Ailanthus Removal Tips

[Dadatwins]

The number of climbers who specialize in taking down dead Ailanthus in impossible locations must be countable on one hand. I've heard some good stories, like passing Ailanthus chunks in through an apartment window and on to an elevator to get the tree parts out of a closed alley.

I spent years in Brooklyn NY very similiar to that, lots of fun I can tell you from experience. Had a few that were so brittle to climb we would tie in and rig off the surrounding buildings to get them down. Carried too many logs to count through attached houses out to the street. And since they will grow anywhere, even cut a few down that were 30" DBH inside of abandoned buildings. Now that is fun.

 

[coydog]

It looks like there's a nice lead going out over the yard that you could rig alot of the brush off of thats over the fence and neighbor's property, while you remain tied into the main upright, then bomb the tops and wood into the yard. I've rigged some pretty huge pieces of ailanthus off themselves comfortably as long as the dynamics are right. That tree looks pretty solid, shouldn't be a problem to climb around in if you choose your tie-ins right, It's a lot like poplar, pretty strong and wiry if your'e rigging on a vertical spar, brittle when stressed laterally.You'll need a competent groundman IMO

 

[jmack]

At least it's alive. This a question for the experienced climbers out there. Is it fair to say the Ailanthus wood is similar to Eastern Cottonwood, probably a little less dense? I'm thinking it would be a good idea to always be double-crotched when climbing up high in an Ailanthus.

I was looking at the sliced up chunks of a 60+ year-old Ailanthus that was cut down in my neighborhood. The heartwood was surprisingly dense for a species with such light wood. This was a healthy tree.
-moss

the only time you should be in an ailanthus is when your spiked in taking it down

 

[(WLL)]

use caution

i always use rope guide and false crotch like a loopie and stay on main stem. they smell like **** and are full of ants