Climbing dead trees

[TIMON]

Got a dead cedar to dismantle soon.

It's been dead about 2 years. Single stem about 50 ft so not too big. I'm interested to hear of others opinions, tips and experiences of climbing and dismantling dead trees.

Thanks in advance

[Rich Rule]

Do you know what killed it?

 

The timber can have a very different feel depending on the cause of death.

 

Some trees loose there bark and are as dry and solid as a bone. Others are a complete mesh of rot and crap.

[Pete Mctree]

as Rich said - depending on the decay present will dictate your approach.

Like any compromised tree, I like to take some weight out of it as soon as possible, in extreme cases, I will do this evenly from all sides as not to create an imbalance.

[TIMON]

 

Can't see any fungus on it. The bark at the base feels quite spongy.

It's started losing its bark now as well.

 

[Al Cormack]

Cedar??

 

As long as it's not moving at the base, just climb it and strip it on the way up, and chog it on the way back down.

 

No space to straight fell?

[Gary Prentice]

I've climbed hundreds of dead trees, particularly elms but probably only half a dozen cedars. You'll have a fair idea before you ascend too high if there's something amiss - It won't feel/move right.

 

I've realised something was wrong on some trees with no external symptoms, to find out later on that they were seriously internally decayed with hardly any residual walls.

 

To raise your level of confidence it might be worth having a dig around the root buttresses to assess any decay, prior to climbing.

[Thesnarlingbadger]

Give it a good push at the base if it moves from that then I'd say it's MEWP time. If not go up slow and steady, you'll know if something doesn't feel right if you've been climbing a while. Personally I like to take top weight out as soon as possible (makes it feel a little safer). As said before try and keep the tree balanced as much as possible when working. Oh and avoid rigging anything because that's when things will snap out.

Are you sure it's a cedar? I can't really tell from the pics but it looks more like an alder or something.

[jomoco]

Mighty peculiar lookin cedar....

 

Jomoco

[Mick Dempsey]

Spike it, strip it, top it, chog it.

 

Swamp cypress maybe.

 

Reg C. Did an interesting vid about dead trees a while back, something along the lines of spiking slowly so as not to create a wobble that could flip a rotten top off.

Edited May 8, 2016 by Mick Dempsey

[devon TWiG]

Bore in to the base of the trunk with your saw to see / feel if it is sound inside , It looks a bit like WR Cedar which is pretty rot resistant anyway , also it will be very light if dry , and also pretty strong as well , as Mick says above spikes , strip and chog or does it need to be rigged ?