Dead elm

[mistahbenn]

Got to this job this morning. 2 year dead. Crispy.. Garage roof below, over 3 barb wire fences, only 2 ground guys, rain forecast, not much gear, my climb line is 120 foot. No pressure though, took a look from the roof which gave a better perspective.
Coming back next week.

https://vimeo.com/156446563
https://vimeo.com/156446693
Says it in the film what my plan is. More guys, more rope, there's wires running along the train line, so can rig the wood offset to it. It's all staying on the railroad side.

How trusty is elm? I did a big one last year but from the safety of the bucket.




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[MasterBlaster]

I'd hate to climb and rig out that dead bastid. Good luck!!!

 

[Raj]

bajeebuzz.

 

[stig]

European elm is usually pretty solid, even when long dead.
I don't know about the American cousin.
When long dead, they break just above ground level, but to me, yours doesn't look like it has been dead long enough to be a candidate for that.
A root crown inspection would be a good thing to do, though.
If you hang yourself rom a highline, all that can fail is the rigging.

 

[Levi]

I agree with the root collar inspection. The Elms we have around here get very punky and can have big tear outs. Also, the hinge wood aint no good...

 

[Mick!]

As you probably remember from your time here Ben, dead elm can stand for a long time, hard as nails for years. Difficult to spike and tough on the chains.
But that's only the little stuff.
Good luck with it anyway.

 

[squisher]

Looks right sh-tty. Charge.........triple!

 

[HolmenTree]

Looks like maple or at least Siberian elm to me , definitely not American elm.

 

[Levi]

Sib Elm's is most of we have, they're terrible.

 

[HolmenTree]

Yup Siberian elm about the same fibre as willow, very weak. Smells bad too.

 

[murphy4trees]

world of difference between American elm and Siberian elm... Siberian are brittle, fall apart easily (co-doms etc), prone to storm damage, and do not hold well for hinging wood, one of the worst . American Elm is just the opposite... incredibly strong, resilient, even when dead, and one of the best hinging woods. Tough to say from the video what kind of elm that is. Might even be slippery elm... If its siberian, be extra careful

 

[mistahbenn]

Thanks for the input. It's gonna be a long week thinking about the tree lol. But KISS. Keep it simple stupid. High line off the roof to the oak, setup climb system off alpine butterfly. Get the brush off conventional rigging, the setup a rp over the fence for wood. Sound about right?

 

[matdand]

Looks more like american elm than siberian to me, not sure about the other species mentionned. One of my guys did a big dead american elm couple years back, we put a video up of that one, let me find it. As far as dead trees go, I trust american elm more than anything, stays hard for a long time. But do take all precautions you can. How about slowly hinging pieces onto the roof and have a couple of guys catch them from up there?

Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiyL2E1uJGc

 

[murphy4trees]

As far as dead trees go, I trust american elm more than anything, stays hard for a long time.

Me too.
Years ago I was rigging from multiple crotches pn dead elm, bark falling off etc.. Rigged one piece so heavy it sucked both rigging points together, which each limb bending in a u shape to join at the top. That much bend without failure was impressive..

 

[squisher]

Don't bend that horseshoe to far.

 

[SouthSoundTree-]

matdand's video

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hiyL2E1uJGc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[MasterBlaster]

Just do it!

 

[flushcut]

IMO dead trees need caution any dead tree!

 

[Jed]

Man, Ben that just looks horrible. I did one about five years ago that we couldn't get the bucket into, that looked almost exactly like it. I was way more scared on the ground coming up with a plan than I was in the tree. I just rigged everything super small. Sharpen your spurs before you go up that pig.

 

[mistahbenn]

Ill be much happier with a high tie in point. A high line. From the building to the oak adjacent, with the elm in the middle.

Now, question is, would you have the high line set tight? Would you work from a steel carabiner, so that the TIP is moveable? Ive not done one before. Kinda excited to rapell off a building into a tree though

 

[Jed]

I'd make it as tight as I dared, yeah; but I've never done it either... the steel biner sounds like a plan.

 

[HolmenTree]

Trees like that I disassemble from the ground as much as I can.
It's slow but gets it done safe.
Bigshot, throwline, pull rope an redirect pulley at the base of the tree.
Pull the tree down with the truck piece by piece. Fell the spar.

 

[murphy4trees]

Thinking out of the box... I've done it by accident on dead beech, just pull testing when the top explodes... Thought this should be used more often.... would be tough to use on American Elm though... to strong even when long dead.

 

[Raj]

Is there any sort of proffesional grade slack line gear? Something that could be pulled tight, depending on anchor points.

 

[mistahbenn]

You have seen the location of the tree right? Zero free fall. Garage roof underneath.

I have a maasdaam in my arsenal. I could drop off the roof then shimmy along the tight rope to the perfect drop zone. I'll use the apta for the perfect shots setting the lines.