Any one ride the pick down?

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No crane or bucket. 3 groundies; only one of whom (my lad) could tie knots or run port-a-wrap. No Hobbs or GRCS on job. Son was 14 yrs old at the time - he ran the porty. Other guys were a logger who considers himself a tree guy, and his older buddy who was nice, but couldn't run ropes or a saw. It was the logger's job, and I was just contract climbing on this job.
Dismantled three white oaks in that backyard, and it took me the better part of 3 days to get them on the ground.

You did it 2/3 faster then MDS took him 3 days for one .
 
yeah, but he prolly didn't have a crack team of trained professionals like I had. :hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:
 
Have heard that a couple of trained ground buzzids can make a big difference in production.
 
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No crane or bucket. 3 groundies; only one of whom (my lad) could tie knots or run port-a-wrap. No Hobbs or GRCS on job. Son was 14 yrs old at the time - he ran the porty. Other guys were a logger who considers himself a tree guy, and his older buddy who was nice, but couldn't run ropes or a saw. It was the logger's job, and I was just contract climbing on this job.
Dismantled three white oaks in that backyard, and it took me the better part of 3 days to get them on the ground.

Never seen anyone choose a giant knot like that as a good spot to make a notch. Learn something everyday I guess. Nice job!
 
Coming down another 3 feet (to miss the knot's buddy on the other side) might have been a little sporty. Was no problem for the Stihl. No Hushy saws for me.
 
No, I'm sure you're quite fearsome with the trees... when yer not hitting yourself in the head and stumbling around, that is. LOL!! :msp_smile:
Ill give ya that , I am a clumsy mother ####er LOL that's one draw back of weighing above 270lbs we bump into things and things bump into us LOL
 
....so Justin wasted no time making an ass of himself. It's too bad because he does have a ton of real world experience and could add to the conversation. Unfortunately he can't or won't do it with out adding all the "F-yous" in every post...
I haven't read all of this thread but what I have, I am really surprised that there is so much debate over "riding the load".
I assumed every climber who worked off a crane "had this in their tool box".
It might not be for every pick but there are many situations where it is the safest option.
What's the big deal? This is a practice that crane removal companies have been using for years (when its the safest method) we all took a sigh of relief when the ANSI regs caught up with common sense by recognizing the safety advantages to this method.
I want to know, for all the people who chimed in and say in one way or the other "I would never ride a pick "
What do you think could happen?
What is your concern for injury?
 
....so Justin wasted no time making an ass of himself. It's too bad because he does have a ton of real world experience and could add to the conversation. Unfortunately he can't or won't do it with out adding all the "F-yous" in every post...
I haven't read all of this thread but what I have, I am really surprised that there is so much debate over "riding the load".
I assumed every climber who worked off a crane "had this in their tool box".
It might not be for every pick but there are many situations where it is the safest option.
What's the big deal? This is a practice that crane removal companies have been using for years (when its the safest method) we all took a sigh of relief when the ANSI regs caught up with common sense by recognizing the safety advantages to this method.
I want to know, for all the people who chimed in and say in one way or the other "I would never ride a pick "
What do you think could happen?
What is your concern for injury?

He maybe a good employee for you, but he should stay away from real tree guy's.
Tell him to join a crane forum,,,
Jeff
 
I don't know Jack about crane work, very little exp with it, but I am going to get some real quick. Taking out 9 decent sized Canary Island Pines over a house in a couple weeks. Should be cool and a learning experience for me. My GF has quite a bit of time on this and the crane operator has alot of exp, so it will be or should be, a quick one. I agree with MDS, there is no doubt that cranes make money, I still think advanced rigging is cooler. Guess that is why I don't have much exp, when other guys would say they need a crane, I wouldn't, I never ran into a tree that couldn't be rigged out (that was safe to climb)

Yeah, Justin just cant help himself can he! Too bad, lots of knowledge, way more ego.
 
I find myself placing more value on my life, and less value on clients property as the years go by. I'm always amazed at how far some guys will go in terms of risking their own life and their health to avoid damaging something that is worth so little. I've seen guys do things I wouldn't dream of doing, to avoid damage to something as exciting as a garden shed, in pursuit of $600. It seems its not until after someone is killed or injured that reality kicks in and we ask 'why the hell did he do that?'

The weirdest thing is that HO's don't seem to take it too bad at all when you lay it right out. I went and quoted a big nasty euc last year, was well rotted out and full of bees. It was only about 100' tall, but it was spready, and it was an edge tree suppressed by others so it was a heavy leaner. No crane access, and no drop zone. The rotted out hollow section was right at the fulcrum, about half way up. Way too risky to rig off. There was a tennis court right under it.

Few years ago I probably would have climbed it, and rigged off it. Not now. I laid it out for the HO, told him the risks involved, and how it might go fine, or might kill whoever climbed it. Told him I wasn't the cheapest, and the only way I would do it is to climb it and just hammer the (major!) limbs straight into the tennis court, which would do a whole lot of damage. Told him he could probably find someone who would climb it and rig off it, which would save him a lot of money on tennis court repairs.

Few weeks later the guy calls me and tells me to smash it down and he'll rebuild his court. It's surprising how many people do have a conscience when you give them the facts.

My job is already dangerous as hell, I'm not riding the pick down. Get a helicopter in if the target is worth enough, or a second crane, or just smash it or whatever. Or just move on to the next job, and keep living a little longer. I've got enough dead or permanently inured buddies.

Shaun
 
options

theres been a lot of discussion regarding the original topic, from a wide range of experience levels. it is a recognized and accepted procedure when the situation warrants it-offical tcia and ansi (not my decision). we have to do it frequently. as i said before only the crane and the climbers gear is rated, not the tree. you are only limited by experience and technology. this industry is totally driven by technology, and the use of same along with experience can make this work challenging but also safe. we need to use ALL the tools and tech at our disposal. as the old saying goes-"there's old tree guys and bold tree guys, but there's no old bold tree guys". one last point, it interesting we haven't heard from mike poor or mattfr because they have all the options-run the crane,pretension, make the cut, ride the load or not, climber and crane op all in one. tom.
 
The weakest link in the system is always gong to be the climber. Even my saw strop is rated for more load than I'd ever care to take. I don't want to ever put myself in the path of any load greater than I might pick up with one arm. Once you get into the load bearing ability of bull ropes, let alone cranes, you don't ever want to have yourself anywhere near the load.

It's all too easy in an industry like ours, where you are constantly exposed to high risk, to get a little casual about it and forget the dangers involved in simply carrying out basic every day stuff. We are exposed to that sort of risk every single day, and the truth is you aren't always going to be on the ball. You can't bring your 'A' game to work every moment of every day. You're going to make mistakes, that's for sure. So don't go loading the dice against yourself. Always minimise the risk, assess the situation, and choose the safest option.

It's easy to get excited by the challenge of technically difficult work, and we are all excited by pushing that envelope. Be conservative. I've yet to find the piece of property that is worth increasing the risk of losing my life over.
 
He maybe a good employee for you, but he should stay away from real tree guy's.
Tell him to join a crane forum,,,
Jeff

Real tree men?
Justin's tree skills or work ethic have never been his problem.
Justin absolutely a real tree man. Unfortunately he is also a complete buzzard online. He is much easier to get along with in real life, most guys actually enjoy working with him
 
The weakest link in the system is always gong to be the climber. Even my saw strop is rated for more load than I'd ever care to take. I don't want to ever put myself in the path of any load greater than I might pick up with one arm. Once you get into the load bearing ability of bull ropes, let alone cranes, you don't ever want to have yourself anywhere near the load.

It's all too easy in an industry like ours, where you are constantly exposed to high risk, to get a little casual about it and forget the dangers involved in simply carrying out basic every day stuff. We are exposed to that sort of risk every single day, and the truth is you aren't always going to be on the ball. You can't bring your 'A' game to work every moment of every day. You're going to make mistakes, that's for sure. So don't go loading the dice against yourself. Always minimise the risk, assess the situation, and choose the safest option.

It's easy to get excited by the challenge of technically difficult work, and we are all excited by pushing that envelope. Be conservative. I've yet to find the piece of property that is worth increasing the risk of losing my life over.


What specific risks do you feel your exposed to by remaining attached to the ball that your not already exposed to durring normal crane removals?
 

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