Would you do this?

rbtree

Climbing Up
Joined
Jun 22, 2005
Messages
1,924
This climber was just banned for talking back to Eric at TW....

He's a newly certified utility arborist, with plenty of skills and big balz, for sure.

I don't know if he's a member at other forums, but I'd like to get him over here, and just invited him.

Watch the videos closely......Ballsy?! Yup!!

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Seems kinda reckless, for sure. But if that's his job, like he said, "Somebody's got to do it."

I'd say he's a lucky SOB. That could have just as easily gone way bad for him.
 
What was he tied into? Too bad he couldn't have a proper climbing saw.

Talk back to Eric? I like him already!
 
The utility guys aren't allowed to use MS200T because they might one hand them. Nice solution. Did you see him bounce the saw off his thigh to get it back up into the cutting position? I cannot believe there was not a better way to do that.
 
Plan your work and work your plan. Resourceful thinking of him to tie into the wires. He figured out all the angles, made sure everything was going to swing away from him and was tied in twice with good footing before making the release cut. Of course it swung him a little but he was expecting that. :thumbup:

I agree with Butch, wrong saw for the job.
 
damn that looked DUMB as hell!!!! Tied into the secondary wire?























He'll fit right in:lol:
 
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damn that looked DUMB as hell!!!! Tied into the secondary wires?








He'll fit right in:lol:

Not dumb, but ballsy, yup!!....those wires are strong.....and the power was off.....just like tight lining. That low down, those might have been the big cable wires, and phone that his feet were on...or vice versa.

He responded to me that he likes the speed of the 346.....well, he needs to run a muffler modded 338 like I do...it is plenty fast for what he does.
 
damn that looked DUMB as hell!!!! Tied into the secondary wire?








He'll fit right in:lol:

That's what I'm thinking. I've stood on service and secondary lines but never tied into'em... They're usually strong so I guess it would be pretty much like using a 240v highline... . I saw Guy accidentally whack into one with a 21' Hayuchi and nothing happened, not even a pop.

But really, a bucket would've made that whole affair so much easier and eliminated most of the risks.

That was crazy as hell, he won't do that once he has kids but I thought it was creative and resourceful too. Maybe it looked reckless but I get the idea it went exactly how he wanted it to; he was in control... as much as you can be with a mess like that.

So what did he say to get exiled?
 
I think that was power over his head and he was standing on a bundle of comms cable.
 
The wire he was resting his chin on at the end was the service drop.

rb, how do you know the power was off?
 
If the power was off that makes it a LOT saner one handing that big saw. If they're utility guys it does make sense they could cut the line temporarily.

I can hear me calling Duke Energy right now... "umm, yes, I need a line disconnected for tree work... yes ma'am, a service drop... oh no ma'am! I don't want them to drop it, just disconnect it cuz I'm gonna tie into it with my rope..."
 
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yeah, he was standing on com wire and the triplex was what the tree was on. That com wire is some stout s#it. I have sat on it, hung from it, seen it pinned on the ground... Alot of times the stuff I cut is on the phone. Usually breaks the primarys/neutral and still stuck on the phone. Seen some big phone wires launch some pretty good sized logs!

I run into stuff like that all the time on storms work. Fun stuff to deal with. They let us have 200t's though!
 
I dunno...you never know how well a secondary really is......could be total shat
 
Big phone cable is usually hung on 3/8 or 1/2" steel messenger line ,pretty stout . The neutral on the tri plex is pretty stout ACSL -aluminum conductor steel reinforced . I still don't think I'd walk on it .

I have seen the phone company crew though hang a hook ladder on that stuff and make a mid span tie in .
 
I wouldn't have any problem walking on it or tying in to it. But after a tree fell on it :? I dunno.
 
Did i see the correctly ?
He was making one handed undercuts ?
Lad has some strong arms if so.
 
I'm saying if he's wack enough to climb out on a fallen lead on a service line, he's probably wack enough to do it with the power on.

That is completely ridiculous. I'm smart enough to be very comfortable working around non energized lines and have no problem using them for support or whatever AS LONG AS I KNOW THEY ARE NON ENERGIZED. Based on the storm damaged tree they are working on, I'll guess that it was not an isolated failure and there was most likely multiple widespread failures in the power distribution system.

Besides, he was on the phone line and a non energized service drop. You can tow a truck with one of those cables, your main concern is making sure the poles aren't compromised. It's a helluva lot stronger than his rope.
 
I've stood on HUGE power lines that were down during an ice storm, it was a rush! I've also stood on plenty of those lower, cable/telephone lines. They can hold a horse or two!
 
I'm not saying by any means it's a safe thing to do .However on a 120/240 volt service drop those conductors are cross link polyethlene insulated IE -xhhw ,That stuff is tough enough to drive a truck over without damaging it .

The phone line is a tight line the tri plex service drop a slack line .

I'm sure most people have seen phone poles blow over in the wind and the messenger line might be holding up half a dozen from going over which says something .
 
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