RC0

This was a 75-80ft Beech, condemned due to meripilus. ‘Protect our lawn’ was the word, so we did our best. Thankfully I was able to tie-in and escape when needed to the adjacent beech....I also set up a support line to share the load when folding the top. ...I’d have otherwise had to go significantly smaller such was the extent of decay down below. Difficult to let the sections run with them being quite long and landing close to the LD....but with the appropriate hardware we were able to confidently bring them to an abrupt halt where need be. Some photos of the latter stages. Thanks

Do you think they read our thread Rupe? Who woulda thought it! TreeBuzz Board: Stein dual VS. GRCS? http://www.arboristsite.com/commercial-tree-care-climbing/165353.htm Pardon me Butch, Stein Dual Apologies for the derail Stu. FWIW, there are several cheaper options/accessories out there to complement one of the smaller, lowering devices on the market. Best of luck

Thats right Rupe, the Stein was designed for heavy dynamic loading, thanks

You're not a million miles away in Kings Lyn, so if you can cover my expenses, no problem. The way it works, I'll come up the tree with you, you go ahead with what you were gonna do anyway, I'll give you advice/information where I feel its appropriate. I have all the slings you're ever likely to need, so no need to go out and spend beforehand. 26th April is a way off yet, so no great urgency to decide. Call me in the day time this week 07990621057, leave a message if I dont answer.

My answers are in bold James

You need any assistance, let me know:thumbup1:

Hi James Firstly, I have a lot of respect for what you've already achieved at such a young age....and I have no doubt that its only going to get better so long as your interest in treework doesn't begin to flag in a couple of years, I sincerely hope not. Its a good youtube/tree-forum type video that would coax a smile out of most of your fellow arbos....but as a client promo vid, no I think its way off the mark, no offence. If I were a client I just wouldn't have a clue what I was looking at or why I should hire you. Even the stills with headings of the thinning work etc are not comparative to anything, just after shots....meaningless if I knew nothing about treework. Check out some of Tod Kramers vids....and this guys is the real deal when it comes to hands-on treework also. Hope it helps: YouTube - KramerTree's Channel

Sorry Paul, I may have been told but I just dont recall

Sorry's not good enough Ben, sort youself out!

Tully, you might be over-analyzing the whole thing to be honest. For many climbers and groundworkers, there is no better medicine to put you at ease than having a crane on site. On the contrary, it can actually work out a whole lot cheaper, especially if you can nail a couple of jobs in the day. Good planning and all that....

Tully, a straight-through cut is better, although sometimes not always possible if a top starts twisting in the wind etc, or the climbers work position is awkward. Steps cuts are ok on horizontal's because the crane is able to exert so much leverage that there’s very little shock-loading. This is also handy where one is looking to keep the section moving up, often referred to as a ledge-cut in the US....but then you must remember if you’re adding a balancer/sling just outside the cut then it should be set much looser than the other slings, otherwise your leverage is lost and a shock-load will incur. If you do step-cut a top or vertical section then the cross-over between the two cuts is always better positioned on the compression side of the load, so maximum leverage is gained when cabling up. Step cuts are also useful when working with inexperienced tree-crane-operators, who feel more at ease in the fact that you are out of harm’s way while they make the lift. I’ve used step-cuts on many, many jobs with great success....although careful slinging and accurate pre-loading are imperative. Tree-related crane-training is hard to come by. Mark Chisholm does workshops in Norway from time-to-time as already mentioned, and Mayer Tree Service in the US have just recently done similar: TreeBuzz Board: North American Hands -On Climber/Crane Training If you are a competent, conventional tree rigger, then you can carry much of that over to tree/crane removals....doesn’t make you anywhere near qualified but it’s a good place to start. I was lucky to have lots of opportunity at a young age and have always been very comfortable with it, although it’s not for everyone. We're just scratching the surface here really, it’s a broader subject than a lot of people realise. I have hosted some crane work on youtube if you’ve the time to scroll through my account: YouTube - ????? Recoates there’s not too many verbal explanations but you should still be able recognize similar patterns and techniques throughout. Hope that helps. Simon we were done for lunch but didn't rush to leave the site. Thanks again

Rich, yes I did have the helmet camera rolling. Mark, I forgot to ask the weight, but I think I had it pre-loaded to about 1.5t so it probably came in at about 2. Thanks again

Thanks for the kind words. The crane is a 50t. And I wasn't being cocky or anything with the 4 cut thing....I was just trying to justify having only a hand ful of photo's. We did take more but just more of the same sections. Contientious slinging on the two top sections was the key. Thanks again

Here’s some photo’s of a poplar from this morning. We had to wait until after 9 before we could start because the adjacent road. Only 4 cuts to get it down, with the remaining 8 ft being retained for a carving. The job was actually postponed last week due to the bad winds etc, so we tentatively re- booked the crane for today which turned out to be the best day of the week.... although rarely does it work out that way. Simon, thanks for dropping by to say hello, always a pleasure to meet fellow arbtalk members, Hope your day went well also. The last photo was a classic Northern dish I picked up on the way home. Thanks

Unless I'm mistaken, I dont recall him saying he was having a bad day....but the fact is that his experience and intuition told him No! I hope he sticks with that.

He's already been up there once, an experienced climber. How will it be different a second time?

Many times I’ve walked and come back another day due to high winds, and/or bad planning on the part of a tree-contractor. On countless occasions I’ve been hired by naive, non-climbing company owners who know neither what they are looking at or talking about. As a contract-climber people often either bull$hit you about what a job involves, or like I said – just don’t have the experience to make a judgement....and it’s not always convenient for me to go take a look at the job first. We always get the job done, eventually....but on my terms. So what are you going to do about that tree gibbon? Are you going to leave it as is?

We dont waste much of anything Stevie....try to keep everything logical and systematic i.e. Today I straight felled 3 70ft larch, but let a young guy sned-up while I cut up the logs. He left stubbs up to 6 inches all over the place, others he cut flush. I asked him why? he couldn't answer! Why did the french guys footlock that tree, twice, when they could've ran up it on spurs with half the effort? Whoever kept hanging on to the rigging line when those limbs shoulda been well on the way down the tree....where's the sense to continually do that? Why were they winching/raising logs in mid-air, with no obstructions at 50+ feet? No need to answer Stevie, and of course I could go on and on, but then I might have to watch it through again to further elaborate....I really dont want to do that. Yeah they got it down, but for me it was far too wasteful throughout.

I would agree if I believed that Mike, but I dont buy it. My feelings on the sloping cuts echo Rupes exactly. I guess we cant all like the same thing.

All style, no substance. Footlocking on a removal/pole like that, wtffor? The rigging - aweful Sloping cuts just to chunk down that spar at the end just about capped it off. Sorry to be negative, I'm sure they are good guys really, but that was the most pretentious lot of BS Ive seen in in ages....cant stand to see treework being potrayed in such a way.

Nice editing. Not impressed by the work though!

Dave, it all seemed to go very well. Out of the products that Ive personally had a hand in - probably the Dual LD, the crane-bag and the trolley (even though we didn't have one there) created the most interest. The rest of the Stein products were also whole heartedly recieved from what I could observe. Thanks

Cutting with with total conviction Gibbon, sign of a good treeman. You used the crane for only part of the job, how come? Nice work and video