Tomorrows Challenge

[Kevin]

I have a good size limb to tackle tomorrow.
It has peeled away from the tree but is still attached.
At the tree, the tension wood now becomes the compression wood because of the pressure applied by the steel support strand holding the cables. The felling cut would be made from below but the branch is so large that it could possibly catch the saw and take it for a ride so I found the safe way to tackle these is to keep tension on the strand with a rope and hack away at the top until the limb is removed but the tension is extreme!
That`s what makes it interesting .

 

[Treeman14]

I'm not sure I'm following you on this. Did the limb fall across a wire? Its not energized, I hope? If it can't be taken off in one clean cut, I usually try to lighten it up by removing all excess limbs that are not supporting or under tension. A stick saw works well sometimes for making tension cuts while staying out of the kill zone.

 

[Kevin]

Brett,
This is telephone cable in the rurals.
Two cables lashed to one support strand.
No power on this lead.
I use a pruning pole saw and remove one limb at a time but it can be tricky trying to keep the blade from jamming in the tensioned limbs.
I just have to peck away at it.

 

[treeman82]

Kevin; would you be able to put a block higher up in the crown and run a rope through that and to the tip of the broken limb? Brace the top (where your block is) with some ropes to the back of it. Then pull it up (with a truck or GRCS) and lower it?

 

[treeclimber165]

Matt,
I'd be afraid of the broken crotch giving way if done the way you suggest.
I'd start out by securing the butt to the next major fork above it, so if it gives way it won't fall. Then I'd cut off as much weight as possible without moving the limb. Power pruners are real handy for this. Cut off everything past the wires to within a couple inches. Then come back a couple feet (probably 4-5' if you can reach it) and slowly undercut with the power pruner. Hinge the limb down to the ground, minimizing the spring of the wire when the limb slides off. Then just work it back to the trunk, then climb up and cut it off where it broke.

I've done many like this, some of our summertime thunderstorms can create very strong downbursts of wind.

 

[treeman82]

Brian, would adding a second block / rope to the area of the split make this a feisable method of attack?

 

[treeclimber165]

Originally posted by treeman82
Brian, would adding a second block / rope to the area of the split make this a feisable method of attack?

I don't know, Matt. All I know is what I have seen and done in the field- usually in horrible conditions with only the saws/equipment available on the truck I'm in. I do know that I have safely removed limbs like this with only one bullrope and a power pruner. Climbing to the tippy top of a huge tree in 40 MPH winds and driving rain to set up all kinds of rigging wasn't an option. Slow, careful planning and cutting has worked for me, I rarely need to put two ropes on a limb. Kinda like Spydey says, make the forces and weight work FOR you instead of trying to overpower it.

 

[Kevin]

I could rig it higher up but the added work involved wouldn`t make it worth while in this case.
What I usually do is cut all but one or two branches off the cable then cut the remaining limb(s) off close to the cable being careful not to cut the cable, then throw a rope up and pull the remaing branch off the cable.
It usually takes about a half hour from start to finish.
I might even spike the tree and cut the limb off the tree just for a test case.

 

[treeclimber165]

The reason I suggested coming back 4'-5' from the wire and undercutting slowly is to reduce the spring effect of the wire. I have seen wires pop from having all that weight removed all at once. Kinda like releasing a bow and arrow. By hinging the trunk down, the wire can start to raise up a little before snapping free. It will still snap, but not as much as pulling the limb off.

 

[treeman82]

This branch that you guys are talkin about here sounds pretty big. I gotta ask, how big of lines are these? I would think that most of the lines around here would have snapped from having a large branch on them.

 

[Kevin]

If this was fiber optic cable you couldn`t allow any kind of whipping affect on the cable when the limb was removed because the internal glass fibers would shatter but this is copper and it`s pretty forgiving.
I still rope them off and release the tension slowly when I can.
These cables are lashed to a twisted steel support strand about 3/8" in diameter.
It will support the weight of a large tree and will bring the cable right to the ground in some cases.
The poles on either side will snap before the strand lets go.
This particular cable is about six feet off the ground where it`s normally twenty feet in the air at that specific location.

 

[Kevin]

It`s down, bring on the next one !
That birch was about three feet across at the base.
The limb peeled down the tree about twenty feet and split the tree in half.
I removed the overhanging limbs from the cable then spiked the main tree above the broken branch.
As I worked on it with the 335 I swear I could hear the tree laughing, it was a good run for a limbing saw.
The limb wouldn`t fall away from the tree due to back pressure applied by the strand so I climbed down and put a rope on the small end and teased it until it dropped to the ground.
It took about two hours with the clean up.
The entire time a pesky little rodent across the highway kept yelling Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi
D a m n near drove me insane.

 

[treeclimber165]

Glad you got it down safely, Kevin.

The entire time a pesky little rodent across the highway kept yelling Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi

I had one of these today, also. Trimming/elevating a clump of live oaks in a backyard, they had never been touched. About the time I started out a lead over the back fence, I heard a small voice talking to me. His name was Joey and he was 7 years old. He told me this several times. I introduced myself and asked him to stay back from under the tree, which he did. But he kept telling me his name and asking me what I was doing. I was having too good of a day to let him bother me, so I decided to enjoy it instead. Neat kid, lots of curiosity!