Climbing accident, Northwich, Cheshire

[Steven P]

'Morning devils advocate here.... you are of course forgetting the local traffic officer, council man who wants the road opened ASAP for evening rush hour. External pressures as well. Young climber (I did read that bit right?) might not have the conviction to tell the council boss man to feck off when a single cut shortens the length of the job and Mr Miggings can get home for dinner instead of waiting in traffic.

 

 

(Something I stress to The Boys, remember who it is going to be in the hospital - usually when they want to argue with cars on their bikes)

[monkeybusiness]

I’d suggest that quite a few commenting on here (along with at least one person on the site that is the subject of this post) would benefit very strongly from doing their windblow ticket as a bare minimum - there are some worrying advisory suggestions being bandied about. It is clear that several here have no winching experience, which should really be the first approach considered when dealing with hung up trees. 

[tree-fancier123]

4 minutes ago, monkeybusiness said:

I’d suggest that quite a few commenting on here (along with at least one person on the site that is the subject of this post) would benefit very strongly from doing their windblow ticket as a bare minimum - there are some worrying advisory suggestions being bandied about. It is clear that several here have no winching experience, which should really be the first approach considered when dealing with hung up trees. 

I can't see why dangerous tree work can be completed just by typing stuff online - there shouldn't be any need to go out into the real world

[Rich Rule]

1 hour ago, monkeybusiness said:

I’d suggest that quite a few commenting on here (along with at least one person on the site that is the subject of this post) would benefit very strongly from doing their windblow ticket as a bare minimum - there are some worrying advisory suggestions being bandied about. It is clear that several here have no winching experience, which should really be the first approach considered when dealing with hung up trees. 

Are you saying the subject of the post I.e. the climber is a member of this site?

 

News to me.

[monkeybusiness]

23 minutes ago, Rich Rule said:

Are you saying the subject of the post I.e. the climber is a member of this site?

 

News to me.

No idea tbh, and that’s not what I meant (but wasn’t written very well!). 
Where I was coming from is that if there had been at least one person on the site with windblow experience then I can’t see how the job would have been allowed to proceed the way it did. 
There are plenty of lads who climb trees (some very well to be fair) all day every day who have no forestry experience, and have never used any machinery other than chainsaws and chippers. They possibly had to get a small hung-up tree onto the floor with their felling lever during CS31 - that’s the limits of their knowledge of dealing with windblow and tension/compression etc. There is nothing really wrong with this, and it doesn’t necessarily make them unsafe in their day-to-day work pruning trees in back gardens. 

I don’t know the lad who was injured (and I wish him nothing but the best - some of my posts may appear critical towards him personally and that’s not what I’m getting at) but I do know of several other climbers who would potentially unknowingly put themselves in harms way in a similar fashion. 
If a team is sent to deal with a job and they are unaware of other ways of approaching a problem then they are obviously going to do what they know best - in this case it would appear that was climbing and cutting the tree free.

All on site had a role to play, and they all appear to be entirely unaware of the potential outcome in the vids (which suggests naivety and/or inexperience). 
The entire thing is horrible, and I really hope that the climber heals well.

[Ledburyjosh]

7 hours ago, manco said:

winching etc complicating the issue.

lets winch this off a strap over there and then cut here and here, and pull this way and then do that bit, etc. cranes, mewps etc all similarly complicating.

 

simple chopping to get it on the floor then chip and log, id be climbing Tree B (which its hung up in) and stripping the branch ends of Tree A (the fallen one) back to contact points, then reducing that number of contact points to one supporting point, then chop that and watch it drop past me.

not strapped into Tree A at any point, always working from a top line into Tree B.

 

i cant see any logical reasoning for cutting it in the middle where he did.

 

Winching isn't complicated. 

 

But yes if you were to climb it to deal with it as you have described generally works, assuming the tree it's hung up in is uncomprimised and your rope is in a bag on your back or well out the way so it doesn't get caught by the falling tree.

[Ledburyjosh]

7 hours ago, tree-fancier123 said:

this isn't an idea written from experience of big hung up roadside trees, more plenty of small ones, I did one the other day, and used the blocking method to get the butt off the ground and then a rope with me and the owner pulling with the hung up tree in mid air, it worked. I do have a T35 winch, but this was an add on job I'd not planned for.

Now with a big tree like that I imagine blocking from the base out across the road cutting to head height from the side and then a pull rope (if gravity didn't shift it). Maybe they didn't even have a pull rope with them.

A decent rigging line and perhaps a pulley for redirect and the tractor, plus the blocking method would have been my first thoughts - although I know when the crown in wedged in the severed butt of the hung up tree will not fall or be pulled down. At that point with the hung up tree suspended in mid air they could have said right f*ck it - pull in direction of severed stump of hung up tree and just fell the other one across the road too. They fell one too many trees, but make it back home

That's not a good idea to be fuxking about with blocking a big tree down at head height...

[manco]

12 minutes ago, Ledburyjosh said:

Winching isn't complicated. 

 

But yes if you were to climb it to deal with it as you have described generally works, assuming the tree it's hung up in is uncomprimised and your rope is in a bag on your back or well out the way so it doesn't get caught by the falling tree.

i believe i specified about winching etc complicating the issue, and i was referring to the process of simply dropping the tree not messing about with other then making it complete its journey to the floor.

 

i was looking for any possible justification for deciding to start cutting in the middle of the tree.

i dont believe there is any.

[Mark Bolam]

There isn’t.

 

Just like there isn’t any justification for climbing it.

[monkeybusiness]

16 minutes ago, manco said:

i believe i specified about winching etc complicating the issue, and i was referring to the process of simply dropping the tree not messing about with other then making it complete its journey to the floor.

 

i was looking for any possible justification for deciding to start cutting in the middle of the tree.

i dont believe there is any.

You were suggesting climbing over winching.