Climbing a bowed / bending spar ?

[Stihl User]

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

I am 60 in a 80 year body due to Lymes and was T-Boned in my driver door by a SUV doing 55mph only four years ago.
Maybe SteveinOregon is not as fit-n-fiddle as you - he did say he has nagging injuries.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Lol, Jeff is sitting in his office with 15 NIB 200ts behind him on the phone going" don't make me send the crane out there for that little job, ya *****! It's a beautiful day, now get back to work!"

 

[SteveInOregon]

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

Thanks for posting.
By the way the tree I am contemplating working on / in bends / curves a LOT more than the one in your photos.

 

[SteveInOregon]

I am 60 in a 80 year body due to Lymes and was T-Boned in my driver door by a SUV doing 55mph only four years ago.
Maybe SteveinOregon is not as fit-n-fiddle as you - he did say he has nagging injuries.

Well, let's see. I am blind in my right eye ( gun fight ).

Broke my neck & back, one knee, one shoulder ( came off a 2 story ladder scraping to paint the second story window trim.
Broke my hip in Jujitsu ( blue belt me 176lb vs 260lb brown belt lol )
Broke my " other" hip ( literally sticking out - motorcycle lol )
Broke my right ankle ( snowboarding )
Tore my right bicep ( logging)
I'll stop here , the rest are just scars that don't " constantly" nag me lol.

Nitetime in bed can be the worst , you know, you can't get comfortable and everything freezes up and hurts lol.

Ibuprofen is my nasty little buddy, nasty because it burns my stomach ( to the point of bleeding ulcer a few years ago ) so I use my little nasty friend sparingly ( whole milk help a lot ).... cheers.

 

[Stihl User]

Well, let's see. I am blind in my right eye ( gun fight ).

Broke my neck & back, one knee, one shoulder ( came off a 2 story ladder scraping to paint the second story window trim.
Broke my hip in Jujitsu ( blue belt me 176lb vs 260lb brown belt lol )
Broke my " other" hip ( literally sticking out - motorcycle lol )
Broke my right ankle ( snowboarding )
Tore my right bicep ( logging)
I'll stop here , the rest are just scars that don't " constantly" nag me lol.

Nitetime in bed can be the worst , you know, you can't get comfortable and everything freezes up and hurts lol.

Ibuprofen is my nasty little buddy, nasty because it burns my stomach ( to the point of bleeding ulcer a few years ago ) so I use my little nasty friend sparingly ( whole milk help a lot ).... cheers.

With all those breaks, you sure you want to climb this bent tree???
Take Aleve, if you can.
But look for any High Point branches on the tree you will be in or nearby for added support.
Did you post pics? Maybe i missed them.

My daily rutine includes Whole Leaf Green Tea as is reduces inflamation and pain.
You have to cover it and let it steep for 10 to 15 minutes.

 

[SteveInOregon]

With all those breaks, you sure you want to climb this bent tree???
Take Aleve, if you can.
But look for any High Point branches on the tree you will be in or nearby for added support.
Did you post pics? Maybe i missed them.

My daily rutine includes Whole Leaf Green Tea as is reduces inflamation and pain.
You have to cover it and let it steep for 10 to 15 minutes.

I may just pass on this bent spar tree and take down the other 3 big dying and dead snags on his property.
I listen to my gut / God and it / He says NO.

Regardless, I will take photos and post them for You guys to asses.

Clint Eastwood " Man's got to know his limitations".
Green Tea =

 

[Stihl User]

Well, let's see. I am blind in my right eye ( gun fight ).

Broke my neck & back, one knee, one shoulder ( came off a 2 story ladder scraping to paint the second story window trim.
Broke my hip in Jujitsu ( blue belt me 176lb vs 260lb brown belt lol )
Broke my " other" hip ( literally sticking out - motorcycle lol )
Broke my right ankle ( snowboarding )
Tore my right bicep ( logging)
I'll stop here , the rest are just scars that don't " constantly" nag me lol.

Nitetime in bed can be the worst , you know, you can't get comfortable and everything freezes up and hurts lol.

Ibuprofen is my nasty little buddy, nasty because it burns my stomach ( to the point of bleeding ulcer a few years ago ) so I use my little nasty friend sparingly ( whole milk help a lot ).... cheers.

I keep thinking about your past injuries. I love Oregon and if i were able i would zip on over there and see if i could help.
Stay safe brother, no need to hurt yourself - again.

Sometimes, we 'do it all' men have to walk away.

 

[Cricket]

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.

I miss my "Climb like a monkey" days - more like "walk like C3PO" days now...

 

[SteveInOregon]

I keep thinking about your past injuries. I love Oregon and if i were able i would zip on over there and see if i could help.
Stay safe brother, no need to hurt yourself - again.

Sometimes, we 'do it all' men have to walk away.

Words to "live" by .....cheers my friend

 

[GrizG]

Keep this in mind.

Note to self: Don't do this.

 

[ZinTrees]

Note to self: Don't do this.

not advised, but one will see me single tie in to make a cut like this from now on

 

[Rabid K9]

Lanyard aside, big part of the issues in that video were:

* Timber type - willow, weak but flexible.
* Release cut - extremely shallow undercut, no side cuts. In this scenario as 'box' cut would have released leader without issue.

Is routine to send much larger heavier, horizontal leaders & laterals in our eucs, a big multi tonne section would have torn him apart with a slack release cut like that, sitting on limb could have also led to being catapulted once end weight released.

Deliberate, controlled box cut all the way in this scenario.

 

[beastmaster]

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

Hey Jeff I'm 64 tomorrow and I'm still climbing 5 or six days a week. The trick is don't stop or you'll lose it

 

[beastmaster]

I did this oak leaner this week that had a big crack in it half way up from the last snow fall. I used a tall tree near by to set my climbing line in so I could leverage my self at an angle and almost walk up the side of the tree. We then spanned rigged the large heavy branches between two trees so no shock was applied to the cracked leaner. As each limb was removed it started straighting up some from it's 180 deg bend. In the past I have SRTed streight up a bad leaner right to where I wanted to make my cut.
Leaner's suck. Any advantages or tricks should be explored. Keep in mind how much tension is in a leaner. They'll often barber chair violently when big cuts are made.

 

[trains]

Lanyard aside, big part of the issues in that video were:

* Timber type - willow, weak but flexible.
* Release cut - extremely shallow undercut, no side cuts. In this scenario as 'box' cut would have released leader without issue.

Is routine to send much larger heavier, horizontal leaders & laterals in our eucs, a big multi tonne section would have torn him apart with a slack release cut like that, sitting on limb could have also led to being catapulted once end weight released.

Deliberate, controlled box cut all the way in this scenario.

Hey Rabid K9, im not familiar with the term Box cut, can you describe it please ? or does it go by other names, have a few leaning eucs to deal with in the coming months, and I climb like a sleeply sloth too. .

Always willing to learn, only stupid question is the one you dont ask etc.

 

[jefflovstrom]

Hey Jeff I'm 64 tomorrow and I'm still climbing 5 or six days a week. The trick is don't stop or you'll lose it

Happy Birthday Wade!!!!!! And many more I hope! Stay safe
Jeff
It was a beautiful day!