Old Monkey

I don't know what brands you guys have over there. I used to work in an area that got as much rain if not than what you guys get. I kept buying cheapo rain gear until one day we working next to a sailing supply shop. I went in and bought sailing foul weather gear. It has worked the best of anything I have ever tried.

I wear a Gill foul weather bib and on top I wear something called a dinghy smock which has elastic around your waist, neck and wrists. It also breaths very nicely.

Here is the top I wear. It is tight to your body so it doesn't get caught in your friction hitch. It can be a pricey way to go but it is well built stuff and will last. Hey the prices are in pounds so Gill must be over there.

http://www.gillmarine.com/section_header_pages/product_details.asp?id=1147&sub_cat_code=7

How many buses do you have to jump over to get to heaven?

I just finishing up my second year in business. It is a lot of hard work and some days I think I am losing it. There is progress. I am doing better than last year and that keeps me going. That and my family.

Didn't Roller just have that kind of box built Ed?

Old Monkey

 

To answer your question, I suppose I don't say "no", just "lets find another way".

 

Regards

 

Graeme McMahon

I guessed that was going to be you answer. What you do is very impressive to people who have never worked in trees. For those of us who have and do work in trees it is simply awe inspiring.

Do you ever get to trim little easy trees anymore or is it just a steady diet of big and ugly?

I am curious as to what kind of jobs Graeme says no to?

It must have been a fun trip to Tasmania for the bid and subsequent job. With the sky walk next to the tree, it must have been a real spectator sport.

I'm a bit of a dinosaur, I climb with an untended Blake's hitch. I climb trees for a living and I go where I have to go to get the tree done, get paid and go home. Necessity is a great teacher. Focus on where you need to go and go there. It sounds odd but I find that I can feel the strength of a tree through my feet. If you climb long enough you develop a sense for what a branch can take. Walk out a little ways on your branch and bounce. Shake that limb. How it vibrates will give you a greater feel for it. When I remove trees I shake them as hard as I can(the live ones) after all their branches are off. It helps you start trusting their strength more.

In the end getting comfortable in trees just takes time.

I like the bungee cords holding the fuel can on.

Felling a multiple trunk tree all at once can be dodgy. Glad it worked out for you.

I am guessing that was over 200ft. tall.

I have wondered if some dead trees become less stable after you take their tops out. I know that eucalyptus split vertically as you take chunks off. The sound of green eucs splitting as you chunk them down can be intimidating. That dead stick was already pretty split up.

I really would not have wanted to give up my high tie in. I am sure there was a good reason but just standing on that soft snag without even a worst case scenario tie in.....scary.

That's a shame, that was a cool tree.

Hey Roger, how much did the Wood's ported 192T set you back?

This is also me. I am very happy by nature.

Ya, that's me. The funny thing is I was not yelling at anyone or mad at all. It just looks that way if you can believe it. I love the finger pointing. I should credit the ground guy who took the picture. Ulyses took a lot of great work pictures for me.

Most of the trees I have climbed that had wind damaged tops, once I was in the tree, I could see that the terrain funneled the wind right at the tree. Sometimes buildings, low hills and other trees, create a channel for the wind. So when assessing your tree's chances without the building next to it I would, as said above, make note of the prevailing wind direction but also consider the terrain.

More.

The last one is of a pine that I kept cutting narrow faces in and kept bending over. Some small trees are strong enough to bend over and suspend above the ground. I have used this trick over delicate landscaping, cutting and carrying every piece without the tree ever falling all the way to the ground. The trick is to know what wood it works with.

Much better gig than cleaning up after owls.

Are you guys having identity problems over there?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20071116/wl_csm/ogreat;_ylt=Al5xOhgDhL7NPgFN3st9HkYDW7oF

Or is it just the new PM trying to leave his mark?

Well there used to be these things called records and I bought three of them in my first go around, Journey-Infiniti, Styx -Paradise Theater and the Soundtracks of John Williams.

The last one I bought was ELO's greatest hits.

I have a bunch of picts from when I worked out in California. Since I moved to Boise the trees and the jobs just aren't as cool. Sometimes I dig through the old picts just to remind myself what I have done.

And more. I didn't use to wear much in the way of PPE. I am much safer now that I have a kid.

Cool, Steve cleans up owl poop.

Here are some random tree work picts.