Toughest trees to climb

[Mapleman]

"There's old tree men and there's bold tree men, but there's no old, bold tree men."

What's the toughest kind of tree you've had to climb? I'm talking species here, but you can relate an individual tree too.

For sheer agony, my choice is a spruce with a lot of dead wood, with pin oaks a distant second. In Hawaii Tiger's Paw and Monkey Puzzle tie some climbers in knots. But for overall toughness...

BIG BLUE GUMS with peeling bark and the first branch 3 feet in diameter fifty feet up. Finished one up at UC Med Center with the headlights on highbeam.

 

[StihlRockin']

For me it's our huge cottonwood trees. The bark is very thick and there's no chance for your spikes to make it to the wood when doing removals... so you're always trying to visually spike a big ridge of bark instead. The bark makes for good hand-grabs if they're solid, but scary and dangerous if you have to climb them! Often the trees are so huge you have to use some sort of rope/lanyard tending device at the hip d-ring for easy adjusting because there's no using buckstraps or adjustable prusik lanyards or it will be too hard to adjust.

My second is our Red Oaks. Their branches are numerous in number, very strong and twist and curl into each other at times making for climbing harder. They're a ***** to chip too because you grab one limb and the whole pile wants to come with!

StihlRockin'

 

[Mapleman]

I hear ya' Stihl Rockin' on those cottonwoods. Here in New England, Black Locusts have a similar deep bark, and thorns to boot. Using a flip line to inch your way up is almost impossible as you'll usually snag something on the back side of the trunk. Better to get a throwing ball up into a U-shape crotch and body thrust up.

An additonal note on blue gums (eucalyptus) is the spiral grain and thick, heavy gum. No matter how you make your cuts, the branches always seem to rotate off rather then break clean, making for some interesting scenarios when working over roofs and wires.

 

[Mikecutstrees]

Almost every white pine in the immediate area received damage from the ice storm here in dec. I currently hate them the most. sap everwhere. Drippy nasty rope gumming sap. Big nasty pin oaks can be rough too. Dead branches everywhere to poke and snag...... Mike

 

[tomtrees58]

american elm there's no high point to the tree its gos out 50 ' tom trees

 

[Rickytree]

Walnuts and Locusts are close together but if your deadwooding, the locusts. Black locusts are truly nasty with the 3 inch thorns that will puncher a tire.

 

[JohnH]

american elm there's no high point to the tree its gos out 50 ' tom trees

I'm right there with you on this. They are pain in the !##. There even more fun if it's wet.

 

[Raymond]

Walnuts and Locusts are close together but if your deadwooding, the locusts. Black locusts are truly nasty with the 3 inch thorns that will puncher a tire.

I like the walnuts for the most parts. Except in the heat of summer. You guys ever done one when it was really hot out? Man you get that sawdust on you and don't brush it off. You'll have little blister burn dots all over you.
It bad..makes it hard to get laid for a week or so. Gotta brush it off quick.

I've noticed it's more with the main trunk or big wood, saw chips. Yeah you get that on you when it's hot you'll know what I'm talking about.

 

[Rickytree]

I like the walnuts for the most parts. Except in the heat of summer. You guys ever done one when it was really hot out? Man you get that sawdust on you and don't brush it off. You'll have little blister burn dots all over you.
It bad..makes it hard to get laid for a week or so. Gotta brush it off quick.

I've noticed it's more with the main trunk or big wood, saw chips. Yeah you get that on you when it's hot you'll know what I'm talking about.

Do I ever. It's because of the Juglose in the tree. It is like a mild acid and will leave slight, what resembles, burn marks. Ya you can look like you caught some kind of illness. But it never effected me getting laid though. Cheers Raymond, get them drunk or turn out the lights.

 

[woodchux]

Hawthorn or locust...

 

[Bermie]

Poinciana, rarely have a high tie in, crown spread wider than it is high, rot pockets, wobbly and timber is snappy.
Ficus, gush sticky latex sap at the slightest provocation
Canary Island date palms...the thorns ALWAYS get you somewhere, two have sent me to hospital to have 2" thorns removed, one I had to have steroid pills to get rid of inflamation from a puncture...HATE them!

 

[PurdueJoe]

Black locust here. Thorns are nasty, chipper hates it, and seems like every time I have the "luck" to win on a removal bid they always have shelf fungus on them or the bases are scared either of which I'm not to keen working above. One good thing they make great fence posts.

 

[clearance]

Tough trees make you better, tougher, and you love the easy ones more.

 

[treeman82]

Shagbark hickory.

 

[yibida]

Gums

I reckon smooth barked open canopied Eucalyptus sp. would be the most painful. Multiple heads are like four or five trees in one instead of a singular trunk tree and laterals tend to span horizontally all over the place but with a competent groundie it makes life easier. AND PHEONIX canariensis, had one in my knee and limping for a week.

 

[Tim Krause]

spiking up a large shag bark hickory, or a sycamore in pollen are my least favorite

 

[Slvrmple72]

+1 Deadwooding Pin Oaks!

 

[Mapleman]

Man, I got some bad ass euc stories, both from Northern Cal and Oz. But that will have to wait for later.

Personally, I liked climbing American elms (live ones with the bark intact), that is when they were still around these parts. Back in the mid 80s we were in them at least once a week. I always climbed them with two ropes when pruning, plus a really long pole saw. Instead of climbing each individual leader, I would traverse the tree horizontally. Taking down dead ones with loose bark is another story though. We usually would chain bind the trunk above and below the cut to keep leaders from splitting apart. The old timers say big elms and eucs are what separated the men from the boys. I'd add a few other species in that catagory.

 

[oldirty]

Black locusts are truly nasty with the 3 inch thorns that will puncher a tire.

screw the tire. what about when you puncture through the meaty part of your finger on the backside of the branch your grabbing? and then the pain with the tree venom! youch.

 

[sawinredneck]

Deadwooding PinOaks sucks!
Trimming Sugar/Silver Maple (because I am a large fellow!)
Never had to climb a Cottonweed, I hope to keep it that way!

But the WORST is a Hedge, Osage Orange! Thorns, twisted unpredictable tension on the branches, loose bark, that is thick and hard on ropes. Then the God awful sap that gets on EVERYTHING and WILL NOT come off of anything either!!