Pine trimming - can't use spikes, sub par T.I.P.

[Toms&Co.]

Any suggestions when they need a few dead branches off a pine that is otherwise healthy and you don't want to spike it up... maybe on top of that your tip isn't ideal or maybe you cant get an overhead tie in at all?

 

[oldboy]

can you climb it like a kid or monkey and just use a couple lanyards?

 

[JRoland]

Extension ladder on the side with the least dead then tie in on the lowest green limb and cut on the way down?

 

[JRoland]

Or if they just need a few branches gone- pole pruner from ground

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Get better with your throwball, or get a bigshot.

 

[Nish]

The scenario seems uncommon. A healthy pine should have at least one live limb above the dead branches. Shoot your ball over that limb, near to where it attaches to the trunk. Then, if the limb is small, isolate it and secure your climb line directly around the trunk with a running bowline (watch out for snagging stubs as you send your bowline up). Finally, SRT your way up to the TIP, where you can replace the bowline with a retrievable friction saver.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

I'm still gonna reccomend throwball practice. I'm pretty good to 60-70' by hand, and a bigshot with practice will set you up wherever you want.

 

[Ffmech17]

I've been trying to figure out the same thing. I'm 250 without gear and get asked to limb conifers pretty regularly that have no branches big enough to safely go over for SRT.

 

[Fireaxman]

Work both sides of the tree with your throwline to get your climbing line installed completely around the main trunk of the tree. Throw or shoot your TIP from one side and drop the weight all the way to the ground. Go to the other side of the tree and pull your rope across. Shoot or throw the same or near the same TIP on the opposite side of the tree and drop the weight to the ground. Go back to the first side of the tree, pull your rope up and around the tree and back to the ground, tie a running bowline, and pull it up from some distance out to avoid snags and branches. You can put a closed bowline on the belly of your climbing rope with your throwline to help guide it around or over obstructions. There will be a lot of friction where the rope goes around the TIP, but you can work it by flipping the climbing line from the bottom and/or pulling up a friction saver in the first passage through the TIP. Climb SRT.