How to be an excellent climber

[jpbeaver]

ive been subbed in to climb for companies to get a tree down quickly. ive recomended lowering to make it easier for the groundies but been told to just get it down in big lumps into a beck. needless to say i did as i was told pissed everyone off but the boss and went home at 1pm it took them 2 days to tidy up after me. i'd definately rather be up the tree gravity works for me that way.

[Marc]

totaly disagree if a climber makes a mistake he can get hurt true but thats his fault most of a climber mistakes can lead to a groundie either getting hurt or working harder than he should have to

 

The BEST climbers most important assett is his groundsman and TRUST is imperative give a good climber a team of crap groundies and he will look and perform crap yet good groundies can help a reasonable climber perform well and look good

 

Nicely put!

 

Do climbers forget how hard groundwork can be? those bitch of a drags and humping logs, stuffing limbs in chippers allday, controling the ropes and keeping on top of the site. All can lead to rsi's and msd's just as quickly as bad climbing.

 

Not only that the most dangerous place to be in any treework operation is on the ground! Dare I say it,,,, climbers have the safest job.

 

 

 

A classic qoute that one climber said to me that has always stuck "when your as good as me you will not want to wear yourself out working on the ground" needless to say he was a tosser and not as good as he thought he was.

[Steve Bullman]

 

 

the most dangerous place to be in any treework operation is on the ground!

 

 

 

 

i'd say that depends on who's climbing

[bob]

ive been subbed in to climb for companies to get a tree down quickly. ive recomended lowering to make it easier for the groundies but been told to just get it down in big lumps into a beck. needless to say i did as i was told pissed everyone off but the boss and went home at 1pm it took them 2 days to tidy up after me. i'd definately rather be up the tree gravity works for me that way.

 

thank god you dont work with me:BoomSmilie_anim::BoomSmilie_anim:

[tockmal]

Maybe I didn't make myself clear enough. Sorry.

 

From my experience of 10 years working as climber and groundsman for many different companies and in different countries I believe in most arb work situations these two roles should be interconnected, but all too often they are not.

 

I have found that in most cases groundies who have never climbed simply do not understand what the climber is going through, which is why the best groundies are always climbers. Most good climbers are more intelligent than the average groundie anyway.

 

There is the odd exception to this rule, but overall the climber has by far the hardest job, feeding a chipper and dragging brash is mundane yes, but it is nowhere near as dangerous as rigging out sections from 80ft plus and using chainsaws around a rope and harness daily.

 

Unless you guys are talking about 40 ft leyland cypresses, with the climber bombing everything creating an idiot pile? then yeah, the climber does have the easiest job.

 

From my experience, a good climber makes an excellent groundsman, which is why I now, after 10 years work almost exclusively with other self employed climbers, basically like a co-op of skilled treeworkers. Thats what happens if you suffer at the hands of too many apathetic groundsmen who are indifferent to the things you require when your in the tree, even after telling them a 1000 times!

 

An excellent ground only groundsman is indeed a rare thing. I've met about 2.

[jpbeaver]

bob if some one tells me to make a mess quickly and then i can go home im not going to argue. ive worked on the ground for a very very low wage, the groundies who work for me have it easy normally.

[bob]

i once did a big beech that had to hit the floor in a 4hr slot then a path cleared through the rest of the tree then took 6 men 2 days to clear so have been there but i did stop to help honest i have seen too many climbers dump tree down then bog off all i am saying is glad i dont have to work with them

all the team i work with are all fully qualified climbers and we are all fully qualified groundies as well and am really starting to apriciate that :vroam::vroam:

[tockmal]

Nicely put!

 

Do climbers forget how hard groundwork can be? those bitch of a drags and humping logs, stuffing limbs in chippers allday,

 

Do groundies who have never climbed understand what it like to be lowering tops out of trees like this?

 

I had two climbers on the ground the day I took this tree down, they ran the lowering gear smoothly, knew want I needed before I asked, made sure my ropes were always clear without needing told, acted like a second pair of eyes on everything that was going on in the tree, looking for possible weaknesses in the tree or checking the angles and weights of the rigging. Give me a good climber on the ground any day. If groundies are sick of dragging and chipping then can learn to climb or accept their lot.

[MasterBlaster]

A good climber has his own gear.

[MattyF]

Planning ahead and using rythem and logic to work makes eficient climbing...going in and cutting random bits off all over the place so they hang up and using stupid roping and life line routes becouse it hasnt been thought through does not!

I see people make these mistakes all the time, unless they can apply some reason and logic in to doing what they are doing and why they are doing it.

Good working rythem gives the groundies enough time to do what they have too and the climber can work at a eficient safe working speed and does not have to go in guns blazing like a chain saw mad man working dangerously to fast to leave a big mess in his wake for the groundies.