A couple of new videos for ya

[rbtree]

We had a rare thunderstorm with north winds blow through a few weeks back.

The first video is of a a failed double cottonwood. R
It required setting the GRCS and Hobbs, each in different trees, in order to lift the tree off, then swing it clear of the house. With these great tools, the job was a breeze. Could we have done it with no damage to the house without them? Yes, but it would have not been a cakewalk then.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BStwd6rfI6M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The second involved another company that Pat also works for. He told me about it, having not seen the tree. I offered to come, supply the GRCS, Hobbs, and static line, and run cameras, and direct the operation as needed. It was very similar in that we needed two lifting points, one to support the tree, and the second to swing it clear. As you will see, the Hobbs is an inefficient lifting device, as compared to the GRCS anyhow. In hindsight, we should have switched their locations, as we had much less tensioning and lifting to do where we had the GRCS installed. It was a fun job to shoot with both vid and stills

Unfortunately, for now anyhow, you'll have to watch them on my facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/roger.barnett.96

The second vid is the first one that comes up on facebook, and it is too large for vimeo or youtube. And, I'd have to start over with the editing of the individual files, ( a 2-3 hour job) in order to split it into two for youtube or make it shorter...Dang it.

I posted this on the buzz as well. We'll see if Pat's one handed cutting brings criticism. No matter to me, as it clearly would have been very awkward and slow with two hands on the saw.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Who needs a crane!!!

 

[Jack]

Good vids, Roger. Got a kick out of your "My Movie" credits: Directed by [Enter your name here], Starring [Enter your cast here] ...

Seriously, good job - you've got a great crew ... like the safety audibles, great teamwork!

 

[woodworkingboy]

Cool vid and a great job on the cottonwood, Roger.

 

[atw]

very nice job. smooth professional work

 

[Jed]

Nice Rigging Roger: Man those Cottonpigs slip their bark this time of year don't they? Was that a 390? That saw sounded good.

That wind tipped over some tricky Firpigs up in Woodinville for us to have to deal with. Sticky business over the house. I wish we had your rigging sense.
We got the GRCS and everything! Just never use it.

 

[murphy4trees]

Nice read on the lean of root plate.. you might have used that weight to counterbalance the top and make the stump cut out a good ways, using a snap cut, rather than a notch, but you probably wanted everything moving slow and easy, which was accomplished!

 

[MasterBlaster]

The dickens you say.

 

[rbtree]

Nice read on the lean of root plate.. you might have used that weight to counterbalance the top and make the stump cut out a good ways, using a snap cut, rather than a notch, but you probably wanted everything moving slow and easy, which was accomplished!

No way Jose.....The last thing you want, when you have that much weight suspended, is doing anything dramatic like that, which would have resulted in the load's butt end dropping down hard and fast. As it was, did you not notice the still shot that showed the peeled bark, which was from the secondary rigging point sliding down.
Young cottonwood bark is smooth, inside and out!

 

[rbtree]

Didn't you guys watch the maple vid on my facebook page? Far more photogenic site, and a much tougher tree. And Pat really made very smooth work of it.

Plus, two weeks ago, he took--and passed--his certified arb test! And took me rock climbing.

 

[rbtree]

Nice Rigging Roger: Was that a 390? That saw sounded good.

That wind tipped over some tricky Firpigs up in Woodinville for us to have to deal with. Sticky business over the house. I wish we had your rigging sense.
We got the GRCS and everything! Just never use it.

I'll bet you do.....prolly not the ego driven foreman, eh?

The saws were my Slingerized 346NE, which was dull, but rules the roost when sharp, and my Dan Henry PP Dolmar 7900. A stock 390 would have no chance of keeping up with that old saw.

 

[Jack]

Good vids, Roger. Got a kick out of your "My Movie" credits: Directed by [Enter your name here], Starring [Enter your cast here] ...

Seriously, good job - you've got a great crew ... like the safety audibles, great teamwork!

Didn't you guys watch the maple vid on my facebook page? Far more photogenic site, and a much tougher tree. And Pat really made very smooth work of it.

Plus, two weeks ago, he took--and passed--his certified arb test! And took me rock climbing.

Yeah, Roger, I liked that one the best. That's the one I was referring to ... about the "great teamwork!" A very difficult job, very nicely done. As you mentioned in the vid, that was a scary maple the GRCS was rigged to. I forget, did you have to guy it?

 

[rbtree]

There was nothing to guy it to, except the back stem which was lower and smaller. Angle didn't seem right to have done any good.

 

[murphy4trees]

No way Jose.....The last thing you want, when you have that much weight suspended, is doing anything dramatic like that, which would have resulted in the load's butt end dropping down hard and fast. As it was, did you not notice the still shot that showed the peeled bark, which was from the secondary rigging point sliding down.
Young cottonwood bark is smooth, inside and out!

WOW,
That bark peel looked real bad.. were you anticipating the possibility of losing that tree? I had to take another look to find the shot.. When did that bark peel? the vid at 4:40 clearly shows the stump cut had been made and the bark was still in tact, under both blocks.. If that is the case it seems like someone must have gotten a little too heavy handed with the hobbs, trying to lift that end over the fence... and looks like you didn't even need to re-tighten it, for a few cuts after the tree moved under the GRCS rigging point.

Not second guessing your rigging Rog, just throwing out ideas.. It is sometimes possible in situations like that, to cut far out from the trunk, like to where you made the final cut. Set the cut up from the ladder and trip it with a power pruner. Doing that would have created some movement of the rigged piece, but certainly would have been far less force on the rigging points than carrying the weight of that trunk. Maybe that wasn't possible in this situation becasue there would have been too much play in the hobbs line, and you'd have taken out the fence, but it is a good to keep in mind as an option from time to time. If you had had the option to place the hobbs block higher, you might have gotten away with it on that arc... who knows.. all in all .. good job and good video..

 

[stig]

Didn't you guys watch the maple vid on my facebook page? Far more photogenic site, and a much tougher tree. And Pat really made very smooth work of it.

No, I'm not on Facebook and never will be.

Facebook is making life hard for internet fora, and referring to work posted there is not cool IMO.

If you want us to see it, post it here.


( Don't mind me, Roger, I'm just a dinosaur)

 

[MasterBlaster]

Facebook is making life hard for internet fora, and referring to work posted there is not cool, IMO.

I disagree completely. I like FB. There are tons of treeguys posting pics and having discussions there. You're missing out, brudder. I found my girlfriend from the 8th grade there. Very cool.

 

[murphy4trees]

i took another look, trybing to figure out what happened to the bark.. The youtube, steady video function cuts off a lot of the screen, and there is only one quick shot of the block at 6:10 where it looks like the bark is still OK..
Upon second thought, it looks like the easiest move would have been to take the fence apart and put her on the ground whole, as soon as possible.. I AM sure you had reasons for doing it your way..

 

[Marc-Antoine]

I don't have FB too.
I don't like to get the "mandatory-things-because-the-others-find-it-IN-to-have".
Surely a dinosaur behavior.
But cool for my peace of mind

 

[MasterBlaster]

This freaked a lotta people out, too.

 

[rbtree]

Whatever, Daniel. Save for the small slippery barked water laden gin pole trees, the job was a breeze. And there's no way I'd have cut the main stem off the stump anywhere but where we did it..down low to minimize loading and movement...and continued with 3-6 foot sections as we worked it back.

One other method could have sped things up, which woulda been to bring the truck around, and pull the log enough to lower it down inside the fence. Wouldn't have created much side load on the gin pole, if we did that after cutting the bottom 20 feet or so off. Just thought of that now.....

 

[rbtree]

If you want us to see it, post it here.


( Don't mind me, Roger, I'm just a dinosaur)

Good news Stiggers, After loading the other vid on YT, it's now approved me to upload longer, larger files. So, the maple vid should be up in a while...

 

[rbtree]

And here it is!

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8-xs674ue-o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Jack]

Thanks Roger! There's some great stuff in that video ... now I've 'favorited' it so it's easier to re-watch - lots of nice little 'tricks' to study in that one.

Again, very nice work, indeed, from the whole team.

 

[murphy4trees]

Whatever, Daniel. Save for the small slippery barked water laden gin pole trees, the job was a breeze. And there's no way I'd have cut the main stem off the stump anywhere but where we did it..down low to minimize loading and movement...and continued with 3-6 foot sections as we worked it back.

One other method could have sped things up, which woulda been to bring the truck around, and pull the log enough to lower it down inside the fence. Wouldn't have created much side load on the gin pole, if we did that after cutting the bottom 20 feet or so off. Just thought of that now.....

That cut worked really well... Nice slow motion to swing it under the block, and a good release.. it was well thought out and executed.... shows your level of experience.. nothing lucky about it.

I just throw out ideas, cause that's the way my mind works. Every situation is unique so having a lot of options in the bag of tricks keeps the job interesting and fun after 30 years... nothing sexy about taking the fence apart, but sometimes its makes the job .. I also thought about pulling the top over into the yard. With a skid steer that would have been a no-brainer.. these guys like to bust balls about mr skidsteer, BUT when you get used to working with one, the options go exponential... might not work on all topography,but I wouldn't do tree work without one, around here.

Check the original footage.. looks like the bark damage was done trying to get the piece up and over the fence. When you're dropping the but like that, shock loading is minimal on the tips..

and NICE BIT OF RIGGING on that maple.. that house was looking good

 

[stig]

Thanks Roger