Thread: Droppin Tops!

Ekka: tree ident is a weak subject for me. they spiked up and roped down. a bucket truck could not have accessed most of the trees. would have been a REAL tough job to shoot a line up into most of them too, at least in my opinion. i do not know any of the regulations about cutting with powerlines near by, but i do highly doubt they have any certs on it.

if it was me i would have taken small bits down, probly 4-10ft chunks.. but i do not have the gear for it

ha ha nwcs! thought you'd post some cool vids and get some interest... instead you get everybody ridin your ass about topping, spiking trees, and hack work! welcome to arboristsite dude!

it was bound to happen sooner or later! its all good though, things like this help me learn new tricks. next week i will be doing some climbing to take 3 branches down.. now i just need to rent some gear from a logger i know to do it

Originally Posted by 1I'dJak

ha ha nwcs! thought you'd post some cool vids and get some interest... instead you get everybody ridin your ass about topping, spiking trees, and hack work! welcome to arboristsite dude!

I thought a steelcore flipline was a no no around power? The scariest thing that you said was the carelessness around the chippers. I have heard too many sad stories to ever want to be careless around one of them, should I get the chance to work with one.

Ben just took a video, crikey, he didn't do the job so we aint caning him.

But this does bring about a very interesting point as to Ben's and other peoples observations. In all due respect people see this and think that it is good and wow ... really professional.

I have seen a dual set of tracks, up and down, on a beautiful smooth white gum, the customer proudly explained how professional the last crew was with all their fancy gear and things on their feet to get a broken branch out.

hey Ekka, you hit it right on the head. i personally dont know a darn thing about being an arborist. i flat out would not make it as one no matter how much i studied it. my back and legs are too bad off to do much more than the occasional tinkering at climbing. back around 2000 i had a motorcycle racing accident and had a 1/2" bolt pierce my right knee. i started my shop because it was a job i love and i can do it without destroying my body any more.

Have you seen your boys working your hood lately NWCS. I was thinking their days might be numbered if they keep trying to pitch tops over power lines...

Originally Posted by TackleTree

one thing i noticed is that the whip action when the top was being dropped seemed to be less than say in a removal when all the limbs are taken off on the way up. I remember reading in a thread that during a removal, if the limbs remain while topping it will do just as it seemed to do. Maybe there is something to it. The limbs may absorb some of the whipping action. Any thoughts?

The limbs left on act like those little spider bowstring silencers. It deadens the whip action sooner or frequency in the case of the bowstring. We always top with the limbs left on it we have the room to drop the tree afterwards and don't have to rope limbs down. It's a smooth ride.