Bryan Scoresby
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- May 1, 2023
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Good afternoon, fairly new here, I climbed cell phone towers for two years, moved, and when I heard how much people paid for tree removal I said what the heck and started a tree service. I did arbormasters climb school and it was good, but I would like to have a discussion of tie in points. How small is too small, what seems sketchy to you, that kind of thing. I feel like the only way to know for sure something is too small is to fall on it and have it break- but I kind of figure you only get to do that once- so I don’t climb unless I’m 110% sure my tie in can handle a fall. Obviously species matters- which brings me to cottonwood trees. 80% of what I climb here is cottonwood or Siberian elm. I am comfortable climbing cherry, oak, honey locust- these all have very strong wood, and I haven’t had to go out on a limb- figuratively. But cottonwood is so weak. Where I really get nervous is when I’m taking the top out of a cottonwood and have to rig to the same spot I’m tied into. I have attached a pic of a recent tie in- this is the smallest cottonwood tie in I have climbed on. The tree appears to be in decent shape, no dead branches bigger than my thumb on the climb up, it does lean a little, but hanging from here (50’ up or so) I’m only 2.5 feet out at the base. I included a carabiner for size reference. I can wrap one hand half way around the smaller branch in the fork, and under the fork is a bit larger than my thigh. Looking for thoughts from someone with more experience than me.