Tree failure whilst dismantling?

[Matthew Storrs]

Do any of you ever use a winch to counterbalance a heavily leaning tree when rigging big bits out? Iv got a nasty pollarded Ash which has got quite a lean on it to dismantle in a few weeks, its sitting on nice soft peat so thinking of using this tecnique just to counterbalance any snatching on the lean.

[bob]

Tom

bet you had to leave site when you came down

chipping and raking that lot would of been a nightmare:thumbup:

[Tom D]

That was the spec, all left where it fell, we just cleared it off the track and cut up some of the bigger bits. Big tree that, managed to bury a 28" bar in some of the branch wood.

[Mark Bolam]

Had a ash split in two whilst rigging ,whole side of the canopy split out and rested in a thuja next to it.... One reason why I will always try and rig off a different stem other than one I have anchored too.

Worse experience I had was snatching stems off a poplar pollard and the last stem tore off one side of the tree ... Luckily I had just taken off the half stem i was using for an anchore point that I had already taken the top off and side stroped in to the other side of the pollard bowl, it took about a 40ft section of tree with it when it broke ... Really shock me up!! Tree should of been felled as it was full of white rot and I pity the person who had too redo it as they probably left the regrowth for another 10 years before redoing it again.

 

Same as with the pop Matty, rigging a head off another stem and it tore the whole stem out of the socket at the old pollard point. Whole lot just missed the BT line I was trying to avoid. Like you, I was anchored to a different stem (obviously!).

 

This ash has nothing to do with me BTW, and will almost certainly be left for nature to take it's course.

[Pete Mctree]

Would it have helped to put a rigging block up both legs? It would have compressed the union

[Jdtrees]

Do any of you ever use a winch to counterbalance a heavily leaning tree when rigging big bits out? Iv got a nasty pollarded Ash which has got quite a lean on it to dismantle in a few weeks, its sitting on nice soft peat so thinking of using this tecnique just to counterbalance any snatching on the lean.

 

Does this technique transfer the pulling force from the blocks rigging point into compression down the stem?

[RobArb]

I've used a winch/rope to keep up a large heavily leaving willow stem with extensive rot in the base up, whilst I took the head out.

 

I felt safer with the tree tied up than what I would've done without it

 

Sent from my Galaxy S2

[Ewan Murray]

I met a guy who "Rode" a tree that failed at the base while he was up it and it went through a garage, he was okay was on the right side of the tree at the time.

[arbogrunt]

I met a guy who "Rode" a tree that failed at the base while he was up it and it went through a garage, he was okay was on the right side of the tree at the time.

 

Had a lad who used to climb for me who'd had the same experience. He'd spiked up a dodgy ash to knock off a limb prior to felling and it went over with him halfway up it (why they did just mewp it is anyones guess!).

Took the corner off a roof and wrote off a pick up on the drive. He walked away with skinned thighs and bruises...very lucky.

Sadly, the experience stayed with him and he started having nightmares...a year later, he got out of treework. He's now doing very well as a chippy in NZ.

[Paul Barton]

I used to have nightmares about that without it having happened to me!