RC0

There was no felling, unfortunately. The entire pole had to be rigged down off itself....at least until they were falling too close to the bollard. I sliced and ripped a few thereafter....managing to slot them on a little patch of dirt....then we walked the remainder (ripped in half) down the orchard ladder, until it could be reached from the ground. I got away from the job about 5:30.

We used my climbline for this one. Its a 150, and when I set it SRT at top we were right at the end of it down on the ground. Thanks

Big job today. Had to rig down probably 140ft of logs from a Douglas fir. Very repetitive, hard on the feet being in the spurs for 7 hours, and lots of swaying. I got some footage of all that, but havent looked at it yet. Heres the top going off at least. Notice the long sling when taking a top in such a way....really important that the sling in long enough that the top hangs clear of the zipline, as what can happen with a short sling is that the top can jam on the line and stop mid fall. You dont want that, its nasty. Use HD setting

Nice film. Good bloke:thumbup1:

Thanks a lot....and paddy, you should start a thread about youre experience so far:thumbup1: Theyre good mate, very strong and light weight. I still use blocks and pulleys too, but sometimes its better to have a a bit of friction in the tree. Well worth having a few.

Thanks for the comments:thumbup1: Hard to say really Josh. Around Victoria there's lots of second growth firs between 70-130. Then there's others either side of that average. Move a little further north up to shawnigan and cowichan lakes and and there's trees the same age up to 200ft. Similar again if you head 40 mins west of here down to Sooke. Seems like theres a lot of micro-climates within only a couple hours driving distance. Rarely do we get to work on Old growth trees.

Some clips from the summer. Pretty typical day-to-day stuff for this region. Use HD setting. Thanks

Nice one Dave. Still got it mate !

Thanks David, the home owner had to get a permit from the city municipality. An arborist from the department would have come out to make the decision. Lots of the madrones are dying out here the exact same way, foilage first. The cause has yet to be pin-pointed. No danger of them falling over or coming apart, but the guy wanted it gone rather than a somewhat mutilated and sorry looking tree being retained....that would probably wont ever recover thereafter. Yes in its day it must have been a magnificent tree....still would be in a different location perhaps....I personally prefer to see standing dead wood in a tree than see it all removed and looking uniformed. But where it was, was causing too much of an worry for the home owner and his neighbors. The tree removal itself went pretty well. In regards to the crown congestion and risk of limbs breaking out, Ive certainly done much worse. Madrone goes really hard when it dies, much like euc....so, much less risky to work with than say beech, ash or oak etc.

Meant to say, contains course language. Sorry if that offends.

Following on from the ‘Day in the life’ video I did last year. Then it was just blasting down a bunch of firs. This time we crane out a large Arbutus madrone from a back yard. 160T crane and a great tree company to work with . Had camera trouble part way through, so some stuff is missing....but I had another camera up and running within not too much time. 20 mins or so to watch....but some good footage here. Thanks

Hoping to do a full video of this job when I get the time to edit. A large madrone removal. Triple stem, this the top part of one.

Sorry mate, I don't quite follow. Are you saying use a self tailing winch instead of the one in the video, or to replace both our brake winch and bollard with a single self tailing winch ? I'll take a stab at both. If its the latter option, I explained already that we don't want the liability of dynamic/impact loading that style if winch. Greg Good (GRCS) worked around that situation by providing an Aluminum Bollard to swap with the winch, when the situation demanded it. Its a great option, and importantly it also covers his back in the event of someone shockloading his self tailing winch to the point of internal damage or failure. Greg can then argue that he made provisions to avoid this kind of misuse by providing the aluminum bollard. Smart guy, Greg. It comes at a cost though. If its the first option, just a swap of winches from brake to self tailing. I like the bake winch because, 1 - it has a brake so you can let go of the handle, and 2 - the profile lends itself perfectly to that of our bollard. A self tailing winch would require an altogether larger and different style of removable mounting bracket. As it is, its slick, minimized and fits on or off really easy. Trust me, even though it looks simple and obvious at this point, much thought and exploration went in to start with. Thanks.

You knew Jesus ?

Thanks a lot. And again, thanks to those who stopped and said hello at the APF. I didnt get to see much, if any of the show outside of our booth, but having read through silky Pauls thread and others, it sounded like a good turnout:thumbup1: Rob, Im guessing about 700 at this stage, but I dont know for sure. Kevin, My first thought was to retro fit the winch to the existing 3001, first via a bracket that fitted around the back where the rubber mounting are, then by a separate frame and strap. Neither turned out good sturdy enough and looked like a bodge. As it is in the video its solid, quick and easy, as the original 3001 shape accommodates the profile and orientation of the winch as you see it in the video. Seems logical to just to go with what works best.

Ive been away from home (Canada) and in the UK for a week just recently....actually demoing the product featured in the video at the APF show. Before I went I bought a video camera with the intention of making the introductory video that Im posting here tonight. I decided earlier that I cant really afford to keep the camera, what with everything else Ive paid out just recently....and today was the last day of the 14 day return policy that the store offers on all of its goods. So I had to make the video in haste earlier today, and get it back to he store before it closed. As a result the video is not very refined. There is no rehearsed script, and I speak slowly so to give me time to think where each sentence is leading. Anyway, I got the camera back to the store in time and got my refund:thumbup1: Video is 15 mins. Thanks

Well, nobodies ever been up the tree David, so it couldn't be a spur mark. I'd assume a woodpecker, or sapsucker.

Nice one

Spent most of the day in this big fir. Previously stuck by lightening, so a 15ft dead top, and associated damage spiraling up the trunk. Had lots of big deadwood to remove also, and end weight reduction on about a dozen 30-35 ft limbs....had to be rigged to, so awkward. I used a single strand (static) to move around the tree, as there was a lot of up-and-down climbing through to top 80ft, to give me the best line angle so I could get to the ends of the limbs. The tree was about 150 total. Getting out on the limbs is always easy enough, getting back without the 2:1 of a doubled line system takes quite a burst of strength and gripping power....but overall still the smartest way to get around such a densely-branched tree. Previous breakout/limb failures left large portions of the trunk covered in hard, sticky sap.....just what you need all over your line. I should have gotten some pics of just how disproportionately long some of the limbs were....and 12in in diameter. But i was busy, so didnt really think to at the time.

They non aggressive David. Just scavengers. You'll often see them just riding the thermals, quiet as anything. Mt finlayson is within Goldstream provincial park....great place to visit if anyone is ever out this way. You'll see lots of Vultures, bald eagles, ravens, hawks anong other flyers. It is cougar and Black bear country also, as well as grey wolves just at the back of the malahat mountain.....but you'd be lucky to see either of those 3....or unlucky, depending. Lots of 200ft + old growth fir and cedar scattered around the place also.

Took a hike up Mt finlayson today with my daughter 5. Gotta be aware of the wildlife, especially with kids. Took us a little over an hour and a half to the top....the last 30 was all scrambling up boulder. Anyway, they're turkey vultures you can see in the tree. Never seen them stationary before let alone so many just sat together. Mainly you just see them circling very gracefully. Big birds when you seen them up close.

Congratulations Matt and Jo for proving to be the best in Europe 2014 News is slow to my adopted part of the world, but very well done to you both, all the same. Great achievement. Maybe this has been posted somewhere else, and Ive missed the thread:confused1:

No, its all natural and organic mate.

Spent the last couple of days deadwooding and tip-reduction work on a bunch of firs around a property. Great weather and views from the tops. Turkey vultures floating past. A cool spot to work. Some photos of a leaner, so ascending out in the open on the underside. A shot of the second climber on his way up also; and the selfie is taken sat on the very top; and no I dont have a really long arm, I have one of those extensions screwed into the camera.

Good work Paul. I know that area well. Who were you working for ?