Control killing of limb over high voltage power line

[ropensaddle]

Unorthodox method so im posting to follow progress and seek others wisdom & input. The back stories a bit involved but in essence down here if a tree limb grows over a high voltage line > 1000 volts ( we ORP ) Ordinary persons are not allowed to clear it and will need to pay live line power company crews $1500 to $11,000+ depending upon task and their whim $$ at quote. My last was $7500 for a 1 hour shut down,, its $$ gouge due to power company cartel
( another story.)
This limb had gone rouge & was drooping down due to weight of fruit nut and leaf and just begun wind blow burning tips on 22kv line.
Wishing to avoid ridiculous costs i pondered what to do so today i got up within my SAD ( safe approach distance) and carved off the bark and applied herbicide to cambium wound and end foliage with the idea it will die off loose weight and lift away plus in time dry out and just become a non conducting dead twig beyond what is our regulated clearance distance.


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lets see how it goes,, I treated wound about 3 meter back and 4 meters from next limb branch union so confident translocation of contact herbicide will impact only target limb

I have cleared over a thousand miles of that and worse I should be frigging rich wtf I'm calling them friggers tomorrow and demanding my cut of profit

 

[ropensaddle]

I do line Clearance judging by the pic if Manuel climbing I'd probably tip tie a pull rope that's hung threw a higher crotch or false crotch and have my groundie pull as I performed a slow under cut. Making sure not to pop it off until tip is rotated up and back towards the main and only then when I know it won't go towards the wires I'd finish my cut. If it's within min approach you could use a foam filled pole pruner w insulatir on rope to break back small pieces byb pull n a lil on rope for a bite then pulling til it breaks or is back away from wire then finish clip. Repeat a bunch til safe to use chainsaw or handsaw. I clip smaller than the distance between the wires to prevent outage. Out here if a company or homeowner is going to do work the power company will send us in for free as a help job to prevent someone from trying to save money and getting hurt or burning lines down we pull it back 10' from lines and all brush stays

I did it many years, I can tell from your post your good at it too, when I started it we had kiln dried ash poles then later came the foam filled. Breaking back works on some species not on others but if not a line clearance tree man you are better to not try it. Staying out of the path of least resistance is why I'm alive today as we trimmed miles of burning line back in my day.

 

[derwoodii]

if you seen the very sad latest video of burning climber in a tree pole saw contacting Hv primary its a tad sobering

 

[ropensaddle]

if you seen the very sad latest video of burning climber in a tree pole saw contacting Hv primary its a tad sobering

Never use a long pole type non-insulated tool near power it is a recipe for disaster. Insulated dry pruner is a line clearance tree man's best friend and can mean life or death. Now we had an insulated power pruner called a peanut oil saw rated to 100 kv and extended to 30 feet. It was not used much because the engine and pump were on a carriage and you hooked up hoses to it like a regular pole saw or pistol grip or wizz saw. This made it cumbersome to use up a tree and pretty much limited its use to clearing service drops.

 

[Luckysaturn]

if you seen the very sad latest video of burning climber in a tree pole saw contacting Hv primary its a tad sobering

I'm pretty sure that's probably the reason they are pulling our pole saws off the truck for line kill only use..... Sad situation all around

 

[derwoodii]

Follow up on this thread i completed the full clearing of this tree though specialists live line contractors who can work over high voltage..

( the branch has died dried off and lifted well clear of wire with no off target impact seen)

Sure the method was tad unconventional but it temporally solved or the matter while the power company worked out their internal bureaucracy issues with network access.