How to attach cable from the ground?

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Just because it has worked for you doesnt mean it is a good or safe way to do it. If it works for you then keep doing it and I hope it never bites you in the rump.

You have to understand the reason for the hostility. It comes from the fact that homeowners and weekend worriers consistently hurt or kill themselves with their inventive ways of doing tree work which results in the tree care industry having to pay higher insurance premiums. Everyone here gives the honest opinion on most posts and you may like some and may not, but dont get upset if you get a negative response to what many of the pro's in here may think is unsafe, they not going to support improper techniques.

I understand...I have to cover my rear for liability, etc. sometimes too...but it gets old. Can I get a non-idiot sticker or something? It's not like I'm picking up a little forklift with a big one and climbing a ladder duct-taped to the mast.
 
I understand...I have to cover my rear for liability, etc. sometimes too...but it gets old. Can I get a non-idiot sticker or something? It's not like I'm picking up a little forklift with a big one and climbing a ladder duct-taped to the mast.

lol I think Ive seen a pic here of someone doing that
 
Ever wonder how many of those people that bring you their poor quality work to repair go to internet welding and fabrication forums asking how they can do even more poor quality work? ......or go there to justify their doing of poor quality work? .....or say just because you know one way doesn't mean it's the only way?

Just saying. :buttkick:

I think you've been in the box too long. Explain to me how pulling a tree down with a cable is more dangerous than swinging around in it with a saw while you cut pieces off it. All I have to do is watch "pros" on youtube to decide I'm not interested in trying my luck at that.

You're mighty brave calling my work poor quality on a forum vs. to my face. People seem to lose their manners when they don't have to look someone in the eye.

My work is no more (work or money) than it needs to be and no less quality or safe than it needs to be. When a guy brings a geothermal part in that needs precision work, we do precision work. When a farmer brings something in and wants it quick and dirty we do it quick and dirty.

All I asked was if there was a trick to hook up a cable without climbing. I didn't ask for any judgement from you who do trees for a living on how I do what I do.
 
First off I would like to say that I too have done this. It works in some instances were the tree is too dead to climb and there is no other way. I put risk in every bid some jobs have no risk and some have a lot and I charge accordingly. I have zero room for injury to me or property the occasional fence gets a little dinged but that is it. I pride myself in safe removals with no damage. Your method leaves a lot out of your hands and in the hands of the wood , gravity, and I think luck. I do this to feed my family and guys like you come in and do the job with no insurance for the equivalent of a case of beer sure it gets done and I am sure that you are no idiot but there are years of education and pride in our work that tell me that your method is wrong. Maybe when you ask someone that is not in it for recreation show some respect for were we are coming from and respect our methods, which are proven and used every day.​
 
Yo dofus I'm talking about your tree work!

So am I.

danieltree, I'm not disrespecting anyone's methods. I have a lot of respect for a pro's skills. It takes years to learn this stuff. My methods are the ones that are being disrespected. Can you explain how is anything left to chance? The truck pulls the limbs easily, the cable is way or-rated for what it's doing, and the pulled tree is yanked straight down to where the 24k# snatch block is. I also loop around the butt with another chain to a nearby tree sometimes so it can't go anywhere either.
 
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Also, danieltree, I understand your feelings on guys like me taking your work...I have ex employees competing with me working out of their garages, and they win on all except the real big stuff because they have less overhead. However, I'm not taking anyone's job. First off, I don't think there ARE and real pros in my little corner of the desert. I've done two of these jobs so far, last one was 2005. I only do them for friends whose houses and lives are endangered by the trees and don't have the funds for a pro.
 
you guys act like I'm some kind of idiot. Whatever happened to manners, tact, courtesy, or common sense? Just because you only know one way to take a tree down doesn't mean it's the only way.

There are a lot of folk that do have a tendency to be abrasive but do keep in mind that this is a very dangerous business. Most of the time when folks here react with shock at what you are doing its because they know just how risky your techniques are or what the potential for property damage or injury or even death is.

To respond to your question, using a throwline as mentioned previously and rope is what you need to focus on. You can use methods to gain mechanical advantages with pulleys or use a come-along with the rope that will not exceed the ropes str. But the rope is much safer than the winch by a long shot.

Whatever you decide to do the FIRST thing to think about is safety. Stack all the odds in your favor, don't do anything unless you are very sure of what the results will be. I've been fortunate in this business to have never suffered any significant injuries nor cause property damage beyond a broken fence or a damaged azealia bush. Sometimes I am slow because I want it to work exactly like it should.

There are a lot of seasoned pro's here so take all the advice you get and just try to ignore useless chatter and insults.

Just like with welding, (I do a fair amount of fabrication and repairs to equipment), if you want a job done right you don't just grab the torch and start welding, you make all the proper preparations, clean base, proper fit up, the right welder settings, the right filler material, everything set up as well as possible so it turns out the way it should. Yes, sometimes you are working in a mud pit on some dirty steel tracks and have very poor working conditions but you still do what you can to maximize your success.

Best of luck!

Squirrel.
 
Thanks David for your comments. I do not really think your method is so wrong but I also think you should consider ours. The rope set in the tree high enough to gain some fulcrum and then a good face cut apply some pressure(does not take much ) then do your back cut and the tree is down and you maintained complete control. I don't so much get bothered by guys taking my work as i do the bad name some of these guys give to the industry, I have heard so many times a homeowner tell me how he saw so and so do it , you know the guy that drives up and fells the 30 inch pine next to the house and 5 ft from the pool he didn't use a rope or hit a thing that guy was good, maybe so but it still leaves to much to chance. If you ever have a mechanical failure at a critical moment in your pull who knows what could happen, all I was saying really is a job with a 99 percent success rate is not acceptable it has to be 100percent zero incident all the time and I have to do everything I can to ensure that happens.​
 
I only do them for friends whose houses and lives are endangered by the trees and don't have the funds for a pro.

You remind me of a dude that lived in the town I grew up in. He was a car mackinac who would fix cars for people who couldn't afford a PRO. If ya had a loud muffler for 25 bucks he would "fix er up fer ya" You would get the car back and it would be all patched up with soup cans and chicken wire:confused: If the choke was stuck for 25 bucks he would "Fix er up fer ya" by simply wiring the carb open and fixed, and a reminder of "put the peddle to the floor when ya start it"..............Are you serious that you "rip" the limbs off with your truck?:dizzy:
 
Thanks David for your comments. I do not really think your method is so wrong but I also think you should consider ours. The rope set in the tree high enough to gain some fulcrum and then a good face cut apply some pressure(does not take much ) then do your back cut and the tree is down and you maintained complete control. I don't so much get bothered by guys taking my work as i do the bad name some of these guys give to the industry, I have heard so many times a homeowner tell me how he saw so and so do it , you know the guy that drives up and fells the 30 inch pine next to the house and 5 ft from the pool he didn't use a rope or hit a thing that guy was good, maybe so but it still leaves to much to chance. If you ever have a mechanical failure at a critical moment in your pull who knows what could happen, all I was saying really is a job with a 99 percent success rate is not acceptable it has to be 100percent zero incident all the time and I have to do everything I can to ensure that happens.​

Big trees get done as you said. I'm not a "pro", and these aren't nice straight, even, balanced pines. They're funky, unbalanced junk. I wedge cut them and back cut a little at a time til the truck can pull them down. I've seen funky trees twist, spin, break off uneven at the bottom, I prefer to be at the other end of 150' of cable when she's goin' down.

http://s639.photobucket.com/albums/...m Pix/Trees/?action=view&current=MVI_3526.flv

Just little ones and limbs off trees that are being removed anyway get yanked/ripped out by the roots.



Your below comment highlighted in red was the statement I was talking about. You went back and deleted it so it looks like you've changed your mind about making it. Good idea! A lot of us are arborist and hopefully you understand why such a statement would rub some of us the wrong way.


I don't think any of us have a problem with using cables and winches to pull trees over. I use ropes but if I had the winches and wire rope I'd find uses for it.

I didn't delete anything, it's still there. I see your POV, but they're coming down anyway. I yank branches off to unbalance the tree and prune it down to make it easier to take down. This is a house in the coutry with Salt Cedars, not some nice pines or eucs in someone's front yard in town. I did my neighbors eucs in town but I used a lift and a saw for trimming.

I'll get more pics this wekeend, but for now, try this link.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

go to get directions and punch in

dogwood and harris, imperial, ca

and zoom all the way in the "Street View" and you'll see the big picture.

Also, if you read up on Salt Cedars, (I have a thread or two around somewhere) you'll find they're a tough, troublesome, invasive species which is why no one cares about "hurting" them.

I should probably be posting on a logging forum or something....
 
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He planned it that way so he can just haul it off now. :hmm3grin2orange:

When i have small dead trees I just back the equipment trailer up to 'em and winch 'em down on to it.
 
David you are right on the spot with your cable pulling, its what you are comfortable with and more power to you. Good luck with the removal and sorry for going on the defense with you.​
 

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