Need Equipment Advise, much work to do

[Ax-man]

Wonder what happened to our gung ho elderly tree climbing marine??

Hope he didn't fall out of one of those wind mangled trees.

Thought he would have checked in with some more questions, maybe he has it all figured out and doesn't need any advice.

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

heres me thinking you get wiser with age ,obviously not the case with this poor fellow

 

[THC]

Where have I been??

Mr. Ax-Man,

You guys are absolutely the greatest!!

I read you note to my fellow worker here and he wanted to reply that they had buried me last week.

Actually, I have been working on the ground except for one small excursion into a small Black Walnut. Have been reading through Douglas Dent’s book on Professional Tree Falling and re-reading The Tree Climber’s Companion. Have been working on learning several knots, watching the logger do his work on the many trees that were blown down.

We have an interesting condition in what is left of the small 15 or so acre wood lot. I will try to describe this for you for your comments. We have a Wild Cherry approximately 20” in dia that is broken off at the stump about 4’ up. The stem is at least 35’ + long and the canopy is hooked in the canopy of a White Oak of at least 36” dia. The Cherry is hanging vertically approximately 3-4’ to the North of the Oak. There are no obstructions, limbs or snags between the two trees. The location is on a 30% slope.

If I tie a line on the Cherry and try to yank it out of the Oak, there is considerable chance of a lot of damage occurring to the Oak. I really do not want to chance damaging the Oak, even though it is back off the edge of an 8 acre field where it is not really that visible. We do have deer hunters in this woods and this thing will become an even greater hazard as time passes.

Thoughts on what to do??
Climb the Oak and using a pole saw, begin carefully trimming back the Cherry until it is dislodged from the Oak. This may not be a good idea as you may not have any control over the Cherry when it drops the 5-6’ to the ground and there is not any way to predict which way it will then fall. So here we are up a tree, ropes dangling and with my luck, it would catch my lines and the falling Cherry tree and pull me out of the Oak. Not a great thought!!

Next thought
Climb the Oak and figure out a way to cut say 5’ lgths off of the Cherry stem until there is nothing left but the canopy, which could then be fairly safely pieced out until gone.

Or
Put a line on the Cherry stem up near the canopy, tie the line off to prevent the stem from falling toward the Oak, then cut the stem free up near the canopy. In theory, the Cherry would drop vertically, lay into the tie off line and fall in some direction other than against the Oak in which I would be very temporarily housed. Possibly very temporarily housed.

Last, just let it rot out and fall when ever. Small chance anyone will be under it?? Personally, I don’t like any of the options.

On the question of “Thought he would have checked in with some more questions, maybe he has it all figured out and doesn't need any advice.” You can rest assured, I am not doing anything until proper equipment arrives and then there will be lots of questions. This will probably be in a month or so and I will be back to you guys.

I do have an immediate question for you. I am reading in the catalogs about ascenders and descenders. Ahh…..if I have this correct, you use an ascender to go up, and a descender to go down??? Oh boy am I in trouble!! Sherrill offers the I'D DESCENDER/LG./ by Petzl/11.5-13mm rope use/Belay device/GREY. This sounds like the best and possibly the safest for an old fool like me. So the question is what would you folks suggest?? For both going up and coming down. Are these devices, something that is carried on the tool belt and applied as neede??

Thanks to all of you.
Best regards,

 

[Stumper]

Terry, It isn't possible for me to advise you on the cherry without at least a picture. Being in a wood lot instead of the house yard makes leaving it to its own future more palatable if not perfect. re4garding ascenders and descenders-many of us have worked on thousands of trees using only our friction hitch-NOT employing and other mechanical devices. If you feel a real need for a device then you'll be "needing" an ASCENDER. Going up is the hard part. Gravity makes going down simple and a friction hitch is adequate for controlling the descent.:angel:

 

[THC]

Can't advise without a Picture

Mr. Stumper,

If I can figure out how to post a picture, I will try to get some photos of the hanging tree.

It is interesting how this thing could have gotten where it is and we, the logger and I cannot quite understand except to say the wind does strange things.

Best regards,

 

[gumneck]

So how did it turn out? I started this from post one b/c of a search on "wild cherry" , get hooked into it, and the last post has no resolution.

I'm biting my nails here....

 

[Ax-man]

I don't know what happened to him, probaly fell out of tree. He started a thread or two over in the climbing forum and that was the last we heard from him. He was an interesting guy wasn't he.

Larry

 

[THC]

Hi gents, have not fallen out of tree YET!!

Hi guys,

So you don't what happened to him?? The old fool is still around and doing a lot of clearing still from last years storms and carefully removing leaning trees and broken limbs.

The most difficult work is dropping Locus trees that have several stems with little or no horizontal branches, and that are leaning over buildings. I should invest in gaffs. These are trees that are maybe 30 - 40 ft high. The fear is that attempting to cut an 8" diameter vertical branch, 20 or so ft in length, will kick back and nail the person doing the cutting. I need a bucket truck for that. Wonder what it would cost to rent one.

There are 27 acres here, and lots of fields to mow, equipment to maintain, brush to remove, cut wood to stack, and hand split. I am a one old man show, with a full time job, which leaves only the week end for tree climbing and trimming.

Frankly, I find the whole thing fun. I go slow and do a lot of thinking before I act. I definitely need a Big Shot. That may likely be the next acquisition.

I cannot thank you people enough for the safety information and other advice you have provided.

My primary tools are a Marvin’s pole saw, trimmer head, and an 17” long Fanno FI-1700 hand saw.

Climbing gear is Samson climbing rope, throw line, throw bags, Weaver saddle, Red Dawg boots from Bailey’s, old MSR helmet that is similar to the Petzel helmet, a 6’ lanyard, and The Tree Climber’s Hand Book.

Hopefully, I will not get into trouble. The hand book is great, but nothing is as simple as it makes out. Limbs are never where you ideally want them to be, and I never seem to throw the line exactly where I want it. Some of the Locus trees have no suitable horizontal branches that would be a safe crotch. Either the limb is a broken stub, or way to small a diameter to trust. So what to do with it?? I don’t have an answer.

Well it is late and I have to get up at 5:00 am, and off to work on hydraulic applications where I make a meager income. But, at my level of education, a meager income is better than no income.

Best regards,
Terry Crowell

 

[MasterBlaster]

I still love those initials.

 

[vharrison2]

I still love those initials.

Master, you crack me up