scotspine1

Think of it like this - a treeclimber has 9 lives, you used up one of them on that tree, you got 8 left now. which is why I said this in my first post -

Aerial Arborist, just watched the first video - how long have you been climbing for? the reason I ask is that it looks like you've not been climbing very long and you could benefit from working with an experienced climber to show you how to find the correct cuts for a tree like that and find the best work position for making those cuts. Experienced climbers would not have approached that tree the way you did, some of the decisions you made severely increased the risk of stem failure and no doubt led to the ridiculous situation where you found yourself at the top of a large mature tree that was cracking at the base. To continue to work that tree down having heard the cracking at the base was a poor decision. You seem like an intelligent guy who would no doubt take this criticism in good spirit. Trees like the one in your video command respect and unfortunatley you showed that particular tree very little respect and were lucky to come out of it in one piece. There are safer ways to get a tree like that down, many people here could help you out........if you need any advice let us know. .

How can they be money makers if you are getting them wrong more often than right?! If you are looking for a serious answer we need to see pictures of the trees in question, as someone said......have they been topped before if so this will add a serious amount of time to the job. If they are single stems then the workload will be significantly lessened. Whats happening to the timber? More info needed.....

learn

butler, seeing as your the fountain of all biblical knowledge could you explain the incarnation of Christ - that is to say.....the historical and finite existence of an infinite deity in human form? basically, how is it possible for the temporal and the eternal to co-exist? No bible quotes please.

It looks like a union where the branch died or is dying back and reaction wood (wall 4 of the CODIT model) formed under the bark, giving the union the appearance of a collar. This was possibly happening in preparation for when the branch fails, it would then just continue to grow over the wound. Was the branch that failed healthy? .

“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble [James 4:6]”

What Christopher McCandless did was brave, to give all your money to charity, cut up all your plastic, destroy your identity and venture out into the world totally alone has to be commendable to anyone who values real freedom. Yes, he was selfish to his family, but his parents were selfish to him as he grew up and his sister didn't need to be told as she understood what he was doing. Yes he was extremely naive when he walked into the Alaskan wilderness without a map or any real knowledge of the terrain.......... but the guy had spirit, the kind of spirit that this messed up society wants to crush into nothing. He was an idealistic dreamer, and yes he died of starvation on that bus but at least he had the balls to do something out of the ordinary with his life unlike 99% of the population. In the end he understood what he'd done and was at peace with his decisions.....

Caink, any pics of the whole tree with an arrow pointing to the branch that failed?

customs, you may have to pay up to £80 for the catalogue

You can easily buy the Rock Exotica one from Sherrill, just make sure you ask them not to include their catalogue with the package they send you. Unicender : SherrillTree Tree Care Equipment

I heard about this geocache thing once on the radio, after pondering it for a moment I realised it was quite possibly the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard of and immediately dismissed it and never thought about it again until I read this post, I'll now forget about it again......hopefully forever. .

Some successful LA Conservation Area prosecutions - Firm is fined £10k for felling protected trees (From Knutsford Guardian) Fined for felling protected tree | Nottingham Evening Post | Find Articles at BNET Tree surgeon fined for illegal tree felling (From Bucks Free Press) BBC News - Warning after Narborough man fined for tree cutting Architect fined £800 for felling trees - Local & National, News - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

In what way were the trees damaged? Surely a LA would only go after a contractor for damaging or destroying a tree that falls within a conservation area?

Are the trees TPO'd or do they fall within a Conservation Area?

Interesting and informative read, even Butler and Skyhuck's contributions were mildy amusing if somewhat childish. Gibbon, it takes a very experienced, knowledgable and confident climber to spot a previously unknown structural weakness in a tree, then act on that information in a positive way thereby reducing the risk of death or serious injury. Your story is a valuable lesson to everyone here. Thanks for posting it.

pathetic

Is this video relevant to treeworkers?..........I think so - [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXDDEH0yanU]YouTube - A close call as a demolition in Ohio goes terribly wrong[/ame]

Gibbon, Your making the right decision mate. Just out of interest who specified the reduction and what was the reasoning?

The spikes are fine, your just giving yourself extra grief trying to get money back. Those velcro-wraps dont last anyway, especially if its the ones without the metal inserts, in fact to be frank, they are total and utter junk, bin them or you'll do yourself an injury. Basically you were paying for the Kleins themselves which are probably worth more than £95 regardless of the fact they've been used.

I recently watched this vid showing Alan Rayner describing his theory - Sorry Hama, but what a load of rubbish - [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVa7FUIA3W8]YouTube - Alan Rayner on Inclusionality, Boundaries and Space[/ame]

DIY enthusiast breaks leg whilst removing a tree....... [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUIGBS7B7WY]YouTube - Compound fracture from tree cutting accident[/ame]

It's a triple point point lowering system used in large tree removal.

Ox, This is you in the vid right? on top of the tree sitter? he calls you 'Ox' at 5.16? Looks like an interesting job [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIFxFU4lojg&feature=related]YouTube - Violent Freshwater Extraction, Part 4[/ame]

warning - strong language [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfrosNvujGw]YouTube - Dee Dee - Finnieston Cran[/ame]