I’m hoping that the OP exited this conversation long ago, if he had any sense. The only positive thing he could have learnt is that you have to make your own decisions and do what you feel is the ‘right’ thing. It’s also possible that his body is pinned under that tree waiting to be discovered by a loved one who has noticed they haven’t seen him for a while.OP- Cut 'em all around the fall zone and your escape route, be done with it. Just to perpetuate the ladder argument.....
I just yesterday cut a Queen Palm down in my own back yard from an extension ladder and then an 8' A frame ladder (closed) leaned against a Cabbage Palm.
The Queen hung over my Hot Tub, and the seed pods were prolific on this one, twice as much production as four others in my yard, and was getting so tall my PPT 2650 wasn't reaching it, and, more importantly, anything I cut off 2/3'rds of the Queen was going to drop on the hot tub thermal cover and break it. The seeds on the deck are like walking on marbles, or legos if you have kids..... It needed to go, just getting too big to trim as often as it needed to.
The exposure of the Queen over the Tub was exacerbated by Shade Pergolas over part of the tub and the very expensive Concrete tile roof on my house within six feet of the trunk, and the Cabbage palm 2 feet away and almost as tall, and the White Bird Of Paradise trees growing all around both. I had maybe a quarter of a diameter around the tree to set a ladder AND to drop anything freelly.
I covered the tub with two layers of plywood and put the extension ladder against the crown of the tree, and used my new little Milwaukee M12 Hatchet to disect the limbs in a way that they slowly drooped to where the wife or middle son could grab the tip, and guide it when I gave it the cut -off cut. (The Tool worked GREAT)
The size of the crown, the old boots that hadn't rotted off, was such that I spent alot of time on the extension ladders highest rung, one handing the 6" saw, one hand holding a solid boot, and cutting over head or right in my face, these boots may only weigh 2-7 pounds, but falling 12 feet and being triangular, they jump around when they hit the deck under my ladder. No, i didn't have my spurs or saddle, or was tied in. I did have to show my wife I could hang on the one boot with one hand, with my saw in nthe other, so she quit freaking out.....
Had to clear the old boots so I could then piece sections off.
I moved the Extension ladder out, and used the 8' to access the good hard boots on the Cabbage to climb it. I got myself into the top and turned backwards, to face the Queen and a gap of 2.5 feet, and with my CS 340 TH, sectioned the tree all the way to waist high, 16" at a time, cutting level and all the way through, to hang the TH on a Cabbage boot and then reaching out and rotating the but section off the trunk and let it bounce off the only spot of deck I had to drop anything. about 4 x 4' space. Junior would roll the cuts out of the way so I could keep dropping them there. (Junor had moved the ladder after I had gotten into the Cabbage, it was in the drop spot, and would have broken the ladder and my drops wouold have wound up on the tub anyway.)
Did I die, no. Anyone or anything hurt? No. Did I HAVE to take it out? Well it wasn't really on the list of things needing done, but, I did a quarterly trim of all my landscape, and when the wife said she wasn't going to cry over losing the tree, It just made sense for the future to take it out now. Spurs and Saddle dont help much when the height of the booted crown are larger than your reach. Google Queen Palm to see. ( I even brough home one of my nicer ladder stands for hunting in case I wanted to consider using it, which I did not)
The OP's tree? Just clear what you need to be safeish, when you drop the thing all at once from the ground. Or just make a trail that steers clear of it, which would be WORLDS easier......
Professional recommendations dropping Huge dead oak
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I’m hoping that the OP exited this conversation long ago, if he had any sense. The only positive thing he could have learnt is that you have to make your own decisions and do what you feel is the ‘right’ thing. It’s also possible that his body is pinned under that tree waiting to be discovered by a loved one who has noticed they haven’t seen him for a while.
Wow, I never knew what it took to cut a tree until reading the comments here 
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Just cut the tree OP, you can do it !
.Just cut the tree OP, you can do it !
Spit coffee out of my nose. I wear Overalls, and keep my phone in my breast pocket, next to my folding money when I am out by myself doing stuff..... Sometimes, I just need some Saw Therapy.
Wow, I never knew what it took to cut a tree until reading the comments here
Just cut the tree OP, you can do it !
I'm no pro, but my son is. When a neighbor asked my opinion on removing 3 big bug kill ponderosa pines, I made the call. He had already received a bid of $4,500 by a tree crew to do the job, I offered to look into it and see if my son would drop the trees and help me chip them up. We did the job for $1800, my son was there for 4 hrs with a groundie to help with the chipping and bucking, I did the rest over the next 3 days which included hauling and spreading the chips over some road improvement that was done last summer for erosion control. I bid the job for my son without him ever seeing the trees in question and the possible dangers involved, there was a power line less than 50' from the trees so I figured a licensed and insured arborist was a must. Moral of the story is, if you have doubts, call a pro, just common sense. My neighbor lives in Colorado and rents this house out, so he never saw the trees in person, but he trusted my judgment ,and gave me an extra $200 for my trouble, after the job was done, every one won on this job, and I got to spend the afternoon with my boy watching him do something that I did not have the training nor experience to handle by myself. Hope everyone stays safe out there .
fishdrivel
ArboristSite Operative
I have won quite a few safety awards. (not bragging) There is a significant difference between OSHA and ANSI standards.
ANSI standards are designed/written to keep you safe by using proper techniques and materials.
OSHA is a law enforcement agency. They are the ones who make it very expensive for not following good procedures. They carry a badge!
OSHA is satisfied with compliance, ANSI is only satisfied with safety - and keeping your ass in 1 piece!
You can be OSHA compliant and die! I could give many examples......
The fact that this subject has gone 6 pages (so far) tells you there is a lot to think about.
Where there is much disagreement (and misinformation) there is a lot to be concerned about.
fishdrivel
ArboristSite Operative
That 10' working height is certainly enough to cut those two limbs. It's just not safe.
You are a self proclaimed "old guy" “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.”
I'm reminded of one of my mentors. When as a young man, I was a new climber. I watched this highly skilled professional work and he was amazing. I was not comfortable with his zipping out of a tall tree with an unknotted high-lead.
Years later, I was an excellent climber and my specialty was dangerous tree jobs. I was saddened to learn that my friend and mentor had run out of rope zipping out of a tall tree.
You'll find that I have not given the OP advice on how to do this work himself. I Know how a professional arborist can do this safely but my advice could get a non professional killed. I have never trained new climbers. I don't want the responsibility. The guys that I trained were professionals that I taught a better way to do it. Sometimes they taught me. I can think back to stuff I did in younger days. I shudder. Why would I want the OP to head down the wrong path?
There are many ways the 2 limbs can kill you. Being underneath them is only 1 way!
I have many times to laypersons that what they worry about while they are looking up and watching, is not what kills arborists - it's the stuff you cannot see that the arborist is worried about. In the words of my mentor, "if you are not a squirrel or a bird, you should be worried!"
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I think we have a similar situation, though Australian Standards extend well beyond safety. WorkSafe would be the agency which investigates workplace accidents and makes recomondations as to what charges might be applicable. I think some of those charges can be prosecuted by WorkSafe while the more serious ones would enter the criminal courts. I very much doubt that WorkSafe could impose incarceration. That would require a judge in a district court as a minimum.
Its my title in regular life not on this website, state park service not military, but some federal parks also.
Just fell the tree to the lean and you will be that much more knowledgeable after it hits the ground.
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By having a person at each end of the rope saw, the two working together can be a fairly good distance apart. Need more distance, add more rope.
Sounds like a nice time with your boy for sure.
I agree. When I have a doubt or do not have the equipment, I refuse the job, plenty of them that are more fitting for me.
This was what I did the last 10 days. The firewood in my buddies truck was all from dead standing trees I dropped, bucked, and split the large pieces. The large willow was taken down by a wind event, diced it up, moved it all to another location(125 yards away) for burning. You can see my ms261 with a 20" bar on the end of the willow in the 4th pic for size reference, the round under it was 18".
The other large willow with the branches in the creek I've cut the lower branch off to the stem, and the other two branches above it as far as I could reach with the pole saw and hauled the brush/wood about 200' so they can be burned in their bonfire pit. I'm waiting for the ground to refreeze before dropping the remaining portion of the branches to the stem, the one is about 24" at the stem, my throw line is already installed in the tree and waiting.
The oak over the roof(8/12 pitch with moss on it) was a prune job that was on the willow.
The leaner came down in the same wind event, but it's about 30 miles away from the willow job, it's a bit deceiving for size, but my 28" bar wouldn't reach thru it where it was cut at the base(looking at the width of the base in relation to the door on the trailer give an idea of the size. That one was one I was called in on because the property owner (a friend) got pinched in it with his ms290
. The irony of that is he is an organizer for FEMA here in Michigan, he sets up the tree crews lol.It was a fun week/weekend, I also delivered a cord of wood that I sold out of my personal stash, gotta do what you gotta do to make a buck or two
.https://photos.app.goo.gl/wQWtqC2yoVmgK6f89
Funny you would post pics of a roof, just did the garage, now I'm waiting for good weather to do the house. 7 squares on the garage took me 3 days, start to finish..My roof hasn't been done since the house was built in 1972, got my money's worth!Sounds like a nice time with your boy for sure.
I agree. When I have a doubt or do not have the equipment, I refuse the job, plenty of them that are more fitting for me.
This was what I did the last 10 days. The firewood in my buddies truck was all from dead standing trees I dropped, bucked, and split the large pieces. The large willow was taken down by a wind event, diced it up, moved it all to another location(125 yards away) for burning. You can see my ms261 with a 20" bar on the end of the willow in the 4th pic for size reference, the round under it was 18".
The other large willow with the branches in the creek I've cut the lower branch off to the stem, and the other two branches above it as far as I could reach with the pole saw and hauled the brush/wood about 200' so they can be burned in their bonfire pit. I'm waiting for the ground to refreeze before dropping the remaining portion of the branches to the stem, the one is about 24" at the stem, my throw line is already installed in the tree and waiting.
The oak over the roof(8/12 pitch with moss on it) was a prune job that was on the willow.
The leaner came down in the same wind event, but it's about 30 miles away from the willow job, it's a bit deceiving for size, but my 28" bar wouldn't reach thru it where it was cut at the base(looking at the width of the base in relation to the door on the trailer give an idea of the size. That one was one I was called in on because the property owner (a friend) got pinched in it with his ms290
It was a fun week/weekend, I also delivered a cord of wood that I sold out of my personal stash, gotta do what you gotta do to make a buck or two
https://photos.app.goo.gl/wQWtqC2yoVmgK6f89
Tigwelder83
ArboristSite Operative
Here's my pro tip... leave it alone! Reroute the tail, etc.
You're a better man than me. I'll climb any tree, but I hate roofs with a passion.
House has been waiting paitently, no leaks, but the surface of the shingles is showing its wear and we get some fierce winds coming from the south west, and I have done repairs in the past. I don't want to wait till spring, gets hot up there on the south side. Should be done by mid March, weather permitting. The shingles are already stacked on the Ridge, so maybe by Wed I can get up there.The view ain't bad though.
I think it might be a good idea to return to the topic of arboriculture in this thread.
View attachment IMG_4072.mov
This is a Eucalyptus grandis that I took down just before Christmas. I really need to accept that I'm too old for that kind of **** but it's just too much fun. We are going to mill the barrel for his bar top.
View attachment IMG_4072.mov
This is a Eucalyptus grandis that I took down just before Christmas. I really need to accept that I'm too old for that kind of **** but it's just too much fun. We are going to mill the barrel for his bar top.
When you are afraid of limbs falling on you, you can always fell a tree remotely......
So can you give me some "pro" tips on doing the roof repair on that job
.Did this one late last yr(dec) on my barn. Today I was finally able to do the rakes, vent/ridge cap, probably do some of the soffit and facia wed if the weather works out, drop more trees here and clean the mess up tomorrow.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1Kq3xSdB5o2P571u7
Are explosives considered arms and hence your right to have them is protected by your second amendment? I would consider dynamite and the such to be much nearer to the arms available when that was written than an AR-15 is to the guns of that era.
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