Your Opinions Please

[Insert_Username]

I have heard that it is very hard for tall people to be good climbers, is this true and if so would I be too tall to be a fair climber? I am 6'3". Thanks

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

Well; i think short guys are the best climbers, coolest dudes, most intelligent............

But seeing a bigger guy take command in a tree can step ya back! i got this long stretched out buddy, looks like he takes about 4 steps to go 30', takes a step and is half way across the tree.

Pisses me off is what it does !!






P.S. Don't ask Oakwilt, cuz i think he lives near a nuclear plant, things are diffrent.

 

[Reed]

Don't know what if any difference it would make although dexterity is important. I had a seven foot tall friend in high school who was recruited for the basketball team but he couldn't dribble the ball.

Years ago I had a crew who seemed chiselled for the job. My chipper operator had arms like an ape, a neck like an oak, a head smaller than a sweet pea. My groundie had short legs, arms that reached his feet, and no brain. The other climber had thumbs that were longer than his other fingers, hair over his whole body, and climbed barefoot because his feet could tie a knot.

I guess it's all upstairs, in our heads and aspirations in our dreams. If we love something, no one can do better than that.

 

[Stumper]

No, you aren't too tall. As Spydy indicated , a tall climber gains some reach advantages etc. However, being tall has some disadvantages for a climber. We big guys weigh more and greater limb lengths (ours not the trees) allows our body weight more leverage against us. My personal observation has been that small statured climbers are usually more agile in the tree-but there are plenty of exceptions so go for it!

 

[Reed]

I believe you're right Jim.

I don't care how awful things can get at home whether it be the loss of a close pet, the spouse's anger, the lawyer's lawsuit, the bank's forclosure, the mother's death.......all ya gotta do is buckle on the gear and get up the tree and the entire world changes. I don't care how hot it is, how tall it is, how little you bid, when you're up there all that matters is how you work yourself.

Try getting that satisfaction while arresting some perp, dumping someone's garbage, shovelling the hog's manure, taking a order for supersize fries or sueing a poor soul who's wife wants the bucket truck AND chipper.

Ah, the climb. Sure it hurts afterward but what a rush, especially when the top falls over right where it's suppossed to 80 feet up on the the pine. Hold on...here she goes....TIMBER yipeeeeeee.
(I miss pines - not the sap, the sweat, but the swing)

 

[Tim Gardner]

My father owned a tree service for longer than I have been alive and I have seen a lot of climbers come and go. The short climbers seemed to hang with the tall ones and vice versa. My father was a great climber. He was only 5’-8”. My Brother was 6’-1” and was really good until he died (no, not from tree work). I am 6’-0” tall and weigh 185lbs. and do just fine. I don’t think it has anything to do with height. I feel that is has to do with the individual. With his/her confidence, common sense, fitness, health, love for the job and training.

Welcome to one of the coolest professions there is. After you get in some “air time” you will know if climbing is for you. Good luck.

 

[Reed]

A little off the topic but Tim, by chance you're not the owner of "Historic Tree, Inc." in Charleston are you? Your name sounds very familiar to me.

 

[treeclimber165]

I'm not much bigger than Spydey, so my opinion may not apply in this issue. But I'm gonna say something anyway.
I have to agree with the guys here. Climbers come in all sizes, but the one thing all GOOD climbers have in common is a true, heartfelt love of trees. JPS, one of our most prolific posters here, is almost 7' tall. But he dances through the treetops with the best of them. I'm only 5'7" (on a good day) and I hold my own fairly well.
What matters in a treeclimber is what is INSIDE. :angel:

 

[Tim Gardner]

Oak,

I don't own a tree service. I am just a humble climber here in Myrtle Beach.

 

[Reed]

Okay Tim, just thought you were familiar. Maybe we did meet somewhere there on your coast or something, memories in my mind are selective and growing smaller.

Myrtle B's a cool place. Heck anywhere on the S.C. coast is cool. Bet your pa was busy when Hugo hit. I worked for a New Hampshire outfit of loggers who came down for clean-up and stayed. Hard working brutes but heartfelt folk. Learned how to duct tape for first aid from them.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

The simple fact is that 6'2" is the absolute ideal height for a climber. At 6'3" you should do just fine.

Weight on the other hand could be a problem. If you are huge, that could prove to be a disadvantage. I don't know too many good climbers that are past the 240 or 250 lb mark, but I could imagine it if much of the weight was muscle.

 

[Reed]

240 to 250 lb climber? I can tell you this, if it wasn't muscle it soon will be.

 

[rahtreelimbs]

Re:

Originally posted by oakwilt


I guess it's all upstairs, in our heads and aspirations in our dreams. If we love something, no one can do better than that.

That says it all. Rich.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I was about to say, he aint tall! Only six three??

Weight don't have nuch to do with it either, till you gotta climb some littley tippy top branch to get a goot cut, and there atr only little spindly things left....Hay Kenny! Cin'ya git that one fer me?

 

[Sweetgum]

Too Tall?

The winner of the ITCC back in 1996 is 6'-3".

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I'm 250# in my skivvies, so I figure 300# when I got my saw and everything on. I don't break too many branches from standing on them

 

[murphy4trees]

Mark Chisholm, arguably one of the world's top 2 or three TCC climbers, is 6-3" or 6-4". Watching that guy move through a tree is a mind expanding experience...
How old are you?
God Bless,
Daniel
42 and feeling good

 

[Reed]

How old is us?

I'm 46.

Next?

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

37.33

 

[treeclimber165]

36 and 11/12ths