Hard Leaning Cottonwood in Bothel, Wa

[rbtree]

Another rigging challenge taken on just yesterday. This one was a doozy! 22-24" cottonwood, with a lean starting at 10-15 degrees, and sweeping out to close to 80 degrees at the tip..... too large to lift or support the entire tree and cut it off at the base, even with the GRCS. So we tied it at about 60', ran the rigging into an only slightly leaning cottonwood at about 90 feet, one of several in the clump-- (a 30" lead had failed at the base some months ago) Tensioned it with the GRCS. Added a side pull line to help it to swing away from Patrick, when he made the rather ballsy cut. Added two trunk ties below and above the cut to prevent a possible barber chair. We definitely gave that risky cut considerable thought.. the consequences of it coming back at Pat would have been disastrous. We were both confident that it would go the way it did. The tensioned tag line was a big help, for sure.

Then Patrick got to have fun with a nice swing, as he had run his lifeline through a limb fork a good 25 feet out, while had allowed him to have better upward support while making the critical cut. Previously, he had worked out about 12 feet further to cut some limbs on the top that would be cut.

Of course, owning a Wraptor made accessing the canopy a breeze...as well as going back up to retrieve the rigging block.

https://youtu.be/uVujj7GSgP8
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Patrick Clemo , Great work!

 

[Jomo]

Feel the tension man, what a ride!

I certainly hope Pat's Irish!

Ever hear from Cowboy Dave Rog?

Jomo

 

[rbtree]

Now and then. He's been spending much of his time in Oklahoma. Easy bucket work. Patrick has become a good rigger....lots younger and stronger than Dave or me.

I considered taking that tree whole (Not a good idea, as it likely weighed 7000-10000 lb!)... but would have wanted two lifting lines, tied 20 feet apart, and the Hobbs, which I sold back to Dan Kraus...... and another full static line to replace y stolen one...... but the forces cutting it off the stump, and each succeeding cut would have been hard to read. It was better this way......

See this vid of a smaller but taller poplar. I got saws stuck several times. I could have done better, perhaps, if I'd analyzed each cut first for where the bind would be and where.... and made a few more face cuts.....
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[Jomo]

That's allota saw work for an ole timer Rog!

After the third cut things progressed well.

A couple of well placed plastic wedges would've smoothed things out nicely IME.

One handing two medium saws at one time like that's gonna land yu juggling chainsaws at the fair matey!

Jomo

 

[Grendel]

Ballsy cut is right! yikes.

 

[sotc]

Crazy. Any thought toward putting a block purchase on that limb Rog? Pros/cons?

 

[rbtree]

I think that would have compounded the shock loading, Willie. First there still would have been the butt spring back as tension released, then the opposite. .Actually, I considered asking Pat if he might want to leave the line that he tied below and above the cut as a BBC prevenative be left as one piece and act as a static butt hitch, but figured that would also be too much shock. Thankfully it went perfectly. But we should have added a second tag line, tied near the cut and controlled together with the other tag line. Also Pat could have had a quick release on his lanyard and let go right as the top popped.

I wish I'd had my second camera on a tripod right behind me at my station on the GRCS, on which I had the 1/2 double braid wrapped four times. From my view, the action, while fast, was exactly as expected. I frankly hadn't thought there was enough tension from cranking it up to pop to butt toward Pat, who was positioned as much to the side as he could be, and the rigging point was also above and somewhat to the opposite side. STill, I don't recall ever making a cut that large in such a similar scenario... especially not on a freakin black cottonwood with such an incredible bend!

 

[rbtree]

That's allota saw work for an ole timer Rog!

After the third cut things progressed well.

A couple of well placed plastic wedges would've smoothed things out nicely IME.

One handing two medium saws at one time like that's gonna land yu juggling chainsaws at the fair matey!

Jomo

Yeah, Jon.... I wasn't too happy with my cutting on that one..... Got quite the admonishment from Nice Guy Dave on the Wesspur FB page last winter when I posted it....... I recall there was still some splintered wood fibers where I tried the first cut. I should have been slower with the reaming and opened up the cuts with a mini face, or something.....for sure....

 

[sotc]

I don't think I've seen a black cottonwood anywhere near that far out that hasn't failed already

 

[rbtree]

Nor have I! Perhaps it survived due to having a relatively small amount of foliage, no defects. I'm sure it had grown that way for years, with nowhere to grow but where it did, being under the full canopy of the closest main stem...then, perhaps some wind or snow events helped add to the lean.

 

[RegC]

That was nasty one Rig. Uncomfortable situation for Pat having to make that cut....but good on him, he sucked it up !

 

[MasterBlaster]

Just a 'lil ride!

Part of the FUN!

 

[chris_girard]

That was nasty one Rig. Uncomfortable situation for Pat having to make that cut....but good on him, he sucked it up !

I totally agree!

 

[timbertramp]

Looked like a well thought out plan, and it was executed very smooth. Lots of weight equals lots of ride. I give it two thumbs up