Dead Euc dismantle coming up - advice?

[WorcsWuss]

Been asked to take down a dead Euc for someone, been dead a while from what I can gather. It's in their garden so will need rigging down.

I've never worked on a Eucalyptus, never mind a dead one, was hoping someone could give me the benefit of their wisdom on things to look out for specific to the breed when selecting decent anchors etc.

 

I know Euc dries out well, does it go particularly brittle or does it get very hard and bendy? How does it compare to dead Ash in terms of strength? Are there any tell tale visible signs which would indicate serious internal rot or cavitation I should look out for?

I'm going to pop and take a look at it later today or tomorrow, will let you know what I find.

 

I don't lower big lumps but it's nice to know if I'm on something which could fall over at any time... I wouldn't want to end up sitting on a tree on top of their nice new garage!

 

Cheers, Simon

[Rupe]

VERY brittle, unlikely to fall over but branches snap easily. I did a big dead one before christmas and it was the least fun I have had in ages!! Couldnt rig the top out, there was no way it was safe for that, so kind of winged it with that bit, but managed to rig the trunks ok.

 

MEWP would be ideal if there is access.

 

Did it die from frost damage? Do you know if they have had other sensible quotes included MEWPS etc? its possible they are asking you because you havent factored everything properly so they can save a few quid.

[WorcsWuss]

Not sure why it died yet, will know better when I get there.

MEWP access is a no go from memory, their garden's a bit wild!

They've asked me as they're a friend & neighbour and I was working down the side of the lane opposite their house.

I guess if it's a diddly one I can climb right up into the crown and prune it out with the Silky, cut & chuck like I did an Ash the other day.

[born2trot]

I did a completely dead one few weeks back , didnt have to climb it but would have if needed . The wood was very very hard but i cant remember it being any more brittle than say the regrowth on a topped sycamore i climbed the week after which was very snappy . There were tiny fruiting bodies on it but it did seem quite decay resistant , just my observation.. the fungal boys may be able to quantify this or not .

[Tom D]

I did some dead ones last year, the timber was ok, I'd avoid rigging and go for stunt fell / cut and chuck dismantling techniques though. rigging off dead stuff is never a great idea. The worst thing is the bark coming off, I fell 10' in on I did last year after both spikes popped out with huge lumps of bark attached.

[Le Sanglier]

they're not really different from any other tree, wood's quite heavy....... er that's it.

[Dan Curtis]

It'll be properly light if its dead, not heavy at all. As said be careful of the bark plating off, it seems to separate around the entire circumference on dead ones. Hinges may be snappy too, they won't hold like live ones, so make sure you know where bits are weighted, no swinging off bits with pie cuts or triangular hinges. Did loads of dead ones last year, they're usually strong enough to climb, I'd probably just go one anchor point lower than normal.

[Czlowiek Drzewo]

make sure you spikes are sharp.

[WorcsWuss]

It'll be properly light if its dead, not heavy at all. As said be careful of the bark plating off, it seems to separate around the entire circumference on dead ones. Hinges may be snappy too, they won't hold like live ones, so make sure you know where bits are weighted, no swinging off bits with pie cuts or triangular hinges. Did loads of dead ones last year, they're usually strong enough to climb, I'd probably just go one anchor point lower than normal.

 

If I do that I could stand on a box to fell it!

 

Thanks for the advice chaps.

So, avoid relying on choking onto the trunk for anchors, guess a decent branch beneath at the back of the rope to stop the pulley sliding would do the trick.

I've been climbing without spikes recently so hopefully this one will be laid out in such a way that I can do the same here and avoid the risk of gaffing-out.

And cut and chuck.

Sounds simple. Better go take a look at the tree!

[Nellybelly]

We,v done a few near you simon over the last 12 months.

1 that looked horrible from the ground with massive splits up the bark had got a tiny bit of life in most of the tips and the wood was still green when cutting!!

Like you said mate, go and have a good look round it 1st.