southsoundtree
ArboristSite Operative
Time to time I find myself in a tree that I would rather not be in due to its unstability, especially at the top. I like to install my climb line into another tree and have an OH S*&T! escape route if the tree were to fail. Unfortunately this is not always an option.
In chatting with a customer he asked me out these abrasive wire saws that have a ring on each end that attaches to a rope (had a "Rambo" mail-order knife with such a saw when I was a kid). Another customer had one that was actual chainsaw chain with rings on each end with ropes attached. Had some mechanism so that when it was thrown over a limb, it would flip so that it would be cutters downward. Nothing to use for pro pruning, but then the lightbulb went off in my head.
I was thinking about having to top a 100' Doug-fir snag, Wobbling around and around, afraid the top was going to bust out while I was in the tree. Being overly nervous, worrying about the whole tree failing.
I got a rope on the top and a guyline out behind the tree attached below the cut. I did a Humboldt cut with a plunge-cut, leaving a small backstrap. Lowered out of the tree and then pulled like mad to bust the backstrap. Top came out. climbed back up, chunked it down to 25', and carved it up into a wildlife snag.
If I had put in a face cut, then plunge cut he back, not horizontal but actually very downwardly, leaving a backstrap. I could have inserted one of those survival saws, with very long rope handles that would reach to the ground. After lowering out of the tree, cut the rest of the backstrap, and away it would have gone, with much less stress.
Another thought where it might be useful to have in the bag of tricks:
Another scenario that I find myself in time to time is on Alders, alnus rubra,
where I have a top that I need/ want to catch by hand. Sometimes the tree gets too thin to climb before the top gets small enough to handle by hand for a snap cut and lower (still upright, in the event that there's not vertical space to drop the top and catch on a rope). Before snap cutting, I'll haul up a telescoping pole saw to take off some of the side limbs to lighten it. This gets me some pretty good reach, but it might be easier to have a cable saw on my harness and use my throw line to install it and operate it.
This could also work out when there is very narrow falling lane for the top and the side branches won't clear the obstacles. A quick throw, some fast cable sawing of the side branches, and Tops Away.
Just some ideas that might be of some use to somebody, here or there, in those exceptional cases.
In chatting with a customer he asked me out these abrasive wire saws that have a ring on each end that attaches to a rope (had a "Rambo" mail-order knife with such a saw when I was a kid). Another customer had one that was actual chainsaw chain with rings on each end with ropes attached. Had some mechanism so that when it was thrown over a limb, it would flip so that it would be cutters downward. Nothing to use for pro pruning, but then the lightbulb went off in my head.
I was thinking about having to top a 100' Doug-fir snag, Wobbling around and around, afraid the top was going to bust out while I was in the tree. Being overly nervous, worrying about the whole tree failing.
I got a rope on the top and a guyline out behind the tree attached below the cut. I did a Humboldt cut with a plunge-cut, leaving a small backstrap. Lowered out of the tree and then pulled like mad to bust the backstrap. Top came out. climbed back up, chunked it down to 25', and carved it up into a wildlife snag.
If I had put in a face cut, then plunge cut he back, not horizontal but actually very downwardly, leaving a backstrap. I could have inserted one of those survival saws, with very long rope handles that would reach to the ground. After lowering out of the tree, cut the rest of the backstrap, and away it would have gone, with much less stress.
Another thought where it might be useful to have in the bag of tricks:
Another scenario that I find myself in time to time is on Alders, alnus rubra,
where I have a top that I need/ want to catch by hand. Sometimes the tree gets too thin to climb before the top gets small enough to handle by hand for a snap cut and lower (still upright, in the event that there's not vertical space to drop the top and catch on a rope). Before snap cutting, I'll haul up a telescoping pole saw to take off some of the side limbs to lighten it. This gets me some pretty good reach, but it might be easier to have a cable saw on my harness and use my throw line to install it and operate it.
This could also work out when there is very narrow falling lane for the top and the side branches won't clear the obstacles. A quick throw, some fast cable sawing of the side branches, and Tops Away.
Just some ideas that might be of some use to somebody, here or there, in those exceptional cases.
