a ride??
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
Or since you only have to go 30 foot get a 24 foot extension ladder and a guy to tote it around climb up ladder take a couple steps off ladder and dude takes ladder to next tree, climbing a ladder is easier then spikes.
Or set up a zip line past as many trees as possible hold the throttle wide open and go fer a ride??
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
LOL!! We used a ladder last time but we only had to top at 20', now there are branches to deal with. Younger pines the branches start lower
I like the zipline idea. That would be awesome.
david1332
ArboristSite Operative
I agree with no tree too big. A 24 foot extension ladder would be ideal, he could climb up and set a climb line in one tree and swing over to as many as he can get. And then climb down and do the same. You should be able to get a few at a time.
Get another climber and don't kill the one you have.
If they are close enough, use a power pole saw from one tree to those around.
That might be worse then climbing all 700 haha. That thing will get u in the shoulders pretty quick. I power pole sawed for 3 months straight 2 winters ago oh my god did that suck!!!!
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
What is the diameter of the trees at point of cut? What is the spacing on the trees?
(and best yet...what is the point of this practice????)
(and best yet...what is the point of this practice????)
And now you have shoulders like a linebacker. Just think of the gym money you saved.
ChoppyChoppy
Tree Freak
I never did understand going in and wasting trees like that. The wildlife does just fine without man messing with the woods.
If I had to do that'd job, I'd use the feller buncher, but the trees wouldn't be 30ft tall.
If I had to do that'd job, I'd use the feller buncher, but the trees wouldn't be 30ft tall.
Why not fell whole trees leaving others in place? I know that is not what yiy are asking...but this sounds moronic. USFS or USFWS job? I'm guessing there is a shortsighted/stupid prohibition against felling trees so this is their way of working around that. You allowed to use a chainsaw?
Can you get a truck or minilift in there? Sounds like you need a Trer-Mek in there if there is room.
Can you get a truck or minilift in there? Sounds like you need a Trer-Mek in there if there is room.
Yes it is a US FS job and appearantly there are a certain species of woodpeckers that are on the extinct species list. Once these trees are topped and bugs get in them the woodpecker goes at it. Its nice to save the species, but on all reality its a waste of money, but someone has to do it. We can get atv's through there but the grounds are all uneven and hilly, and we're not on any trails so a truck won't work. We have to cut at a minimum of 30 feet and the tops have to land on the ground. And yes, we can use chainsaws, just need to meet the requirements with types of oil we use. I like that invention you shared.
What's the overall height of the trees, i.e. what size tops are you popping?
They range from probably 40 to 70 ft. So the tops are about 10 to 30 ft.
So are y'all roping the tops over or is your climber wedding them?
Wedging
Spiking up them is probably about the easiest way. It's just about as easy as climbing a ladder. Instead of having a man move a ladder around have two climbers instead, that way rescue is on site.
Roping
I don't have a 2nd climber and we need someone on the ground for the roping. The job is 7 hours away from where we are located and in the middle of nowhere...hard to find another climber. My guys stay near the site in a cabin - we take care of all the food and housing for 10 days to get this done. My husband is the climber. I was hoping to get this done faster, but we can't come up with a grand idea yet to be more efficient and safe. I guess 100 trees per day isn't so bad after all, but always trying to improve....that's my nature!
