that's different...

Wondering if anyone does what they perceive to be different from the mainstream.

Couple of things I do involve lanyards and removals.

The first one has to include a bucket truck. I hang branches with a half inch or three quarter inch by 6 to 10 feet long double braid lanyard. Looking at a big takedown that you could not imagine not having any rigging is where it works. If I can take down a fence or board in with the bucket it is worth the time. Limbs hanging out over all kinds of obstacles, well usually there is clear area right under the tree. Just girth hitch on the large limb on the trunk side, then timber hitch or r.bolen it past the area to be cut. Slide the connection to the top of the branch and make the desired bottom cut. Slide it back beneath the limb to be cut, then make the topcut. Now you have a branch hanging there. Slice it up until you can hold, untie it and toss it, or if too heavy, get it into the bucket or on the rim and untie it, then get rid of it as allowed by size (boom down if nec.). This allows the GM to get handling size stuff and while you are doing this he can do other chores. This only works with the bucket so you can be in midair besides the piece that is hanging to reduce it.

Works good for a crew like mine that almost always is only 2 men. I would say I have made a tremendous amount of money over the years with this technique.

Next one involves the same lanyards and I hang them on the crane with the loop. The op brings the non looped end down to you and rbolen, timber hitch, with or without a marl, depending on what is appropriate. Nice thing about this is that you do not have to worry about getting slapped by a wire core or the headache ball (never gets close to you) and there is never any unhooking and choking. When I get to the real big stuff I go to the steel chokers, but 3/4 double braid in a static situation has some serious tensile strength.

Love to hear some different stuff that is done. I am here to learn besides having some fun.

Many of us have our "little tricks". Trouble is, most of 'em are frowned upon. Shame... some really valid skills get overlooked that way.

NeTree said:

Many of us have our "little tricks". Trouble is, most of 'em are frowned upon. Shame... some really valid skills get overlooked that way.

Click to expand...

Not wanting to be specific here, but ANSI standards are geared to the lowest green man on the to tum pole. They cannot legislate standards to different degrees of experience.

I've done that but it has limits because it is a shock load. When crews around here talk about cabling trees, they are referring to taking the tops off of trees with steel chokers. Almost all of them have had the rigging spar fail on them at some point but still do no change the practice.

Treevet said:

Not wanting to be specific here, but ANSI standards are geared to the lowest green man on the to tum pole. They cannot legislate standards to different degrees of experience.

Click to expand...

Yup.

Old Monkey said:

I've done that but it has limits because it is a shock load. When crews around here talk about cabling trees, they are referring to taking the tops off of trees with steel chokers. Almost all of them have had the rigging spar fail on them at some point but still do no change the practice.

Click to expand...

The absence of shock load I was referring to is in the crane application.

With the limb drop (or top for that matter) if it is measured and over engineered, no harm no foul.

Maybe they need to get up a little higher before topping. Some of the stuff I hang, I might not do if I was in the tree.

I've done many a snap-cut on a limb, and lifted it over an obstacle with the bucket.

No harm, no danger when done with skill.

If you hang it on the tree with the lanyard then the bucket doesn't take the shock load. Maybe that is what you are doing?

Nope. Snap cut at the tree, swing over to the tip, tie it off, then pick up, swing over obstacle, and lower it to the ground.

No shock load, either.

NeTree said:

Nope. Snap cut at the tree, swing over to the tip, tie it off, then pick up, swing over obstacle, and lower it to the ground.

No shock load, either.

Click to expand...

gottcha

I also do the tie each side and cut inbetween.

Had my first rope break today, bombed a healthy piece onto a 1/2" piece of Arbormaster. Tied each end with a running bowline, the rope broke on the stub side where it was bent over the loop of the bowline.

In a situation like that, if it would have mattered, I put a second sling between them. If the first one breaks, the second would have caught it.

As is, it didn't matter, I go the swing I needed.

I guess you could look at ANSI standards, I have em all and have Z Safety right on desk in front of me, as just suggestions. You could think that the only use for it would be in court after an employee's injury and you (the owner) had not been complying, you would be in deep doo doo.

But, you being the boss, what dif does it make since, if injured, then you are unlikely to sue your self. Therefore as company owner you can do the things you always did safely and your experience and expertise will continue to keep you away from injuries. Sort of a no victim disregard for the standards if injury occured to you. But the employees will all follow to the t the book.

The only problem with that thinking might be the scourge of the wrath of the OSHA upon one's being if they encountered you. Reason for fear IMO.

OSHA still can't touch owner operators. They can touch their employees unless they are their children.

lumberjack said:

If the first one breaks, the second would have caught it.

Click to expand...

I double secure them sometimes to. But I have got to the point where I only use double braid and sometimes soften the shock with a marl. I throw em out sometimes too or use em for dragging brush with the dingo.

lumberjack said:

OSHA still can't touch owner operators. They can touch their employees unless they are their children.

Click to expand...

I was fishing for that opinion. Interesting. Thanks.

I got that opinion at an OSHA class.

I am glad you went, man.

It was in a PAAM (Professional Arborist Association of Mississippi) meeting in 2007. I haven't been back sense, wasn't my cup of tea.

I hear ya. I am on my town's urban forestry board and I am way too uncivilized for that group.

See ya tomorrow.

I do the same roping thing when I can't reach it proper. I believe the term for that is "bouqueting."

I have a half dozen slings of different lengths that I made up and keep hanging in my bucket, along with a couple loop runners. The slings are spliced at both ends and have steel rigging carabiners on each end. The loop runners have a single steel captive eye biner girth hitched.

I use the slings to tie a limb off to itself, cut it, then throw a loop runner on to pick the limb up with my material handler on my bucket truck boom. When I get slack in the sling I can unhook the limb from the tree. Then I can swing the work over and set it down for the ground crew. The material handler is rated for up to 2000 lbs.

These pictures show an example. The first picture is rigged ready to cut. The second picture is after the cut and the third is where I'm picking the load up with the red loop runner on the material handler in order to get slack in the sling so it can be unhooked from the tree.

Learned something today.

Another thing we do I am sure some do but a little different is cut holes to plant trees with the stump grinder.

It leaves a real nice back fill. We have lost massive amount of trees here due to drought and the last 3years have been the hottest successively in heat in weather recording history.

We started about 5 years ago with a few. PITA moving them with log dolley, unloading by hand or winch truck and digging by hand. Last fall we did a 20 tree 3" cal. planting job on a convent campus. The nursery delivered them to the site and we unloaded with the Dingo with ball squeezer (ouch) attachment. We dug all the holes prior with the big stump grinder. Then we just drove them around and dropped them into the hole with the tracked Dingo.

We then installed deer/mower protective fencing and dropped mulch on them after soaking them in a little. What a pleasure of a job.

Kool pictures Skwerl! Missed that page when I came on. That is what I am talking about. I do not have a mtl handler but sometimes wish I did.

Is that Sugar maple?

Good pictures, Brian...quality and sequencing...makes it real clear.

I don't have any cool tricks but I'm definitely learning some now. 'preciate it.