Lorra
ArboristSite Lurker
Thought I'd update regarding my quest to learn more about arborist work by observing some climbers in action. I was driving down my street and spotted a truck...with a boom thing on top...and I thought, "Hmmm, that's either the electric company utility truck, or...it's a tree service truck!" Then I really got my hopes up when I saw several cones in the street near the back of the truck.
As I approached, my eyes were set on the driver's door to read the lettering: A tree service! They apparently had just arrived.
BUT...it was 9:35 am and I had a 10 am appointment. I talked to them for a minute and they said they were going to do some trimming. I proceeded on, hoping my 10 am appointment wouldn't show.
And lo and behold, the appointment didn't show! I waited 15 minutes, she never called, and I headed back home. By the time I arrived, the three men were already in the big tree, pruning away. Shucks, I missed the part where they throw the lines up and climb up. But the one guy said that you just pull yourself up on the rope with feet on the trunk. I asked how do 240-pound climbers do it, with all their extra body weight? He said the rope can be rigged to "double" one's climb-pull strength. I learned something!
One of the guys was just hanging there in his saddle, comfy as a clam, clipping away above the roof of the house. Then he yanked himself up, pulling on the ropes---the same motion of gym pulley rows (which I do very furiously at the gym, so I know I'd have no trouble at all maneuvering about in an tree if I were trained to do so). And he hoisted himself up on a branch and stood on it to resume trimming...
But I still have a lot to learn because I had to leave after 15 minutes.
As I approached, my eyes were set on the driver's door to read the lettering: A tree service! They apparently had just arrived.
BUT...it was 9:35 am and I had a 10 am appointment. I talked to them for a minute and they said they were going to do some trimming. I proceeded on, hoping my 10 am appointment wouldn't show.
And lo and behold, the appointment didn't show! I waited 15 minutes, she never called, and I headed back home. By the time I arrived, the three men were already in the big tree, pruning away. Shucks, I missed the part where they throw the lines up and climb up. But the one guy said that you just pull yourself up on the rope with feet on the trunk. I asked how do 240-pound climbers do it, with all their extra body weight? He said the rope can be rigged to "double" one's climb-pull strength. I learned something!
One of the guys was just hanging there in his saddle, comfy as a clam, clipping away above the roof of the house. Then he yanked himself up, pulling on the ropes---the same motion of gym pulley rows (which I do very furiously at the gym, so I know I'd have no trouble at all maneuvering about in an tree if I were trained to do so). And he hoisted himself up on a branch and stood on it to resume trimming...
But I still have a lot to learn because I had to leave after 15 minutes.
