RC0

Nice work John

Yeah shut it Bolam. You tell him Rich. I'm actually working alone today. It's 11:10 am here. Nice views.

Very manly avatar you have there Matty. What was that job mate ?

Ive got about 160 tree vids on youtube, James. Probably only a handful have been totally blocked. Others get restricted viewing in certain countries. I even had one blocked for a couple of years, and then get reinstated. After you upload a video with a copyright song, hit the video manager tab and it'll tell you if there's restrictions on it. Normally you have to acknowledge you've used third party content and then thats it. They put ads on your video and stuff, but thats not a big deal. If you've signed up to that youtube deal where you get revenue per click, I dont know what happens then.

It's just a phase. It'll pass just as soon as you start thinking cleary again. You're over thinking to the point where you created a phobia at the moment. If Im ever fixated, over analysing or creating a problem in my head that isn't really there....I go out and have about 6 pints and think about the whole thing again. All of a sudden, with somewhat detached perception of things I realise how ridiculous I've been, and I'm cured. I'm not joking. It's never failed me yet. You need to stop worrying about nothing.

Nice one mate. Who put that shed there !

I cant believe your still messing about, making things hard on yourself. Just buy the gear !

So true

Couple bald eagles, shooting the breeze earlier

Hahaha....after 7 years of trade shows I'm over it now. I just takes sone pills at the start of each day, much less suicidal. I've had my share of moments. Getting hit by cars, crashing cars, falling out of tRees, trees falling over while I'm up them, bring attached to limb hung up on Hv wires. One very bad moment topping a dead tree over here, and a particular crane job too. They were all over in seconds, but I knew each time how close I was to being a statistic. Oh yeah, getting caught in riptides. ....plenty time to think about that.

You ever thought you were about to die Dave ? From a personal standpoint it wasnt a blur....some desperate thoughts mate.

I never use the image tab....just scroll down to 'manage attachments' and it's easy. Mobile, pc or whatever. Never had an issue.

17 in the first pic, to now at 43.

This has been working great for us. I normally work with just one other guy....so it can be difficult at times for him control the rigging line with one hand and manoeuvre the suspended branch over or around obstacles with the other at times. Much easier when you have one guy on the rope, while another draws out and positions the load. Because the frictions up top with the RigWrench set up, as the climber I can now just take the rigging line off him at any time, because there no weight in it. So, its like having another guy on the ground in a sense. You can obviously create the same kind of friction up top by simply running through a crotch or too....but the friction obviously works both ways, which makes tightening not as effective. With the wrench you can pre-load and raise branches even....but with ability to lower perhaps double the weight of what you would normally on a friction less system. The bend on the slick pin is tight, granted.....but its just a deflection. The pinto pulley up above is where the line does a complete U turn. Its not for huge pieces by any means....and if you're still needing to use a lowering device in conjunction then your going to big. If youre a small set-up like mine, short or stretched man power then its ideal.

A thing of nightmares. Cant imagine what went through his mind approaching the rollers

Took me a while to get used to the lack of sincerity here in Victoria, with some exceptions. On the whole its the worst region ive ever worked in. A hand shake means very little it seems. In fact, Ive shaken on jobs, only to drive by a couple week later to see the work has been done. You'll lose a job over $20. Lots of desperate guys undercutting each other. Working for nothing. Driving the prices down....as becomes the regard for tree services. Its a vicious circle....and the culture here it seems. Reading some of the better experiences in this thread, Im glad to hear its not a universal thing.

Some deodar Rigging today

Good cause Sean. Good luck Nikki

Just the sound of my own grunting, Dave....with a few Fs and Cs thrown in. I had to lighten up the upper part of the adjacent fir, first. Had a very bad union about 40 ft from the top. Notice all the resin bubbles along the trunk ? They pop all over your rope. So by the time I was ready to swing across into the other tree my rope was just a sticky mess. Makes for twice the work. Grand firs are the worst for it out here.

some hooking today between 2 grand firs. The target tree had an awful bent top so it was decided to reduce it slightly with a view to maintaining the new height at 3 year intervals. Grand firs are notorious out here for producing weighty tops that inevitably fail. Their growth rate is phenomenal. The branches in the very tops are brittle, but this technique produced 3 points of contact, that being the line-redirect, and 2 of the hooks on two separate branches. So it was a safe transfer. The throw was probably 25 feet but the transfer much less by the time Id cinched up the lines. Wrong setting on the ground camera, which is why it looks all squashed. Sorry. Tree looks passable at least. I worked alone at that property today. All pruning. They got nothing under 100 ft.

Never seen that before Dave. Glad it all went safely mate. How long were you there for ?

No but the turbulence was terrible. Felt like Rodeo thousands of feet above the sea. Watching this Bloke fighting with the control stick the whole time, and wiping the windscreen with his hand. Never been so afraid for my life. Completely powerless. Could've kissed the ground when we landed and docked. Between 15 - 20 little planes go down each year in BC. Nobody walks away.

Had a float plane journey in the autumn to Seattle once Paddy. Never again mate.

Thanks. Few more. Ocean. Rainforest, and our cabin too, set on a little cove where the sea is much quieter. Great view to wake up to. We could sea bald eagles hovering over thay island the the left of the cabin view....and an osprey diving down to the water also on occasion....what speed. There was a cougar sighted in town the day before we arrived, thankfully we didn't come across him. Dusk and dawn are apparently times to avoid being out in the trails.

I live in Victoria, Vancouver Island....nearly 5 years now. I took my daughter 6 up to visit the 2 towns, which are probably 20 miles apart for a long weekend just. The region is like mid/North west of the island....about 4 and a half hors drive for us on a good run if you don't stop. Right now is off season (winter) so is very quiet with very few tourists. Probably the last hour and a half of the journey is from a place called Port Alberni until you reach the Ucluelet junction.....where Ucluelet is South and Tofino North. I mean the whole journey is great....but that particular stretch through the mountains from Port Alberni is just fantastic. It is so difficult to keep your eyes on the road....but is a good policy because you could otherwise die in an instant. When you gaze up to see what must be massive trees in the clouds on top of so many of the countless peaks....you have to wonder, with such a small population, has anyone ever been up there ? Because, why would they ! Unfortunately I didn't take any pics of the drive, because I just wanted to keep going, and there was still lots of ice and snow on the roads up there. Dropping down and arriving at the coast was much milder and damp....warm when the sun broke through even. I've never been to a place and seen such massive amounts of cloud, mist and rain pass and change at such speed. Its really is different. We did a few rainforest walks but mainly hung out at the ocean. Watching the storms and waves move in was amazing. The sound was unforgettable as you get out of your vehicle, like thunder. The first 4 pics are actually about 50-60 ft above and a couple hundred meters away.....so you can't really appreciate how big the waves are. Summer is mad busy, apparently....so winter suited us better. I would highly recommend though, if anyone ever makes it out this way. The last pic is a download, and not mine.