jomoco

Seems like confirmation that our worst fears about govt corruption are true, not theoretical by any measure. 911 truthers were right. The whole PNAC crowd belongs in jail. America's about to elect another PNAC true believer, whether Trump or Hillary wins, the PNAC course will be scrupulously adhered to. Leaves me feeling like a cornered rat with teeth bared. Chilcot n 911, a catalytic catharsis, overflowing the dam's of denial. Jomoco

My Orwellian 1984 extra-cab 4X4 Toy, like me, is still functional, though a bit cosmetically worn n torn! I'm averaging about 125K per engine. This being number 4. Like so many things of mine, it's highly modified, and barely squeaks by the bi-annual CA smog emissions test. 33 inch tires demanded 4:88 gearing of course.

One day? What a beech! Love the slo mo big wood bombing. Nice saw too. Jomoco

Mighty fine riggin Benn. Cool soundtrack too mate. Jomoco

As I recall all the debris went to our local Miramar landfill, and then put into a tub grinder, embedded rocks n all. It was a federal naval housing renovation contract, 3K removals, mostly eucs on embankments, including stumps. One of the best aspects of federal military housing or base contracts in CA? Entire booklets of free dump passes! Jomoco

That's what the thumb attachment's for mate, loading the debris into 45 foot end dump semis. There's nothing faster. Dude could do a whole week of my removals, 250 stumps, and load them in one day. Humbling I'm tellin yu! Jomoco

Nice compilation of stump grinding machines Gray Git. Ever watch a 60 ton trackhoe with a thumb attachment rip a 3-4 foot dia stump out of the ground in 3 moves? Split, forehand and backhand! Jomoco

Excellent work Ian. This thread reads like a Sherlock Holmes detective novel. The case of Changing Grades! Nice that the owner'll have mementos to last a lifetime. Very tidy work indeed mate. Jomoco

I was out of the trees about 4 months, off my feet about 2 months. The driver of the Cougar XR7 was a young 16 year old chick, freshly licensed, a six pack of Coors beside her, stopped in the oncoming lane, no turn signal, looking for the address of the party she was going to. From my point of view coming at her from the opposing lane, I'm thinking what the heck's that car doing just sitting there so long? Kinda creeping me out, so I gassed my KZ900 to hurry past her, at the exact moment she saw the address she wanted and turned left in front of me. I don't remember the impact, just a feeling of weightlessness and the sound of air rushing by outside my full face Bell helmet. Just as I realized I was airborn I hit the pavement helmet first and slid along on my back for the longest time, coming to rest in a perfectly straight line from my bike embedded in her front grill some 125 feet behind me. Cops said I musta hit her in excess of 50 mph. One police photo shows a single can of unopened beer on her dash from the force of impact. Luckily she had her seatbelt on and suffered little little more than a fat lip and bout of cryin hysteria from thinking she'd killed me. My legs hitting and folding up my handle bars broke them both, but my feet hitting the sharp edge of the full fairing mounts is what tore and severed the vital tendons in both legs as well. Funny thing is not suffering any real pain until they scraped me off the pavement with one of those fancy stretchers that slide underneath you from both sides and lock together, like a fancy pooper scooper. But once inside the ambulance, it didn't take long for me to convince the paramedic that I was not allergic to morphine, and to make with it post haste. A very pivotal and fateful moment in my life that crash.

The crash!

So both sets of my titanium bucks are in the machine shop gettin modified. Leaving me a bit anxious that the bat phone'll ring, and I'll have to footlock my next removal. Then I remembered sacrificing my oldest set of steel buck pole gaffs a few years ago on this round gaff project, getting the gaff angle too steep, pretty much ruining them, hanging them in the garage rafters as an expensive failure. These old steel bucks with the hammer n pin replaceable gaffs are older than my tooltruck, 32 years, and were modified to take lower strap pressure off my left foot tendons going to my toes, following a horrendous motorcycle crash that severed those tendons. A few years later after healing up, I cut the lower strap modification off the left gaff, pounded in some long tree gaffs, bought a new set steel buck pole gaffs, pretty much retiring the old set for use on thick barked conifers up in the mountains. Having a set of the old hammer in pole gaffs gathering dust, I decided to attempt resurrecting my old 32 plus year old friends from their mutilated sleep in the rafters. After considerable cutting, grinding and filing, I've managed to get them back to their original stock condition, at least pretty close anyway. Many climbers like to razz me because I wear my lower gaff straps backwards, with the buckle end around my Achilles' tendon, rather than the top of my foot. I do so because that buckle puts pressure on the exact part of my left foot where all those severed tendons were sewn back together with permanent nylon sutures. At any rate, should my bat phone ring in the next few days, my old friends and I are sharp n ready to rock.

Damn good stuff Ben, no doubt. Jomoco

The ability to stay calm and functional in the face of bloodshed and mayhem's an extremely rare and valuable virtue in my experience. She'd probably make a great cop IMO. Jomoco

So I gather Vespasian's under the impression Micah Johnson's experience in Afghanistan's totally unrelated to what he did in Dallas? You a true believer in staying the course set by GWB Vesp, like Obama? Jomoco

Considering that the unemployment rate among young US African Americans is over 50%? Bernie Sanders says 'real unemployment' rate for African American youth is 51 percent | PolitiFact Yet Obama n Hillary are pro TPP democrats, staying the course set by GWB, bomb em in their own countries till they like us, and our multinational corporate pals too. Almost as though our govt's decided to put the screws to us till we riot in the streets. Jomoco

What I find peculiar's our govt selling so many of their constituent's livelihoods overseas for pennies on the dollar, then blaming them for their impoverished circumstances. The moral of Les Miserable seems beyond our politicians ability to comprehend. I love the way they swear up n down on a stack of bibles to protect n defend our papered constitution, then turn on a dime to sell out the very citizens our constititution was written to protect n defend. Don't worry about that constitution folks, it's locked away n protected 24/7, you low IQ citizens however, are worth about 40 cents an hour tops, see? Jomoco

History repeating itself in one hundred year cycles The age of the robber barons dawning once again Consolidation of wealth and power into the hands of just a few Actors on our political stage proclaim we did it all for you While backstage they slap each others backs and congratulate themselves Their's an uneasy heaven our's a daily hell The guillotine so sharp and glistening winds up to the top The bright eyed peasants befouled and grimy cheer it as it drops While high above the moon shines brightly indifferent to our plight Jomoco

So I've gone from a needle sharpening jig requiring disassembly of the gaffs, vises and cordless drills, to an extremely simple manual carbide bit sharpener, that allows you to sharpen up your points with no disassembly at all. Just extend the needle, slide the sharpener onto it, give it a few twists, and presto, razor sharp gaff points. With an inch of wear adjustability these gaffs should be considerably easier to keep razor sharp in the field, and last far longer between gaff/needle replacement. Pole gaffs in the inch and three quarters range are just fine n dandy for sure footedness on barkless poles. But many tree species have bark thicknesses right in that range, particularly at the low and midrange mainstem trunk. One of the reasons I believe a set of pole gaffs in the two inch plus range of penetration will kick out less than standard pole gaffs, particularly once a little acummullated bark builds up between the upper gaff attachment to the main body shank. Gonna go all titanium on everything except the needles n springs, despite the added costs. Somehow I think there'll be less corrosive forces at work between a steel needle encased in titanium, than steel encased in steel.

If our govt continues to outsource folks' jobs n livelihoods? Their Marie Antoinette moment's well deserved, in this peasant's opinion. Jomoco

I've had surprisingly good results using good ole 20% cleaning vinegar. I even recommend it to my clients now. Very environmentally friendly and sustainable. Jomoco

There is something to be said for climbers so good at cut n chuck they do a removal solo, that would otherwise require at least one experienced ropeman, IME. Sure it takes far longer, is far more exhausting, and more dangerous. Particularly in areas with no cell phone signal. Jomoco

They're kinda rare in my neck of the woods, and are somewhat notorious for faking owners out but good by browning out annually, kinduva deciduous conifer! Metasequoia glyptostroboides, right? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metasequoia_glyptostroboides Fascinating tree. Like the bald cypress, it can grow in standing water too! Jomoco

An olive foot? Jomoco

I've always believed it takes far more physical prowess to perform high quality pruning without gaffs, than it does to perform technical removals. That Reg's great at both's to be expected! Watchin Reg wielding his handsaw out at the terminal tips, cuttin n catchin's a true delight! But pneumatic hand loppers'd sure be handy in that situation! Sir Reginald sets the industry bar high n wide! Jomoco

Hah! A Clockwork Red! A droog's drone delight! Right right! Nice find Stephen. Jomoco