Pines, gotta hate them.

[treeman82]

Does anybody else here hate working with mature pines as much as I do? I find that whenever I work with either a single large tree, or a bunch of medium sized trees my rope(s) get all sticky and my knots sieze up to where they are about useless. All my gear gets messed up, and I wind up having to take my ropes / split tails / lanyards to the laundromat the night after. It really irks me, this is of course WITHOUT counting the sap that gets all over my arms. Does anybody else feel the same as I do?

 

[Stumper]

I don't work on pines all that much since I moved a few years ago. Formerly 80% of my work was on pines. I only washed my ropes once a year or so. If you keep working with it the sap wears off( and since the next day I'd be working n another pine why bother?)Glop a bunch of fresh sap all over your gloves- they'll last twice as long!

 

[FBerkel]

82--

Have you tried using a friction saver in them?

 

[mikey]

I'm not that fond of the sap,But pines are 80% of jobs I do.I guess after a while you get use to them,at least they cut and chip easy.

 

[Tim Gardner]

Pine sap is one of the reasons I switched to the Microcender for my flipline and a mechanical friction hitch for climbing.

 

[Top it]

They dont look so good when you top 'em out though.

 

[rbtree]

Top it,

what does??

I hope you dont top living trees....unless you finish 'em off with a basal prune....


hate to have to call ya a hack....LOL

 

[rbtree]

It aint just pine, My gear is still messed up from the big spruce removal Tuesday....

And young Doug fir, just like Western white pine, especially in the spring, can be covered with pitch bubbles that just love to burst and give ya a good spraying..beter have the safety glasses on!!

 

[rahtreelimbs]

Pines!!!

I do my share of pines. Hate them with a passion. I have a climbing rope dedicated to pines only.

I hate the sap getting on my saws. When you go to work on them sawdust is just about glue on.

Rich.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Austrian pine and CO spruce removed today.

No shaving gell in the house (aint used a razor in I don't know how many years) so i got out the Goop and a green scratchpad to get all that stuff off my hands and arms.

Reminds me, I gotta go turn the washer on, my Carharts are soaking in pinesol....

 

[treeclimber165]

Sap wears off the ropes, you have to route your lines carefully and think about what order you make your cuts so you aren't dragging a rope across a fresh cut.

The generic GoJo hand cleaner for $.99 at the auto parts store works great for cutting the sap off your hands (and hair). Just follow it up with Dawn dish soap or hand soap to get the GoJo off, cause it kinda stinks.

At least pines don't have the multitude of biting insects that seem to inhabit oaks. My right elbow is swollen up tonight, something bit me today and I couldn't tell you what or when. Oh, well. I still love climbing. Wouldn't have any other job.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I was told once that chiggers hide in the moss, because they are a bird mite.

True?

 

[Stumper]

I agree 100% on the Gojo. If no waterless hand cleaner is available then try vegetable oil-it cuts the sap- then it takes lots of soap to cut the veg oil.

 

[Tim Gardner]

Isopropyl runbbing alcohol cuts pine sap off your hands fast. It dries fast and don't stink.

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

We have found less sap in trees in the last few years due to years of drought previously!

Also try not to drag line through cuts, and watch for depth of bark damage, sometimes packing a crotch with usually available hanging moss, even used my shirt once to protect a new line on a friction point.

We also make efforts to cut and move stuff quickly, before a lot of sap leaks out, especially don't leave logs in 100 deg. heat while at lunch. The healthier pines, with no leakage usually have more sap, so do them in earlier cool morn.

Don't know about the mites in moss, but lots of nasties hang there. But that is nothing compared to the multitudes of life in a mature live oak, like some tropical self contained flourishing ecosystem! Diffrent types of 'ferns' growing on top of all major branchings, other things growing spuriously, all kinds of bugs etc. Very richly picturesque, slippery and teeming with all kinds of irratants, bites and stings, mostly hidden in the thick moss carpetting. But still majestically awesome!

 

[murphy4trees]

Tim,
Hulda Clark, a russian research scientist, has written extensively about isopropyl damaging the liver, which damages the immune system and leads to cancer.. These may be controvercial findings, and ever since reading her, I use grain alchohol when necessary.
God Bless,
Daniel

 

[Nickrosis]

Only in Florida...

 

[Tim Gardner]

Originally posted by murphy4trees
Tim,
Hulda Clark, a russian research scientist, has written extensively about isopropyl damaging the liver, which damages the immune system and leads to cancer.. These may be controvercial findings, and ever since reading her, I use grain alchohol when necessary.
God Bless,
Daniel

And grain alchohol does not cause liver damage?

 

[murphy4trees]

Not if you use it topically.. otherwise watch out.. I have an associate with a liver transplant.. Costs $1,000/month in drugs to keep him alive.
daniel
PS Clark refers primarily to isopropyl being in shampoos, liquid soaps and skin lotions.. often called propyl paraben... and anything on the label that says propyl means propyl alchohol.
And did you know that antibacterial soaps and even Irish Spring contain 2-4-D.. basically the same stuff as in agent orange... tough on the body.. especially the children.

 

[Tim Gardner]

Well I have not flopped over dead yet from using rubbing alchohol in 33 years so........ lol