Reduction methods!

[jamesd]

I'm pretty new to doing reductions and have a few lined up atm. And was just wandering how you guys carry them out? i have heard of two main methods the "orange peel" way where you start from the top and go round and down the tree in circles. The other way i have heard of is splitting the tree into quarters and carrying out the reduction in sections.

The reductions i do are only small as i'm just starting out so any advice would be great!

 

James.

[MattyF]

Both methods work well it just depends on the tree , targets.. No tree is the same!

[andrew t]

You can also prune from bottom of the crown up this is good when doing wide trees.

[Scottish]

Find a good start point, then just go around bit by bit. Usually start at the bottom and do the top last. Very rarely do reductions though so they look pretty naff either way.

[Littletree]

Hi James I never thought I would be able to do reductions when I first started climbing and never did them to start with as just thought i could not do them but as time goes on that all changes and you soon will be doing them all the time

 

Usually for the single stems I make my first top cut then reduce everything down from that.

 

I did my first large reduction on sat it took me 7 hours to complete the whole tree ( dont all laugh at once) I did it in sections again starting at the top this was the first time I used sectioning but it worked really well And I got a really good result and a very pleased customer .

 

It's really good starting on the smaller ones then just slowly increase the size you do . Even now for me there is plenty that's just to big for me but as with the both of us it gets easier with practice and time on the tools

 

Hope this helps littletree:thumbup:

[Dilz]

the issue i find with doing reductions starting form the bottom working up are these a) the branches you cut from the top get hung up on the branches below so you have to climb back down, b)when chucking branches down from the top you will smash that oh so perfect growing point that you busted a gut to get to, c) its harder (imop) to get the shape in.

 

I start from the top, seeing as reductions are usually in height, get my groundy to sight me in for the top height and then work from there, your grounds man should know a good tree shape as they can point out bits that stick out or hangers and such to help save you time and energy.

 

Another good trick is if you have poles or long pruners, or such, this way the ground crew can take care of the lowest branches for you which are often the ones you have to climb furthest out on and to get to and to get back from. I use a set of extendable loppers which reach several meters as well when im in the tree, using these i can bring in several tips from one working point and are excellent bits of kit as they can allow you to take off just the bits you need to rather than just the bits you can reach.

 

Reductions are an art form, and requires good climbing skills, tool use and tree knowledge, and it is a very rewarding thing to look back at a tree you have reshaped well.

 

Then there are those that you never look back .......

[Dilz]

also would like to add, in general there are two main types of reductions, 1) quick ones 2) good ones.

[timtree81]

if the tree has a natural buldge then thats a good place to start ,the orange peel is a good method just take you time ,noone eva askes how long it to but who did it

[VEG]

It also helps to have someone on the ground while you are up the tree to spot branches it saves you cutting a branch then having to come down to see if it looks ok.(though you should have someone who has 38 to be able to perform a rescue)

[John Shutler]

You can also prune from bottom of the crown up this is good when doing wide trees.

 

but then you risk having to go back over it, sorting growth points youve damaged