Spurs and leaning trees

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  • Indeed I neglected to remove the slack from the second lifeline. I had two lifelines attached to two different trees. In case of swing I would not smash against a trunk of the other tree, but swing right in between. As the lifeline was almost horizontal it felt heavy and pulling. I know you should not have your lifeline more than 45 degrees, but there was no higher anchoring point.
  • I was positioned on the side. It is not well seen on the footage, but the back cut was at the camera view side.
  • Thank you for comments.
 
Here is something a newbie can learn from my mistake. I was cutting a small limb on top of the canopy. I made about one third undercut. As I was finishing the backcut the limb instead to break started to split. Just below the cut I had my lanyard. Fortunately the limb broke before the split reached the lanyard. If it would be some large wood it may and not end so well. On the next branch I made a wedge. Since then I am cutting nice wedges even on small branches if they lean heavely.

tmnetsolutions.com/dangerous_split.mp4
 
Few questions for the next challenge.
The remaining leaning oak grows above birches and ornamental plants which I hope to preserve.
It is the third tree of the triplet. One of which was dead and the other just stripped of canopy pointed on the second picture. The circles are my intended T.I.P.'s. The lower is much closer to the center of the tree. The biggest challenge for me seems to be the right part of the canopy (second picture).

1. Would you ever use this same tree for rigging, considering its lean?
2. Would you ridge to a tree pointed by arrows on the second picture? (Not very useful probably).
3. What about using a speed line to the drop zone beyond right side of the picture? This seems to be the most appealing to me, but I don't know if it can be rigged safely. The speedline would be at about 45 degree angle.
4. Would you use a higher anchor points for the climb line. How big or small limb would you set the safety line on? 8, 6, 4 inches? I know it depends, but what would be a rule of thumb here?

Thanks alot in advance.

lean-2_r.jpg
lean-1_r.jpg
lean-3_r.jpg
 
No, I did not.
I thought about cutting small sections at first.
I am not in a hurry. Priority for me now is gaining experience safely.
The challenge with this task is to reach enough far to do the cut on lateral branches if the safety line has a low anchor point.
 
I imagine. For now I will let the branches to take a ride. :)
I believe if I tense the speedline against the lean then there shouldn't be a big stress on the tree, and 45 degree angle will make a smooth fall.
However, I don't see yet where I would anchor the line, except to the remaining part of the severed branch and then move to next. Is it practiced?
 
This is somewhat similar job. However, the tree has much bigger base to withstand the drop than the one I deal with.

 
Usually, I'll anchor it to the trunk, above the limb

Do you see a trunk on my tree? It is more like a fan. The crown has a flat almost horizontal shape. Where would you attach a speedline?
 
If i'm willing to climb on it I will attach a speed line to it. As long as there is a little sag in the rope the forces on the tree are smaller than you would expect. I would attach the speedline as far away from obstacles as possible and leave a little more sag in the rope.
 
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