Dead Willow removal

[Tommy_B]

Good pics Mr Bullman. As many have said, Thats a good size tree!!!

[Peter]

I have a dead Robina to do next month never quite sure of strength of branches

 

Dead trees in general are very hard to judge without seeing and feeling. Once you have done a few (hundred), you will get a feel for them.

 

If you arent sure, set an anchor from the ground and get your mates on the rope to guage what it will take. Avoid rigging if possible, unless you are sure, and be very wary of shockloading. As a general rule, you are better off climbing higher rather than rigging off bigger bits, even though its counter intuitive at first. Remember, you may weigh 60-90kg but you are a fairly static load. If you rig off even a smallish piece, once you've factored in the shock loading it will have generated many times more force.

 

Some species are usually better than others, but the cause of death is also a factor.

 

For instance, dutch elm disease killed elm is very strong, even stronger than the live tree.

I have also found chestnut killed by bleeding canker to be fairly strong.

Be wary of soft white rots though, I did a big chesnut once, then came down and practically pushed the stem over without a single cut.

 

There are very few trees that cant be climbed at all, but some of them will require specialist techniques such as ratchet strapping up splits, or a crane to avoid rigging. Some of the most dangerous trees the ones that look healthy at first but have major mechanical defects or internal decay. These are the trees you need to inspect carefully rather than just squirrelling up them. Dead trees are obviously dead, so instantly command the attention of the novice.

 

Your greatest asset is your own experience, so weigh up each tree carefully, decide how your are comfortable doing it, and dont let anyone pressure you into taking risks you are not comfortable with.

 

Have fun.

[alex_m]

It was good working with you steve - glad the pictures came out.

I'm not suprised you didn't put the pictures up of me doing the climbing bits that were too technical for you....

 

and fao: Mozza - the troos are still going strong, cheers.

[scotspine1]

Dead trees in general are very hard to judge without seeing and feeling. Once you have done a few (hundred), you will get a feel for them.

 

If you arent sure, set an anchor from the ground and get your mates on the rope to guage what it will take. Avoid rigging if possible, unless you are sure, and be very wary of shockloading. As a general rule, you are better off climbing higher rather than rigging off bigger bits, even though its counter intuitive at first. Remember, you may weigh 60-90kg but you are a fairly static load. If you rig off even a smallish piece, once you've factored in the shock loading it will have generated many times more force.

 

Some species are usually better than others, but the cause of death is also a factor.

 

Good advice there Pete

 

For instance, dutch elm disease killed elm is very strong, even stronger than the live tree.

 

The branch and stem structural strength may feel strong, but the root crowns are susceptable to failure particularly if the tree is long dead, this is an important factor to consider if you have to rig any pieces out or pull off branches/sections of stem with a tagline.

 

I have also found chestnut killed by bleeding canker to be fairly strong.

 

Dont doubt your experience of this but I've found them to be very weak. This may become more of a safety issue in UK climbing as students fresh out of college will face more and more dead/dying Bleeding Canker chestnuts. The HC is already a very brittle tree when healthy and the decaying timber only makes it more unpredictable. I'd be advising any trainees to take extra care when dismantling Bleeding Canker HCs.

 

Your greatest asset is your own experience, so weigh up each tree carefully, decide how your are comfortable doing it, and dont let anyone pressure you into taking risks you are not comfortable with.

 

 

Good advice.

 

Nice job on the Willow Steve.

Edited October 7, 2009 by scotspine1

[MattJordan]

Nice work mate

[Rich Rule]

good job there steve, nice one.

[Steve Bullman]

Well done Steve,not seen many Willow's that big!

 

theres about 50 of them on the estate where this one was removed.

[Highland Forestry]

Good job steve - looks an impressive tree.

Been on dead Willow and DED Elms this week myself, tricky buggers some of them.

Got a nice sized dead elm to take down on Monday, will have to get some pics taken.

[Tom D]

Nice job Steve, 5 of the 12 we took down recently were that size, I quite like working on them actually, was there any stringyness left in the timber? ( appart from the felling cut at the end)

 

Got a big dead beech to do on friday, similar size I think.

[Nick B]

Thanks all for the advice on dead trees very helpfull I will take my time

Sorry to derail the thread Steve