clearance said:
Doctor Dave you are the honest man here. This has come up before many times, I climb with spurs and wear caulk boots by law. Many here have questioned and insulted me for this. I have asked if they thought they could climb spurless in big old growth wearing caulks, instead of just saying OK, they avoided the question and continued to insult me, thank you.
I would have rather been 200 ft. up an old one today than in the 100 ft. dead grand fir I was in. It was but sound--and hard as a rock. The bark was thin, and I not only had to chunk my spurs in hard, but I doubled my flip line so that I wouldn't slide down on my nose for 10 ft. (or more) if I kicked out. I did kick out once, and didn't slide at all. I had a confined space (plantings), and had to take a 30 ft. top before I chunked it down. The 30 ft. top was suposed to be 20 ft., almost took out the closeline, but no way was I climbing on less than 6 in. I started off in a jacket, and threw it down part way up; I was in a sweat from the effort and a healthy dose of fear. Gaaa! I feel better after 2 gin and tonics.
Tomorrow I get to finish deadwooding and thinning some big second growth ponderosa pines (up to 130 ft). These guys have nice thick bark; I don't need my hooks after I'm up in the big branches (even dead ones), but they sure help lower down or for occasional use elsewhere. The toughest one so far was a school marm that went from around 3 1/2 ft. at the base, to 3 ft., and then to 3 1/2 ft at 30 ft where it forked. I was kind of stuck there for a while, as my flip line kept slipping before I couuld get to the crotch, so I managed to throw my life line over a branch and climbed up above the crotch.
The job is for an old retired couple like me and my work, and keep trying to get me to take breaks and give me food and drink. I was way off with my original estimate. Now they just pay me for a couple days at a time. I figure I have 3 days left, besides burning 6 monster brush piles and dragging and burning aother 6 worth piled under the trees. I did a project for about 2 1/2 acres round their million-dollar view home for fire control and the view (they are getting it back now---two mountains (Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood), the Columbia River Gorge, and the Hood River valley.
I'm not gonna do this again as a one man show; I wanted to do exactly what I envisioned doing, and I was lucky that the landowners went with my plan. I'll have before and after pics, a killer reference, and dozens of similar homes in the area to approach with a pitch for a similar treatment---but with a tree service (I send jobs to now in a handshake back and forth referal set-up) to do the small tree and brush clearing and chipping. I'd still do some climbing, but get paid for the brain work of designing a plan including fire control, wildlife, forest management, native plants, aesthetics, forest health, whatever mix fits the owners needs except high-skirting or topping.
I've decided that I like crown thinning to allow looking through the tree, and that's what I'm gonna sell to people as the way to go. What I do is try to make an 80 -100 year old tree look 250 years old (but with a more vigorous top; I leave that alone) by spacing out the branches with an eye to keeping the more interesting shaped ones.
Sorry for the length.
Anyone else make old-growth style trees out of second -growth?
