Female climbers

[tree md]

Oooookaaaaayyy....

I guess I have to chime in here!
I'm female, I climb, I use a chainsaw in trees, I fell trees, I do groundwork.
I'm small, it's just reality, I will never be able to hump around a big ass saw all day, luckily the work I get doesn't require that. My saws range from a silky to a 361 with a 20'... and yes I've used it up in a tree.
My 'strength' if you want to call it that is being able to tiptoe way out to the little tips, and maybe a tad more safety consious than most of the guys I know.
I have not had to use a saw for a week now, all the trees needed was the silky. Mahogany, avocado, poiciana, all of them are wobbly and the wood fibres are very snappy, thank goodness I'm only 116lbs soaking wet!
I got a job the other day, a mess of mexican pepper to cut and clear...know what, I subbed it to a friend who has six big guys on staff, grunt work, I'll just add my consulting fee!
But next week is working through an avocado orchard, chainsaws will be out, in the air and on the ground.
We are the exception rather than the rule, and one has to be sensible and know your limits, I see no point in competing to see how big of a saw I can handle all day, work smart, many trees can be conquered with a small saw, and dynamic rigging and physics can reduce a 600lb chunk to something manageable. And yes, some days the bucket truck is a godsend

Great pics Bermie!

:yourock:

 

[Bermie]

Bermie, OMG, Brazilian pepper (the same as Mexican, I suppose) so bloody dense and heavy when the trees are old - really a pain to hump around once on the ground. Some folks are allergic to the sap, too (for those of you who don't normally work the Tropics). Also, they're massive re-sprouters unless you paint 42% glyphosate on the stump within a couple of minutes of the final base cut (Melaleuca, too)

OMG is right! Same stuff I HATE it! We have some monsters here, or just loads of those small twisty, nasty, snappy, springy, ####ty things. It is public enemy #1 in nature reserves. We use Garlon or Tordon on the stumps. Got to be careful with Tordon, it can affect ajacent trees through the root exudate. I've been working with it long enough I'm not allergic. No Melaleuca here.

Yup, Mapleman, its about saving the body! Mind you tree work is great for the summer bikini season, except for the scratches and bruises, and NO you lot, I am not posting any pictures! Sorry MDS I'm not a goldilocks...more of a silver fox, the colour of wisdom got me in my 20's!

 

[Mapleman]

When I worked in southern Australia, we'd bore into gum stumps and hit them with chlorox. I heard salt works too. Ever try that, Bermie or Kate?

Haven't worked in the Caribbean, although I have worked on tropical trees in Hawaii. My buddies tell me there's good $$$ to be made pruning in the winter after hurricane season. Also, I've heard some horror stories about toxic sap.

I was wondering if anyone has been to Cuba recently and seen the damage from all those hurricane strikes. Was wondering about how they do tree work there. I've flirted with the idea of showing up sometime with my climbing gear and 020 and doing some volunteer work.

In Japan they build bamboo scaffolding around trees. I've seen guys in parts of Central America just barefootin' it with machetes. Whatever it takes...

 

[treeseer]

I was wondering if anyone has been to Cuba recently and seen the damage from all those hurricane strikes. Was wondering about how they do tree work there. I've flirted with the idea of showing up sometime with my climbing gear and 020 and doing some volunteer work.

Hey once travel there is a little more normalized, let's go for it! I lived 90 miles from Cuba for quite a while; always wondered what it was like. And you gotta wonder what their level of arboriculture is like...:jawdrop:

Keep Rockin, Fiona!

 

[Kate Butler]

When I worked in southern Australia, we'd bore into gum stumps and hit them with clorox. I heard salt works too. Ever try that, Bermie or Kate?

Never heard of the Clorox trick, but I thinks it's easier to paint a stump than lug a drill around. Next time around I'm going to try one of those bottles like those that shoe polish comes in (with the foam cap that's essentially a foam brush). They have covers (so you don't wear it when you put it in your pocket) and you just give it a little squeeze to get out whatever amount needed. It takes a surprisingly small amount to coat a stump - even a big one.

 

[Bermie]

That's why I like Tordon RTU (Ready to use) No mixing and it has a dribble cap, so you don't need a brush. Just the spout gets contaminated, still need gloves to open it.
Another climbing pic...

 

[treemandan]

Nice work ladies. I am talking to the guys here you sorry bunch of girl scouts.
Bermie, you da " man". Awesome style you got. Please more pics.

 

[TreEmergencyB]

That's why I like Tordon RTU (Ready to use) No mixing and it has a dribble cap, so you don't need a brush. Just the spout gets contaminated, still need gloves to open it.
Another climbing pic...

straight round up concentrate on the cambium ring will kill it right no sprouts after that

 

[Mapleman]

Kate,

No need for a drill. Just bore in with the tip of your saw. In younger days I sometimes carved my initials in the stump before letting loose with the chlorox. The Aussies I worked for swore by it.

 

[Mapleman]

Bermie,

How long of a silkie did you use to prune that tree? Pretty awesome shot!

 

[tree md]

Kate,

No need for a drill. Just bore in with the tip of your saw. In younger days I sometimes carved my initials in the stump before letting loose with the chlorox. The Aussies I worked for swore by it.

I usually cut a check pattern in the stump so it will hold whatever your treating it with. A lot of old timers swear by rock salt.

 

[Bermie]

Bermie,

How long of a silkie did you use to prune that tree? Pretty awesome shot!

Silky Zubat (my third hand) and Fiskars pole pruner in the tree, and the Hayuchi and the Fiskars from the ground. The Fiskars extends to about 11' and the head pivots so you can get a good angle on the cuts.

As for the stump treatments...even full strength roundup sometimes doesn't work for pepper, regardless, you have to get whatever chemical you are using right around the cambium/bark layer, putting it in the middle does no good whatever.

 

[Raymond]

You guys really put something on stumps to try and kill it?
I don't know any tree guys around here that does that.

People asked me about what I could put on them
to kill it out, I tell'em a stump grinder. :dunno:

 

[xander9727]

garlon 4 and diesel fuel.
It won't let you down.

 

[Mapleman]

I used my ex-old lady's recipe for blueberry muffins for a while, with limited success.

 

[Raymond]

I used my ex-old lady's recipe for blueberry muffins for a while, with limited success.

LOL, Yeah...I have heard of guys coating the stump with roofing tar.
By the time it drys and flakes off the stump will be dead...That's what I heard. :dunno:

 

[pdqdl]

This is a long way off topic...

Garlon is a concentrated form of Triclopyr, traditionally used for tougher broadleaf weeds. Mixed with diesel, it is used for "basal bark" applications: killing smaller (thin barked) trees without making any cuts. Some folks like to take a hatchet or machete and make cuts in the bark to improve control. Apply in fall/winter, the trees are usually dead in spring. It'll kill stumps, but not as well as tordon.

Tordon RTU [Ready To Use] is a diluted form of picloram, mixed with marker dye so that you can tell which stump you have treated. I recommend the little squeeze bottles from Permagreen for application:

http://www.ride-onspreader.com/magnum/default.aspx?id=3&aid=5&index=4

They can be used to spread one pint onto 500sq.ft. of turf, or an awful lot of stumps. Small, convenient, effective.


I have stopped using Tordon RTU because it costs too much. Mix your own RTU with Tordon 22k (about 4:1 with water) add cheap marker dye, and you cut your costs by 50%. At about $45 per gallon for RTU, that is a big savings for just adding water. Recently, I discovered a generic version of tordon 22k called "Trooper". Same picloram, but at 2/3rd the expense.

I have 120 gallons of the stuff in my chemical storage area. I'll be using it to kill trees in roadside right-of-ways.

 

[VTclimber]

So back on topic....

I'm a female who no longer does pro tree work, but did for a year. I worked for the big B and did quite a bit of climbing. I worked the saw in the tree and on the ground. Did IPM in the summers, climbing and groundwork in the winter/fall. It was good work, but beat me up quite a bit. I'm a little smaller than Bermie, so I have more of a problem with bigger saws.

Now I work for the state parks, and a saw is still part of my gear. I'm proud to say that I'm better than most of the men with a saw, and I like to see the surprised looks on their faces. Still do some side work for friends and family, but the hubby usually handles the climbing unless its something small and flexy.

Where there's a will, theres a way. We just might do it a little differently than you guys.

 

[Mapleman]

Thanks for chiming in, Lauryn...

 

[B-Edwards]

Bermie, just wondering if you know a couple by the name of Herb & Lynn Stoots who spend winters there? I dont know if they own property there or rent. If they own I know they are having tree work done.