A Crane?

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I'll explain the situation with this tree, their was a clump of ash trees that broke apart last winter and it seems to keep creeping towards his house. I told him (my client) about it when I did some pruning at his place earlier in the year; but he kind of poo pooed me, now, however it's pretty obvious that there is movement. The problem is that I don't trust the roots on one whole side of the tree. There is also some large long branches that would tag the roof if they where cut/lowered. I don' t know if I trust the tree's stability to lower the limbs of it's self because of what going on with the roots.

John
 
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It sounds like it could fail at any time. A cheaper alternative to a crane would be to set two guy lines to hold the tree from falling any further while you're in it. Set them as far back as practical, one on each side of about 45 degrees off direct opposite of the lean, attatched mid-canopy with a reasonable amount of tension on them and you'll be good to go.
 
Originally posted by Nickrosis
Butch would say yes to the crane at all times, I always think there are other ways.

it all comes down to the estimater,if youve got a great take down guy, and a crane at 4hrs minimum theres a fine line$$$ in a general take down.IMO,take the labour away i say.
 
Originally posted by Nickrosis
Butch would say yes to the crane at all times, I always think there are other ways.

I have little imput on those decisions. I'm just a hired gun. And Aussie has a point. The crane isn't merely for the TD, it's used to load/remove the big wood.

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thats a sweet shot butch,gotta love tele towers(buckets)i dont get many crane takedowns but i do have 2 pines 90'poles over a house thats not that great, but the land is worth 5 million,and they say there goin to save the money,like right how do they pay there rates:rolleyes: guy will be happy i have to dead wood a cypress that will take day and half, rich neighbour behind tree wants water veiw but he aint getting it:angel: :angel: id buy a crane before a tower and work the dogbox:p
 
John, you've probably already thought about this but, in the "painted limb" pic it looks like there's a sound tree directly behind the leaner. I'd consider tying into the sound one behind, work my way into the leaner and rig the brush out using the sound tree as both my TIP and Rigging point. You've just got the one limb that's of any weight and the rest looks like light brush. Rig the weight back to the sound tree with a Fig 8 and another lowering line from the leaner. You could even drop the limbs in between the trees and into the yard with this method (read Meunter hitch to Fig 8 w/cow hitch termination).

I wouldn't worry too much about the stability if you're not rigging big wood off of it. Of course, you've got a better look at the root structure than we do, but usually I find leaners like that to be pretty sound.

One drawback is you've really got to mind your lanyard cause you'll take a big swing into the sounder behind. The other drawback is painfully obvious but if you think the leaner is stable enough with just a climber, then I don't think a crane is necessary.

Just my opinion,
BAB
 
You have to make the call on that tree... You are the only one that is there to cheack out the details... Looks like a locust to me (from the first pic, my cable is down). Looks like there are plenty of adjacent trees... any to climb or rig off?

Setting up guy lines will definitely keep the tree from failing and thus save you the risk, if done properly.

Big Jon rigged out a similar locust with me last year... !00+' tree... the roots were lifting on the uphill side... Used a combination of speed line and natural crotch with all the rigging lines set in adjacent trees... On that last cut, the locust we lowered out of was bending like a fishing pole.

Pat came in and cabled some big tulips after work yesterday... Said Big Jon did the same thing yesterday on a pair of locust removals... took a 30' top out of the bad tree, rigged off the good tree..
 
Thanks for the imput everyone. There is actually not a good tree to tie into close by. I think I'll take a few more pics for grins and giggles though. One of my problems is that I would like to tie off the tip of a branch that I' m not sure how to get out to. If you look close you may be able to see that this limb is nearly as big as the primary.
 
Is the roof sturdy enough to stand on? Sometimes we'll tie a line to another tree and make a top cut to let the limb peel down (should work well with Ash) onto the horizontal tied line. Then let the limb down to the roof for cutting.

TT
 
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I was driving in from the job today and saw this. I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to ride the ball on this 'lil puppy...
 
tie in to the adjacent tree and get a crane. cranes are so much faster than anything else and so easy on the crew.
 
if the tree is still standing it should be safe enough to climb, as you take weight off, it will only become safer. just don't do it after alot of rain.

i removed a tree from a house yesterday, after alot of rain it layed over on the house. as took weight off it it started to come back up so i didn't even have to do any rigging to get the wood off the house.

as far as the long lead .............pick the highest lowering point you can get , set your line as far out as possible and set up a butt tie at the cut and let it fold over. you'll have more control that way. this way there won't be any wild swings to knock that chimmeny off. take the limb in as piece's as nessesary.
 
But I would caution that you put addition weight (best said force) on the tree when you're in it as you rig out of it. If at all possible, guy it and use other trees for rigging points. Or drop pieces when you can.

Never forget the dampening power of branches, too. Even though they add weight, they absorb movement from you and rigging. Kinda like how a stub flails around once the top is out.
 
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