Can’t think of a better way myself. Nicely done man. Have had to do this myself a handful of times with decurrent/topped trees. Every day presents a new challenge.
Lawrence. Always a pleasure to see your videos. You should convince whoever to come let me climb with y'all for a week or two. To answer your question, I would have done it approximately the same. Fishing pole helping to distribute the load across the horizontal limb and also carrying me to the ends to do the work. Fine display and easy to understand.
Bucket truck or lift of some sort if possible. Way easier and faster. But good work, the tree looks nearly natural after that beneficial pruning mission.
I first watched this video 11 years ago, I was 18 or 19. Now I am 30, and everytime I start spiking up a dead tree or something sketchy, this song comes on in my head.
Any access for a spider lift or genie lift? Helicopter? I think the way you did it was probably the only practical way to climb it, you really went out on a limb for this customer. Whoever topped that tree with no regard for the next person who had to climb it should have been frog marched over there to stand on the tallest ladder with the longest pole saw to cookie cut it back all day long.
Nah you did it correctly in my mind from what you had shown otherwise a crane would have done this but at a cost obviously and provided you have access to allow that to happen. Yea as it was I think you did we’ll approach I’d bit by bit slow and steady as it goes thanks
When in doubt monkey scoot out… just kidding I like your method. I wonder if some loop runner daisy chain would have been handy for a quick step up for some reach. Like stir ups. I’ve used this on skinny limb walks but have some extra long meant for rigging and just thought choking two then stepping into them to get some weight of the saddle
for the love of the craft!!!!! Also...how I would have done it....probably exactly the same lol, I learned more through the years studying your work than anyone I ever worked with IRL so yeah probably the same way you did! Depending how the ground obstacles looked obviously but if you weren't comfortable tossing pieces then nobody should be! And gtfo with that ladder talk!!
A: apply long island, New York tree work mentality- what? This is a removal , heads up. B: just about in the exact same manner you did. Good sh*t homie.
Seriously, I would do a hybrid canopy anchor from the opposite side of the tree with daisy chained fixed redirects up the fishing pole & pieced it out same as you back to itself with micro rigging directly to the friction point (no pulley or ring). Nice job as usual Lawrence & interesting puzzle!
I have adopted a lot of technique from my time spent in big cedars as a west coast faller. Big old growth cedars in particular usually have had their tops snap off however many hundred years ago, so getting them to tip can be difficult and you are often encouraged by old dudes, but discouraged by industry standards to make the undercuts up to 50%. Part of this is to capture weight of the stem(like you referenced) secondly to make sure that your bar will reach all the wood in the back cut. I reference this because I have started(in certain contexts) cutting the guts of my holding wood out from the undercut side on big stems instead of keeping the guts and nipping the sap wood at point of hinge. I’ve even gone as far as boring right through to the back so that I have a kerf to reference when starting my backcut so everything lines up perfectly and that also contributes to things snapping off symmetrically. I save having any kind of step for when there is any brushing of the rest of the canopy going on or a rope putting downward pulling tension, otherwise there is no risk in things hopping back off the stump. I’ve admired your videos for a long time and they were a major factor in me transitioning from a life of kaulks and long bars, to my current life as a residential climber. Love to you all
hey man, are you setting the two canopy anchors from the ground? also are they retrievable from the ground? what makes those canopy systems superior to hucking two good basal anchors from the ground into opposite sides of the tree? Not being cantankerous, absolutely just want to be educated =). Thanks
Lawrence, Thank you very much for taking the time to share all the juicy details. I love to add practical ideas to my mental and physical toolbox. And I enjoy the fact that you take full advantage of all the benefits of combining the best of all climbing systems to help you get the job done. Some questions: Is that friction saver something that you set up custom for the situation? It looks like a snake anchor of sorts with some interesting looking rigging plates.... Do you retrieve both SRS lines simultaneously at the end of the day?, as it seemed to me that the carabiner safety behind each knot block seems to be attached to the opposite line. Best regards from the hot and humid Caribbean.
Definitely easier and more comfortable, I like the idea of saving yourself a up and over. I used to climb some bad ass oaks in Ca before I moved to Wa and while I miss them, I don't miss the heat.
What a beautiful tree..I’ve got a wide sprawling red oak I’ve kept over the house that’s gonna take a lift or a climber on yer level….ive bout got to old
