'Dadio throws a big top'. A reply to unjust criticisms

[Pete Bannister]

It all worked I am peronally happy it did.. Don't think you watched any of the other vids especially the one that went wrong... I'm not up for spiking up a stem 10 - 5 ft putting in a small gob and felling a tree... I may be an idiot for disputing your calculations but there's too Many factors to consider on releasing a stem of 8+ ton of presure when your attached to it and your calculations don't measure those and can't... years of working with timber have tought me that.

 

Matty, I think you are absolutely right when you say there's many factors to consider. But I don’t know if there were too many factors. Mr Murphy was there and I wasn’t so all I can do is go off what I can see in his movie. I don’t have your experience and so have looked at the job from my experience in structures. Its a different perspective and maybe the American perspective is different too. Doesn’t necessarily make it wrong. That was my point.

Cheers

[MattyF]

Ok... buttress of a tree has evolved and developed in to the tension and compression of the weights above.... Felling a tree at ground level is predictable as it's strong, try splitting the last 3 ft of a tree with an axe from the ground... Its a damn sight harder than 5 ft up Above... I had a sycamore open 3" at 15 ft straight across the grain last week and the tree was only 9" across ..i could bore you with my countless experiences with timber but you open up factors that can't be measured due to knots in the wood or straight grain doubled with no escape route that's my issue ....

[MattyF]

I would further add my stem I mentioned opened 3" the guy who's stem opened up and it axfixiated him against the trunk was an experiened tree worker... You have no idea what has happened in a tree's life with wounds branches knots what ever, you maybe able to gauge some thing by looking at a trunk but IMO unless you have an escape route ( and on spikes and flip line you don't) its foolish.

[Pete Bannister]

All these sums don't change the fact that it would have been quicker and easier to have done the job differently.

 

Plus Daniel did not do the math and IMO got lucky.

 

As for the comment about a snapping ropes not being dangerous, that is simple not true, today I snapped a throw line (about 4mm) while pulling a bull rope up a tree, the end hit me below the eye and was pretty painful, my groundie said the mark left looked like I had been punched in the face. I dread to think what damage a 1/2" rope with a breaking strain of 3tonne would do if it snapped and hit you.

 

Skyhuck, you may well be right about the easy and speed issue. But the movie wasn’t really trying to demonstrate ease or speed...or safety for that matter

 

If the rope broke at its design capacity, yes I agree, big twang! and you wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end. But the point I was making was that it couldn’t have been loaded anywhere near its max capacity and I think Mr Murphy knew that. There was safety factor of at least about 7x that's pretty good in engineering terms.

cheers

[scotspine1]

Pete,

 

How much experience do you have of working on large trees?

[Czlowiek Drzewo]

I think dadio is just trying new things ..but why fix something if it ain't broken. there are far better and safer methods to remove that tree. sometime comlpicating things to much makes the job far more dangerous when you could just fell it.

 

After all the complex set-up to pull the top over..he just ended up ripping the top out with brute force...did not look controlled.

 

could he have not felled it back into the woodland area behind?

[Adam Bourne]

Skyhuck, you may well be right about the easy and speed issue. But the movie wasn’t really trying to demonstrate ease or speed...or safety for that matter

 

yes your right no safety was considered......this was most of our arguments,

 

 

mattyf is right in my opinion, theres know way of knowing what lies beneath any timber, the job was not done professionally it was done buy a professional who should know better...!!!!!

[Pete Bannister]

I would further add my stem I mentioned opened 3" the guy who's stem opened up and it axfixiated him against the trunk was an experiened tree worker... You have no idea what has happened in a tree's life with wounds branches knots what ever, you maybe able to gauge some thing by looking at a trunk but IMO unless you have an escape route ( and on spikes and flip line you don't) its foolish.

 

Matty, I accept your safety first premise. Its a very good principle.

I couldn’t fully assess the condition of that stem from the movie; who could? and the calcs can’t do that either. That's best done hands-on, by an experienced Arborist, and even then, there might be major unknown factors. So I agree with you on that

 

The thing is, I don’t think the landing of that stem was a fluke. Maybe it was foolhardy..but I’m not trying to argue that point.

 

I took exception to some of the posts because they hadn’t taken on board all of the judgements that had clearly been taken by the man on the ground

 

cheers

[High Scale]

Who is dadio?

[MikeTM150]

All these sums don't change the fact that it would have been quicker and easier to have done the job differently.

 

Plus Daniel did not do the math and IMO got lucky.

 

As for the comment about a snapping ropes not being dangerous, that is simple not true, today I snapped a throw line (about 4mm) while pulling a bull rope up a tree, the end hit me below the eye and was pretty painful, my groundie said the make left looked like I had been punched in the face. I dread to think what damage a 1/2" rope with a breaking strain of 3tonne would do if it snapped and hit you.

 

I can tell u what happens, seen the steel winch cable on a truck cut through a landrover rear door quicker and tidier than a disc cutter then inbed itself in the rear of the bulk head behind the driver! Put a human in the way and u have slices of human sushi...........