More PNW Lombardies

[rbtree]

These two Lombardy poplars were ~100-110 feet tall, and ~3 feet in diameter, so not overly huge,. But they were in a small back yard and over three other yards, so rigging was required. We were able to tip tie and lower the larger lower limbs and leads,, which is much easier than butt lowering lower limbs. The upper limbs and leads were butt hitched. However, it was being able to send the chipper winch line up and attach to the limbs that made it possible for us to do the job in one day. It would have been very tedious if we weren't able to yard the limbs out with the winch.

Please excuse the one sideways clip and all the chipper noise..and the length. Watch in HD

 

[rbtree]

There's no video of me doing the initial rigging, which went super fast. After getting a few low easy limbs free dropped, i set a high block and tip tied all the lower leads of the front tree, and a couple on the back tree. Coupled with the chipper winch yarding them right to the chipper, it went super fast and smooth. I'd set a redirect block on a small cedar right next to the chipper, in order to get the winch line oriented perfectly, right between the houses. Tip tying lombardy leads is the best way to move fast, when there's no room for free drops.

The main climber is Patrick of Westside Tree Care. He worked for me for a few years before starting his own biz. As he has no chipper or dump truck, we do a fair bit of trading these days. A sweet arrangement! He's younger and stronger than me, but still needs to be around the old guy. I've got lots of tricks and tips that he can still learn!

There's a clip of Trevor, who has little climb experience, but is a great crew hand, having a bit of trouble cutting through a small chunk. Wish he was full time..married, non smoker, firefighter experience, and now works part time at a hospital as an EMT.

 

[rbtree]

That final top which Pat flipped was a ballsy move. Fence and deck each within 5-10 feet of the butt.

However, check starting at about 4:50, where I note that the section is tied a couple feet above the block and that it would be OK. Well, it surely wasn't,as the piece broke and fell, landing in the neighbor's garden, but doing no damage, luckily. Clearly, it should have been marled, meaning the line should have been tied off over about 8-10 feet of the lead, to get it into bigger wood. And marls would have held the broken lead together.