Climbing a bowed / bending spar ?

[SteveInOregon]

Howdee tree folks.
I'm " new " to climbing, I do have a few decades of logging- felling experience.
I have all the needed equipment to climb, ie floating bridge saddle, also a basic Buckingham pole climber harness, tree gafs, rope runner pro, foot and knee assenders etc...etc...

I am " good to go " on a basic straight pine / fir tree climb but I took a look at my friend's Madrone - Arbutus ( approximately 80ft tall ) he wants taken down that is overhanging his garage.
The madrone is about 16" wide with not much taper for a long way.
Problem is this live healthy madrone has a consistent decreasing radius curve- bow over and my spidey sense says " do NOT climb it Steve"
because I picture myself gaffing up until I'm literally horseback riding it then after topping cutting getting springboard- diving board flopped upsidedown gaffed out hanging by my waist harness with a Tite flip line.
Am I right ?
Do you guys never flip line up bowed-curving trees ?
I never see the YouTube pros climbing bent spars?

I thought about SRT assenting down to it from a neighbor tree but they are too far away.

What say You ?
Regards

 

[ZinTrees]

pics?

I climb bowed and bendy stuff all the time, I get nervous every time, dont take large cuts or you go flying, can "fishing pole" rig pieces, so its pulling down not up, so you dont go flying

 

[Jonathon Masters]

Small pieces are the ticket. Leaners are super uncomfortable though. If there are neighboring trees you can set an SRT line in one and put a redirect at the top of the work tree.

 

[Del_]

No waist harness for starters.

Take a pass on this one.

 

[Stihl User]

Howdee tree folks.
I'm " new " to climbing, I do have a few decades of logging- felling experience.
I have all the needed equipment to climb, ie floating bridge saddle, also a basic Buckingham pole climber harness, tree gafs, rope runner pro, foot and knee assenders etc...etc...

I am " good to go " on a basic straight pine / fir tree climb but I took a look at my friend's Madrone - Arbutus ( approximately 80ft tall ) he wants taken down that is overhanging his garage.
The madrone is about 16" wide with not much taper for a long way.
Problem is this live healthy madrone has a consistent decreasing radius curve- bow over and my spidey sense says " do NOT climb it Steve"
because I picture myself gaffing up until I'm literally horseback riding it then after topping cutting getting springboard- diving board flopped upsidedown gaffed out hanging by my waist harness with a Tite flip line.
Am I right ?
Do you guys never flip line up bowed-curving trees ?
I never see the YouTube pros climbing bent spars?

I thought about SRT assenting down to it from a neighbor tree but they are too far away.

What say You ?
Regards

Are there any trees nearby that you can have another climbing line in for additional support and balance?

Are there branches above the bend as your up there? They can be used as well.

 

[benjo75]

16 inch is plenty big as long as it's sound. As s mentioned, take small pieces. Set a line in a neighboring tree if you can. Mainly to help with balance. Even if it's off to the side it will help. Use a 540 wrap with your lanyard. Which means wrap your lanyard around the tree then go around again and clip in. It's a little slower to advance as you climb but helps keep you centered on the spar. Another option is to take your lanyard and go between your body and the tree, then around the tree then back to your opposite D ring. It's a little awkward at first but very secure for questionable cuts.

 

[SteveInOregon]

16 inch is plenty big as long as it's sound. As s mentioned, take small pieces. Set a line in a neighboring tree if you can. Mainly to help with balance. Even if it's off to the side it will help. Use a 540 wrap with your lanyard. Which means wrap your lanyard around the tree then go around again and clip in. It's a little slower to advance as you climb but helps keep you centered on the spar. Another option is to take your lanyard and go between your body and the tree, then around the tree then back to your opposite D ring. It's a little awkward at first but very secure for questionable cuts.

540 Wrap = great idea thanks.
Yes there are other trees to put in a second safety assent line attached to my rope runner, although they are lateral to the side not above but, yes I will have a tie in from another tree.

The main bending Madrone spar has no large branching crown - stems just one long main that is dead for about 20 feet at it's top with some tiny dead branches near It's top , a real weirdo Madrone.

I've never climbed a Madrone, but I was a groundie for my buddies old tree service and watched how scetchy they can be as he climbed a silver dead one and gaffed out more than once. ( My spar is alive thank goodness)

 

[benjo75]

Keep this in mind.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

You mentioned it is over a garage, so will need to be rigged? If so, your groundsman is going to be a very important part of the equation. Pics would definitely help.

 

[SteveInOregon]

Are there any trees nearby that you can have another climbing line in for additional support and balance?

Are there branches above the bend as your up there? They can be used as well.

No branches above the bend, just other trees Left and right.

I will go take pics and report back.

 

[SteveInOregon]

Keep this in mind.

The split second I saw him sawing a big long section I thought I'm gonna quickly be looking at a guy riding a bucking bull (50 feet up)
That is not my style to make big cuts, my practice and philosophy is small pieces = small problems

 

[Stihl User]

No branches above the bend, just other trees Left and right.

I will go take pics and report back.

When doing the balancing act up high on a near horizontal bend = ropes to the left and/or right give you added support.

I am 60, injured from an auto accident, so i use multiple ropes on this type of tree which you describe.

Or you can just lay her down on the garage = much easier then, lol

 

[Stihl User]

The split second I saw him sawing a big long section I thought I'm gonna quickly be looking at a guy riding a bucking bull (50 feet up)
That is not my style to make big cuts, my practice and philosophy is small pieces = small problems

Here is my direct Belief and Quote:

Cut small stand Tall
Cut big and six feet you may dig

 

[SteveInOregon]

When doing the balancing act up high on a near horizontal bend = ropes to the left and/or right give you added support.

I am 60, injured from an auto accident, so i use multiple ropes on this type of tree which you describe.

Or you can just lay her down on the garage = much easier then, lol

I'm 59, You got me beat by one year lol, and I too have a LOT of past nagging injuries so no one ever says that I "Climb like a Monkey" more like a Sloth lol.
Great advice, thanks.

 

[Stihl User]

The split second I saw him sawing a big long section I thought I'm gonna quickly be looking at a guy riding a bucking bull (50 feet up)
That is not my style to make big cuts, my practice and philosophy is small pieces = small problems

i am shocked he did not know to double wrap his lanyard, or as we have all done, not take the time to perform safety measure(s).
Whenever cutting a section that has mass/weight/length/torque/pressure it is common knowledge to wrap/tie off just below the cut to prevent exactly what we see in the video.

 

[Stihl User]

I'm 59, You got me beat by one year lol, and I too have a LOT of past nagging injuries so no one ever says that I "Climb like a Monkey" more like a Sloth lol.
Great advice, thanks.

Yeah, i know, as i am the 'old man in the tree' episode.

However, i do get the occasional 'eyes popping' out of their head when i come down and they find out my age.
My customers think i'm 40, well because i still go to within 12' of the top where my 29 year old son refuses to venture. Which is OK as i want him to stay safe and grow and develop his own comfort/skill level.

We have a deal, i do the top, he does the rest.

 

[ZinTrees]

Or you can just lay her down on the garage = much easier then, lol

quite literally the cheapest and most efficient option for half the jobs I do
but, they still want that old rotten shed, that they are to scared to go into

 

[TheJollyLogger]

I don't know why, but this job from 15 years ago popped into my head, kind of a similar situation, I think. It was a Saturday job for a friend, too. Just had him and my wife for groundies, but we did good and had it down by beer thirty... my wife was great on a Porta wrap. There was another pine off the driveway that I set a block right about even with the first cut, and then ran down to a Porta wrap at the base. I would rig the pick off of a loop runner and pull on the bull rope, and then they would tighten it up and put a few wraps on it. When I made the cut, it would ride the line clear of the roof, and then they could just lower it clear of the house, unhook, and then we would reset for the next pick. By rigging it that way, when the pick released, all the energy was transferred to the bull rope, and it would just slide down the line until it came to a stop at the low point on the "sag line", as we called it. F=MA, so the felt force in the tree was fairly minimal, and there just wasn't really any bouncing or oscillation up in the tree. There was a bit of shock as the slack in the loop runner absorbed the fall, but it was more rotational as the pick ran down the line, and was really pretty smooth... never felt like I was going to get bucked out of the tree, so to speak, and as you can see, we took some fairly decent sized pieces off. If you are at 80', you will have more room to work with over the garage, but the other advantage of a sag line over a regular speed line is the piece just kind of finds it's own point on the line and you don't have much in the way of deceleration forces. I was fortunate because in this case I had that nice vertical limb for a lifeline, but all in all I remember it as a pretty smooth ride... hope this helps.

 

[Stihl User]

I don't know why, but this job from 15 years ago popped into my head, kind of a similar situation, I think. It was a Saturday job for a friend, too. Just had him and my wife for groundies, but we did good and had it down by beer thirty... my wife was great on a Porta wrap. There was another pine off the driveway that I set a block right about even with the first cut, and then ran down to a Porta wrap at the base. I would rig the pick off of a loop runner and pull on the bull rope, and then they would tighten it up and put a few wraps on it. When I made the cut, it would ride the line clear of the roof, and then they could just lower it clear of the house, unhook, and then we would reset for the next pick. By rigging it that way, when the pick released, all the energy was transferred to the bull rope, and it would just slide down the line until it came to a stop at the low point on the "sag line", as we called it. F=MA, so the felt force in the tree was fairly minimal, and there just wasn't really any bouncing or oscillation up in the tree. There was a bit of shock as the slack in the loop runner absorbed the fall, but it was more rotational as the pick ran down the line, and was really pretty smooth... never felt like I was going to get bucked out of the tree, so to speak, and as you can see, we took some fairly decent sized pieces off. If you are at 80', you will have more room to work with over the garage, but the other advantage of a sag line over a regular speed line is the piece just kind of finds it's own point on the line and you don't have much in the way of deceleration forces. I was fortunate because in this case I had that nice vertical limb for a lifeline, but all in all I remember it as a pretty smooth ride... hope this helps.View attachment 980038View attachment 980040View attachment 980039

I always look for nearby trees for assistance/ease of operation whenever needed.

 

[jefflovstrom]

I'm 59, You got me beat by one year lol, and I too have a LOT of past nagging injuries so no one ever says that I "Climb like a Monkey" more like a Sloth lol.
Great advice, thanks.

lol, I am 61,, but going strong still,
Jeff
It was a beautiful day!