Food For Thought

[Jumper]

Yesterday we were removing a large sugar maple from a backyard. All the limbs requiring lowering by bull line were done, and the climber was cutting the remaining limbs and blockwood and letting them fall. I was standing about 25 feet away from the impact points...........you would think this would be enough! Except, the remains of a limb about four feet long and twenty feet up had been left on the tree for some inexplicable reason-it was serving no useful purpose at all. You guessed it, an eight inch in diameter four foot long piece of limb hit it on the way down, and was launched horizontally at me like a slingshotted projectile. Luckily I saw it coming and those Army drills must have been useful after all....I went to ground and it passed right over where I had been standing!!!!! All this really impressed the new ground guy who had been on the job exactly four days. Had this hit me I would have been severely injured or killed.

Lessons learned:

As a ground guy I will not tolerate limbs(or stubs) of any size left on the tree by the climber on the way up.

Remain alert at all times, especially when things are flying out of a tree.

Had this managed to hit me in the head, I was wearing a CSA Class E hardhat which protects against frontal, side and top impacts. I learned to appreciate the value of a good helmet during several hard parachute landings. This one could have saved me a good deal of pain, and I was glad I was wearing it.
Wear those hats. Incidentally this is my own...most provided by employers are the older (and cheaper) Class B types that do not provide the same degree of protection.

Feedback to the climber(who had no idea what had happened). I discussed this whole incident later once the climber ( my boss) was out of the tree. I was not too sure how he would take my criticism, but in the end he appreciated my candor, and apologized. So I will not be hesitant to discuss future incidents (hopefully there are none).

Prior to my involvement in this industry, I among other things was a Occupational Health and Safety Officer in the Armed Forces. My comments here are provided in the name of education.

Safety is everybodies' business.

 

[treeclimber165]

I will leave stubs on the trunk of a removal, for tie-in purposes when blocking down the trunk. I used to cut them short, about 4", but when they got cut off eventually, they were a pain to pick up. I now leave stubs about 18" (firewood length) when I will need to block down a trunk. I try to leave one every 2-3' if possible. When I know I can drop the trunk, I won't leave stubs. When I'm flying stuff out of a tree, I try to work around leads below. Many times I will leave a lead if I will need it for roping or tie-in later in the job.
It's all a matter of planning the removal out before putting on your gaffs. I try to visualize my tie-ins, roping forks and what order I will work the tree before I ever start. With a good ground crew who knows my routine, it works very smoothly because I try to give them enough to stay busy without burying them. :angel:

 

[DDM]

Hmmmm Jumper, Sounds like you may need a football helmet. With a full face mask.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I was just talking about this today.
Climbers leave stubs, ground guys hate it. Climbers don't like to make any more cuts than they have to to get the job done. They also like to make cuts out were the branches are thiner. It's also nice to have something to tie into, hold on to, stand on, and rope off of, going up and comming back down.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I used to leave stubs to stand on, then stub my way down on the felling side of the spar.

A few years back I was taking apart a honey locust which had a large limb over the house at a 45-30 degree angle, I had cleared the limbes away from my swing area to rig out and was climbing up to the tip of the limb over the house. bark was still slippery and I slid off and took a swing into the trunk.

Ended up taking the stub in the back of my neck, right under the lip of my Petzl helment. if it would have been much over an inch longer I may not be here right now.

 

[UrbanEarth]

I take it from the past tense that you no longer do that JPS????

Alan

 

[DDM]

John<-- Needs a football helmet as well

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

He needs full body armor, like they wear for jousting.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Mantra for climbers

Chant this to your self..often and continuously:

Stubs come back to haunt me
Stubs come back to haunt me
Stubs come back to haunt me
Stubs come back to haunt me
Stubs come back to haunt me
Stubs come back to haunt me
Stubs come back to haunt me

There's no need to leave stubs for rigging points if an eye sling or loopie is used as a false crotch. The same goes for a climbing tie in. go back to one of the adjustable false crotch threads.

Years ago I had a climber who kept cutting branches off and leaving five inch stubs. He would then cut the stubs. The groundies hated picking up these pieces. Ed got the nickname of Stubby until he started to cut 12-18" stubs. Didn't take too long Sometimes negative reinforcement works...

Tom

 

[Kevin]

There`s another question that can be addressed here.

Is 25ft. an adequate buffer when the climber is dropping tree parts to the ground?
In my opinion the answer is no.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I seen a willow chunk, round bout 20 in dia by 3 ft long, take an unfair bounce off another one on the gound and go spinning towards a picture window. Luckily I was on the ground for that one . Double lucky it landed between two yews and did nothing but squash a bleeding heart that was out of season, I was crew leader

:angel: Someone watching over me.....


Stubs come back to haunt me
Stubs come back to haunt me
Stubs come back to haunt me
Stubs come back to haunt me

As the rope hits the ground the groundie calls out "Hey I see a 2 inch stub, bout 6 inch long, about 60 ft up and 30 feet out to the north!"

Finish your cuts while you are there!

 

[Jumper]

Re 25 Feet

If the pieces are falling straight down, I am comfortable with 25 feet. I can not be out of the backyard for eg. It is when they change direction on the way down that 25 feet evidently is not quite enough. Anyways I will continue to keep my eyes open, and ears tuned to the noise of the saw.