scotspine1

Not just that one, the 'let it run' signal with the 2 hands rolling will never work in the real world it's no good. You need to be more specific with what you want the groundworker to do ie If you want 2 wraps on the portawrap or lowering device you give the groundie the V sign followed by drawing a circle shape with your index finger to indicate 2 wraps, then if you want him to let it run follow the circle shape with a straight down motion with the same finger like you were drawing a vertical line from top to bottom on a small blackboard, it doesn't have to be big exaggerrated movements, just short compact movements - it should all be done from start to finish in a clear fluid motion like sign language then wait for him to load the lowering device and give the thumbs up or a vocal response like 'ready to go' is even better. Let's say you want to hold the section of timber/branch as it's above a roof and you can't let it run and you only want to use 1 wrap - hold up your index finger for the 1 follow this by drawing a circle shape for the wrap with the same finger then a clenched fist for hold, again wait for the thumbs up etc from the groundie. .

Tell you what Tony, you stick to your two handed hand signals and I'll give you a two fingered salute.

There's too many occasions in treework where you have a tool in your hand ie a chainsaw or holding a rope that is fed through a portawrap to rely on having to use two hands to make a signal.

I agree with Tony, that is a very poor choice of rigging anchor point (3rd pic). Testcricket, look at your 2nd and 3rd pics. What does history tell us about that tree? history tells us that two large limbs the same size as the one your rigging off have broken out of the crown at different times. This is fundamental stuff here, you've a lot to learn.

Soil is different in the United States isn't it Tony

Jennie, RobertS and Jonny Walker have potato like bodies with cocktail sticks for arms and legs, they're that kind of fat body and skinny legs and arms shape, I once heard Jonny walker collapsed a tree his torso was so fat. RobertS is so fat his blood group is Dolmio. .

a pathetic video with absolutely no logic or logical structure, this video was created by a half baked intellectual and is directly aimed at the frothing mouthed herd of internet conspiracy theorists and web addicted basketcases. Any intelligent person can see the weakness in it's argument, plus the narrator sounds like Lloyd Grossman which only adds to the unwatchable vibe. Whoever made it should be thoroughly embarrassed (they probably will be in 10 years when they've become mature enough to comprehend rational thought)

When felling Lawson Cypress trees infected with Phytophthora lateralis we used industrial methylated spirits to disinfect everything.

thats ok

cheers mark wood dust is not good for you, add oily 2 stroke fumes and fungal spores being released from the tree as you cut it and you got a potentially very harmful effect on your lungs (over time) Remember arb is a relatively new profession and the long term effects of breathing in dust/fumes/spores for decades are still to be seen. Forestry loggers were usually dealing with softwoods, so less dust. Plus they normally worked in windy areas where the fumes/dust wouldn't get trapped unlike tree surgeons who are normally working in confined areas.

Disagree. There are times when leaving the right stub in the right place can be a great help. I'm not talking about leaving a stem looking like a porcupine, just the one or two stubs you might need at some point later in the climb, be that for work positioning, rope postioning, flipline positioning or natural crotch rigging. To just say 'dont leave stubs' as a general rule is a bit short sighted. If you look at the video it wasn't the stub that caused the accident in the first place it was his cutting and his work positioning. The piece went earlier than he thought, he wasn't ready for it to go, hence his line was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Yes, many times and due the the physical nature of the job it is very restrictive on your breathing. A few weeks back I wore 3m dust masks on two multi-stemmed beech removals for the entire time I was in the trees. Both trees took about 4 hours each, lots of cutting, lots of climbing (up and down the multi stems) it was very frustration wearing the masks. Been trying to work out a solution to it - bike courier masks etc, haven't found one yet.

Just recently I've been trying to wear one when I think there will be excessive amounts of dust and fumes ie cutting behind a garage on a calm day (2nd pic) It's very restrictive wearing a facemask when climbing but I've tried it on big removals especially Oak, Lime and Beech where there is going to be a lot of that fine dust created (aside from the regular saw shavings). We've all done those removals where due to the cross-grain of the timber the amounts of dust we're breathing can be excessive, think about it, your all familiar with this scenario - that dust can't be good for you.

Yes - Wood dust and Lung Cancer - Who's at Risk?

Anyone working with a saw for any length of time should be wearing a mask. Your saw spews out 2 stroke fumes, the residual oil in the fumes binds to the fine wood dust particles created by the cutting, you then breath these oil laced dust particles in, they get lodged in your lungs and can't break down or be coughed up. Tissue starts to grow round the particles and eventually after many years this leads to lung cancer in much the same as breathing in asbestos dust will.

Yep, something like that, can see it now, it went too early catching him and his line by surprise. pause/play a couple of times round about 0.23/0.24 there is a flipline whipping round but wether it was attached or not is hard to say, seriously doubt it was attached. .

If you watch it on 1080 HD on a big screen from 0.16 it looks like he has a flipline round the stem he is cutting? As the piece hits the deck the flipline can be seen whipping round on the ground? Does anyone actually have the proper explanation as to how this happened?

Just watched it in 1080 HD on the big screen, your right, however it happened he's lucky to be alive. Looking at it again it looks like the piece had started to fall towards him so he tried to jump out of it's way but his line got caught with the piece somehow? .

Did he cut his notch with a tie in above him on the same piece then forget to remove it before he made his backcut?

no tree is ever safe

Looks like Anna Ryder Richardson's dream life has turned into an absolute nightmare.

in the following circumstance it could - all Dan needs to do is climb up onto a branch using his hands and feet and forget to take up the slack in his system, then if he slips off the branch he will shockload the system....with the possible result that the prussik slips dragging the tibloc down the opposite end of his line. The only way to avoid shockloading the tibloc in dan's setup is to always have the climbing system under tension, but I dont know any climbers who have ever gone through a whole job without creating the odd bit of slack in their system from time to time.

Paul, cheers for that info. I heard a sad story recently about a decoy Magpie. No joke if I told it here there's a danger it would start a wave of emotion not seen since Di's funeral. I'm even thinking of selling the rights to Pixar.

Anyone know the legalities of using Larsen traps for Magpies in the UK? Are they completely legal?

Dan, the main problem with using a tibloc in that scenario is a sudden drop from a branch during ascent, the prussik could force the tibloc down, potentially stripping the climbing line. I looked into incorporating the tibloc into treework when Petzl introduced them but after a few weeks of experimenting with various ideas (rescue system etc) ruled it out as the the teeth are just too sharp. It was after all designed as a last resort rescue aid for climbing on frozen ropes etc The same prussik advancing result can be achieved using a small piece of cord made into a prussik which is then attached where the tibloc was. If your using a Blakes you can use the tail to create another blakes on the other side of the line, same result. There are a huge number of variations of this technique.