Stihlmadd vids

[jomoco]

Best leave those punky old Giants to the demolitions lads Reg!

 

Work safe mate.

 

Jomoco

[stihlmadd]

I contact climbed for over 20 years, previous....because the convenience suited me for one reason or another. A big part of that was because I moved around a bit and always had one eye on the door. I only just closed the curtain on it early last year.

 

My advice is that's what you should do also.....if you planning on staying at your current location. You'll make twice the money, and get to keep it too. I can't say enough about what a relief it is to be negotiating and doing my own jobs. Meanwhile, your saving for a GRCS among other things so that these companies you're involved with can reap the benefits. It's not right, and just one example.

 

Buy a truck and chipper, then get out there. You'll never look back. If you can't afford to buy one after all these years of graft, then it proves a point really. Don't believe anyone who tells you how hard it all is. That's BS.

 

I am planning on staying here permanently (Adelaide) it is a little bit small town minded but I enjoy aspects of the knowing everyone factor and have lived in tiny settlements so have a perspective on size versus comforts.

Melbournes weather and driving sucks, sydney is too over blown and brisbane is too tropical for my liking so it really comes down to climate and variety of work.

Adelaide has a good cross section of work, I enjoy the opportunity to be in a Euc one day and a Oak the next and the plains versus Hills work is also an attractor.

 

I am near the point of paying off the land I own in the hills (20 acres)

that will give me back capital and a fee free yard / dumping spot where I can store mulch ,dump what ever green waste I want and store for processing into fire wood or salvageable timber.

currently another tree company is dumping fire wood for a fee on my site.

the wood sales and mulch sales will form a small part of my income stream.

 

You are bang on about the equipment for other companies but honestly most of the companies I contract to will never spend their own money on this kind of kit and I am trying to make my life easier and safer/ more efficient with an eye to the future when I will want to be using this kit to my advantage.

 

I have been climbing for twelve years now and started late at 31 so the window of opportunity is starting to close.

some companies would rather use a younger climber who is more willing to take risks for the profit of the bossman when I am not willing to loose a days pay to save some arsehole a few bucks on a job He never quoted properly and wants to still make a profit on being totally unrealistic about the situation.

 

Putting my ego aside has been the hardest part for me- it is not that I can't do the job it is the financial pain / physical pain component that puts me off the stupid jobs now. sure I 'might' win but I know the odds of walking away unscathed are low so I would rather decline to climb such **** sandwiches and so have lost a percentage of business because of this.

 

on the other hand I have built a good reputation for the quality of my work and while I am not perfect my success rate is pretty high.

It will be another 12 months of graft before I am in a position to purchase a truck/chipper - when it is a cut and leave gig I can quote effectively against other companies out there but the waste needs removal the jobs are generally out of my reach as you can only cut/slash so much into a trailer and the time factor versus the bloke with a chipper on site means you rarely get those jobs.

 

So yeah I hear you loud and clear on points but it will be good to clarify with you where I am at and what I am thinking with you as you have already been down this road.

as I tell the young fella's always ask a old lag about how to do things as you can make your own mistakes or learn from theirs for free.:big grin:

[stihlmadd]

Apples and oranges really Jon. The most complicated jobs I've done have been hardwoods without a doubt....but the most dangerous have been some of the dead firs I've done out this way through the last 4 and a half years.

 

I am with Reg on the dead firs thats some puckering poopy time climbing when you can't ride the hook and can't get a crane or bucket out to the tree.

 

Jon for my money I would rather do a big Euc over a big pine any day if for nothing else my kit doesn't end up all coated in bloody sap.

Having rigged out both massive Eucs and pines into confined spaces I would pick the Euc every time dead or alive.

 

These days it is rare for me to see a job that is not doable in some way shape or form if you are creative enough but the deciding line still seems to be the customers budget and what they are willing to sacrifice in order to have the job fit their budget.

heck if you are willing to pay for the helicopter removal and my time then I am willing to play.

[diervek]

Loving the vids dude.

There's one quote that has really helped me settle a shoulder imp for me;

 

I have been climbing for twelve years now and started late at 31

 

at 34 and starting my career change / leap, it's always good to hear of late bloomers.

[stihlmadd]

Loving the vids dude.

There's one quote that has really helped me settle a shoulder imp for me;

at 34 and starting my career change / leap, it's always good to hear of late bloomers.

 

Thankyou diervek always good to hear from a fellow tree person who digs the time and effort spent on the videos.

as to climbing at or after a certain age my personnel belief is it comes down to a variety of factors including your attitude and prior history.

any one who went and shagged out both their knees playing rugby and then spent every night down at the local drinking will struggle to get into and keep climbing - not impossible but the cards are stacked against them.

also your genetics do come into play - I am lucky to have a good physical size / body weight and metabolism that lets me production climb others I know haven't been so fortunate and are now feeling the effects of the years spent pounding those spikes in.

playing into that is the improvements in climbing kit that make it easier / less damaging on your body that I am putting into place when others around me are still climbing on standard prussic setups with no mechanicals - old school and aint going to change it up so the wear on their bodies is accelerating .

anyhoo thats my two cents for what it is worth take advantage of anything that makes it less of a strain on you whenever you can and look after yourself to keep in the game.

[jomoco]

I'm surprised you find conifers that challenging Ben.

 

They are much lighter wood than eucs, far more predictable both in hinging and holding on to the stump when felling.

 

Can't tell you how many climbers have come out to CA to climb, bumped into a few big eucs, then gone back home grumbling about their unpredictable and brittle hinging characteristics.

 

I like dead conifer removals less than two years dead myself.

 

Whereas healthy live firs are so sappy they rival rubber trees at ruining my ropes n britches!

 

Got any pics of your Land Cruiser Ben?

 

Jomoco

[stihlmadd]

I'm surprised you find conifers that challenging Ben.

Jomoco

 

Not challenging its the trust factor - I trust a dead euc a lot more than a dead fir or pine due to the ageing factor - the longer a Euc is dead and still standing the harder it gets unless the rot killed it the tree can be trusted to a greater degree than a dead pine of the same time span dead.

Dead pines can get poopy real fast depending on what killed them reducing the options when it comes down to the removal where as you can still rig out big sections on a dead euc even if it has significant internal rot and has been dead for donkeys.

given a choice between climbing a Euc or Pine it will be Euc every time for me regardless of the heavier timber or more unpredictable tearing and hinging factors.

it comes down to the fact I am a lazy bugger at times and there is less effort in a euc than a pine, the bark is generally smooth there isn't horrible clusters of dead pine cones persisting through the bloody tree and all the dead little snags every where not to mention and don't get me started on the bloody SAP I fuggin hate the sap and what it does to my kit fuggin hate it.

If I hear people complaining about climbing Eucs I think they have rocks in their head but thats my opinion.

gotta confess I don't know how to load pics onto this site Jon

[jomoco]

Bummer!

 

I love my old inanimate toy tooltruck somethin fierce!

[stihlmadd]

my mobile tool box and tree puller

[RC0]

I'm surprised you find conifers that challenging Ben.

 

They are much lighter wood than eucs, far more predictable both in hinging and holding on to the stump when felling.

 

 

 

Jomoco

The challenge is not in the degree of difficulty Jon....its whether you dare even get up there or not. 2 years dead, not such a big deal. When you get a 120 ft 7 year dead armillaria-rotted grand fir, that starts oscillating when you're barely past 15....you wish you were up a rock hard dead euc any day. Whats worse it that there's no remote tie in option....no second leader on another part of the tree that might save you in a collapse/fall arrest situation. Youre just stuck, on an icolated rotten wobbling pole....knowing that you still need to get a little higher before you the top becomes short enough to fit in the drop zone. Only thing worse would be stood on the ground watching another climber up there.