Climbing Digger Pine

[suprherosndwch]

Digger pine, gray pine, ghost pine, what ever PC name you give it, does anybody have any experience climbing them. I just picked up a job taking one down, but have never been in the top of one. This one has about 13 leaders, and am wondering if anybody has tried to climb each leader individually, or if you wouldn't't go any higher than where the tree forks. What I am wondering is, on average, and I know it will depend on the tree, are the unions of each leader to the main trunk generally fairly strong. I hardly every see one break out, the tree usually will uproot before a top will break out. Also, is the wood brittle or anything else I should know. It is a pretty strait forward job, and I could do it in three cuts without getting into the top. But I'm thinking that I'll spend a day in the tree trying some different rigging techniques unless somebody thinks getting into each of those leaders is a bad idea. This is a generic pic off of google of a digger, but it is pretty similar to the tree I have to work with. Thanks for any advice.

S

 

[moray]

I took down 4 of them a couple of years ago in the Sierra foothills. I had to take 2 of them down in pieces to avoid damaging a building and a propane tank, so I was up in the upper part of the tree. The wood seemed much tougher and stronger than eastern White pine, more like Monterrey pine. Very sappy after you make your cuts. A very handsome pine.

 

[suprherosndwch]

That's kind of what I was guessing. Iv'e always been amazed by the tree. It grows as wrong as it can. Forked tops, included bark, leaning and twisting. But you hardly ever see them fail. I wonder if the twisted grain is what gives them there strength.

S

 

[kkottemann]

I have never climbed one but I have seen them and collected the cones. I would definitly wear a hardhat. Those cones could kill given enough velocity. A tough looking tree to say the least.

 

[suprherosndwch]

Well, the tree is down

After doing the job, I would have to say that digger pine is the stringiest woods I've cut. I have never had a cut piece stall before, but I had it happen twice on this job. Needed wider angles on the face cuts. Tryed to split a piece of it with a maul afterwords, and was like hitting a brick. Strong, twisted grain. Was a fun job though with all of those tops.

S


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[moray]

Nice pics, S. Looks like you were tackling an unusually large specimen.

I wonder if anyone has any idea why trees like the Digger pine and Monterrey pine have such tough stringy wood, but the eastern White pine around here has such weak and fragile wood. Maybe if you're a White pine in the forest, racing to reach the canopy, or stay ahead of other trees, you can't afford to invest in tough, dense, stringy wood. I know Digger pines don't occur in "forests", so racing for the light may not be a issue for them, and they can afford to build really strong structure. The downside for the White pines is they lose a lot of limbs in snow and wind.

 

[mudguts]

Nice job. Do you get to keep the wood? Most everyone I know dislikes burning that stuff, but I love it. It's so plentyfull around here and it burns good in my insert

 

[suprherosndwch]

I have never burned the stuff, so I brought back a dozen rounds to try. I have heard it both ways, some people like it to get a fire going, and others say it's pretty messy to burn. I know that I can't split the stuff right now with the twisted grain, hopefully I can when it dries, or i'll have to borrow a splitter. How do you think it burns, and do you have trouble splitting it?


S

 

[mudguts]

I have never burned the stuff, so I brought back a dozen rounds to try. I have heard it both ways, some people like it to get a fire going, and others say it's pretty messy to burn. I know that I can't split the stuff right now with the twisted grain, hopefully I can when it dries, or i'll have to borrow a splitter. How do you think it burns, and do you have trouble splitting it?


S

It burns hot and fast, leaves little ash when seasoned. It's not very easy to hand split green. We have a splitter that handles it like butter.

Sorry for the late reply, I've been without a computer for over a month.

 

[suprherosndwch]

I looked at the rounds the other day, and they are starting to dry and crack a little. I'll probably let them sit until the middle of the summer, and then try and split them. A log splitter would be the way to go though.

 

[pbtree]

Mudguts, I love your avatar.... He was my president in the 90's for sure...

 

[mudguts]

Rep for you pb and to keep the thread on topic, what part of norcal was that pine located superhero? I may have passed through there once or twice.

 

[suprherosndwch]

That tree was outside of redding, ca.