Thinking outside the box ?

[hobby climber]

Last summer I was asked by another tree company to remove a dead, rotten, brittle, fungal infested hollow tree . Three other guys turned him down and I was the fourth. The tree was in the back yard on the property line(beach property) and over hanging both houses with with limited access and lots of obstacles like ornaments, ponds, wishing wells, sun rooms, decks, fences, landscaping etc. ... you get the picture. It could not be climbed nor rigged (not stable) and a bucket truck was out of the question! The guy who asked me to do the work had a brother who worked in construction and somewhere along the way he came up with this idea. He borrowed his brothers scaffolding and set it up around this accident prone tree and ended up getting it down with no calls the insurance company. Thinking outside the box or something like that! What are your thoughts on this? HC

 

[DDM]

I dont think i would want a Structure "scaffolding" next to a tree in that condition. To much shock to the tree and the whole 9 yards could have come down.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I bet the Japanese would have no problem doing that.

 

[clearance]

HC- I think thats pretty cool. I am working construction right now and use scafolding all the time, to work off and to pour concrete on. If you are going to use it on the lawn(probably talking about the 5ftx7ft frames) it has to be well placed so it doesnt settle. I would definetly guy it somehow to anchor pionts on the ground so it couldnt tip if a chunck of the tree hit it. great idea.

 

[hobby climber]

Wasn't my TD and I don't know much about scaffolding. He told me later that once the scaffolding was removed he felled the last 12' section of trunk and on impact, it just busted apart under its own weight. This guy got Lucky with this one! HC

 

[tnttreeman]

Sounds like it should have been a crane removal.

 

[TimberMcPherson]

Sounds like it should have been a crane removal.

Yeah if there was access, sometimes there aint though, down these ways its then time to call in the helicopter.

 

[dayman]

Scaffolding has been talked about for hazard takedowns for many years on various arbo forums.

why do you guys think this is so radical and dangerous? Make perfect sense. Thinking inside the box all of the time will let someone else come in and kick your butt.

 

[xander9727]

Have any of you used a helicopter for a removal?

 

[tnttreeman]

I've seen it done for logging and for line clearance, both in person and on video. Also on a transplant on a huge tree-100 + footer, but never on a removal. Cost effective?!?!

 

[xander9727]

That all depends on how much the customer is willing to pay!

I'd find out the cost before I threw out a number of course. I'd also try to find a less expensive, easier way also.

 

[NeTree]

I'd say... whatever it takes to get the job done as safely as possible.

I ( ) agree with Dayman.

 

[Reed]

Yeah, Sikorsky Sky Crane in Monterey, Ca. on a (what they insisted was) a Port Orford Cedar, it was in a courtyard. It made Arbor Age magazine. I was the guy in fatigues with the radio (was attending Defense Language School in the evenings). Nothing was wrong with the tree, except being in the way.

The bill was astronomical because the chopper held standby and re-fueled twice due to ocean winds coming in. It wasn't having a problem with those, the tree was. The rig belonged to Evergreen and full-timed logged up in the Northwest somewhere.

I think scaffolding and I picture ladders. Perhaps a lot stronger and stable, but falling limbs are falling limbs, right?

 

[xander9727]

If it works and is safe use it!

 

[jason j ladue]

the helicopter is a great idea! sounds spendy, but if they got the $ y-not. i like the scaffolding thing too, but again it sounds spendy just because of having to move it around especially if there are lots of obstacles to avoid. might be difficult to estimate.

 

[tnttreeman]

What about the little spider lift, the mini bucket that's pulled behind a pickup. They're only a couple feet wide, light, and have up to 80' of reach on the largest model. That would have been the ticket for such a tight area with limited access.

 

[xander9727]

Can you rent those where you live? I've never seen one for rent in my area. I don't run into that situation enough to justify buying one.

 

[tnttreeman]

Two of the local rental companies have the nifty lift version. They are smaller height wise, something like 40' working height. Used one last year and it was alright.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I've talked to a few people who have done hazard removals with scaffolding. Where you need to cut small chunks out ann hand drop them down.

One guy built a slide like they use for construction waste so the peices could go right into the truck and limit damage to the garden they were working over. As the pitch of the slid got shallowre, they ahd to pull some pieces with a rope.

As for the Helo-Op removal/move, Disney does it frequently. What they do is put 3 lare eye bolts in the trunk at the bablace point and do the bick from ther. For them the tre is just a prop, so reducing the SULE is not in the equasion for them.

I could only find one good link on the subject with pictures http://www.longwoodgardens.org/Plants&Horticulture/Helicopter.htm.

As stated, cost is a big limiting factor with this type of opperation, the other one is that they need several emergency drop zones along the flight path in case of hydraulic failure and they nee to release the load. For some reason they wont let you drop those things just anywhere in a city. Have to have Erik expalin that to me.

 

[dayman]

I think all, or most, of the trees at Longwood died