rbtree
Climbing Up
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2005
- Messages
- 1,924
Bit of a PNW blow today!
(I posted this last night on the "How it go today thread.) Now the story warrants it's own thread...... see the next post... don't know when I'l get pics and vids up.....
<<<<<<<<<<<
We were wrecking a 90 foot codom cedar today, prepping for crane day Monday---- which includes work from Wed and Friday--6 firs already skinned and topped, and still 100-118 feet tall, a 6.5 foot at the butt cedar topped at ~92 feet, a fir, and a 115 foot dead hemlock to do, brush and all, with crane for safety....
The wind picked up, till it was gusting to ~45. The cedar had been topped at about 55 feet, and we were rigging the lead over the house off the other. The wind was in our favor, but it was just oo much. The last top was 40 feet long and 9-10" around, just too big to do in that wind, and with the smallish rigging point. So, we quit, to finish it early Monday, before the crane arrives, to save crane time.
Also wasted 1-1.5 hrs when the new groundie clogged the chipper pretty badly.
Then, near my house, I spotted a small failed sumac, which hit the folks' car. Cleaned it up for a quick $160. Beautiful wood! Their friend does beautiful lathe turning, so I asked them to have him make me something.
I cain't hardly pass up $3.99 a lb wild Alaska coho salmon, even if it is previously frozen. Just finished savoring my second meal from the purty 7.5 pounder. Even went back to the store tonight, but, alas, no mo....I was ready to marinade and dehydrate it, the way I did about 4 fish last summer.>>>>>>>>>>>
We're famous!!! KIRO 7 TV came out and filmed us taking a split red oak off a Bellevue home today. Channel 2 had interviewed my soon to be client Diana the night before. I saw it, and thought it was an oak. Low and behold, she called me this morning...said it was a 16 inch maple......then the Pemco agent called me (she'd referred me), and I remembered the news, but forgot it was an oak, and guessed at $1000-2000. (The agent showed up later, I told her it would be $3k or more, she was way cool with that) Dave had rented my truck, and was using Mickey. Matt, another climber, was babysitting, and I couldn't reach my groundie. So I called a fella I'd never met, a former Davey climber who'd called looking for work some time ago. He met me onsite, after I'd been up and set two lines. We attached one near the butt and to a portawrap, the other to the GRCS, out a ways from the split. The tree was split and only 6 feet off the ground, and solidly on the second story roof 40 feet away. Took some brush off, then some off the roof. I'd forgotten to get my big blocks out of the chip truck, so, instead of driving 5 miles where Dave was, I used two light slings and a 8500 lb rated pulley. Basket hitched the slings for more strength than girth hitched, using two 50,000# screw lock biners. Tensioned the tree, then rappeled out and cut as much weight off as possible. Retensioned, took more weight off the roof, then cut it off, lowered it down, moved the close in line out to hold it, took the tension off the GRCS line, then moved it further out. Cut more butt weight off, and Jose did more tip limbing. Cranked it nearly off the roof, then he gave it a tug and it swung neatly off, and around and into a rhody, and over my phone, a chain saw, and my bag with $10k of camera gear in it, but still suspended. Moved the gear and brought it down, only breaking one rhody branch. Guyed the remaining half of the tree, which we'll bring down soon, maybe Tuesday. We have 2 log truck loads of trees on three different jobs to crane out tomorrow.
Video and pics maybe...but right now, I gotta go get the big saws ready for craning tomorrow.....that means making sure the 32, 36, 42 and 43 inch chains are sharp, and the 60 inch in case I need it (have a 6.5 foot butt cut to make, and a 4.5 footer....the saws will be my old 2100 as backup, the 3120, 066, and 7900, plus plenty of 18-24 inch equipped saws for the smaller cuts. We have at least 2500 feet of good export fir that hopefully wil pay $650mbf (used to pay as much as $1250...) plus the cedar, that will bring $900-1050mbf depending on the lengths we cut.
Channel 7 might run the story again tonight at 11, I hope! They already showed it at least twice, and the second segment had added clips, even included my name and company name!!
(I posted this last night on the "How it go today thread.) Now the story warrants it's own thread...... see the next post... don't know when I'l get pics and vids up.....
<<<<<<<<<<<
We were wrecking a 90 foot codom cedar today, prepping for crane day Monday---- which includes work from Wed and Friday--6 firs already skinned and topped, and still 100-118 feet tall, a 6.5 foot at the butt cedar topped at ~92 feet, a fir, and a 115 foot dead hemlock to do, brush and all, with crane for safety....
The wind picked up, till it was gusting to ~45. The cedar had been topped at about 55 feet, and we were rigging the lead over the house off the other. The wind was in our favor, but it was just oo much. The last top was 40 feet long and 9-10" around, just too big to do in that wind, and with the smallish rigging point. So, we quit, to finish it early Monday, before the crane arrives, to save crane time.
Also wasted 1-1.5 hrs when the new groundie clogged the chipper pretty badly.
Then, near my house, I spotted a small failed sumac, which hit the folks' car. Cleaned it up for a quick $160. Beautiful wood! Their friend does beautiful lathe turning, so I asked them to have him make me something.
I cain't hardly pass up $3.99 a lb wild Alaska coho salmon, even if it is previously frozen. Just finished savoring my second meal from the purty 7.5 pounder. Even went back to the store tonight, but, alas, no mo....I was ready to marinade and dehydrate it, the way I did about 4 fish last summer.>>>>>>>>>>>
We're famous!!! KIRO 7 TV came out and filmed us taking a split red oak off a Bellevue home today. Channel 2 had interviewed my soon to be client Diana the night before. I saw it, and thought it was an oak. Low and behold, she called me this morning...said it was a 16 inch maple......then the Pemco agent called me (she'd referred me), and I remembered the news, but forgot it was an oak, and guessed at $1000-2000. (The agent showed up later, I told her it would be $3k or more, she was way cool with that) Dave had rented my truck, and was using Mickey. Matt, another climber, was babysitting, and I couldn't reach my groundie. So I called a fella I'd never met, a former Davey climber who'd called looking for work some time ago. He met me onsite, after I'd been up and set two lines. We attached one near the butt and to a portawrap, the other to the GRCS, out a ways from the split. The tree was split and only 6 feet off the ground, and solidly on the second story roof 40 feet away. Took some brush off, then some off the roof. I'd forgotten to get my big blocks out of the chip truck, so, instead of driving 5 miles where Dave was, I used two light slings and a 8500 lb rated pulley. Basket hitched the slings for more strength than girth hitched, using two 50,000# screw lock biners. Tensioned the tree, then rappeled out and cut as much weight off as possible. Retensioned, took more weight off the roof, then cut it off, lowered it down, moved the close in line out to hold it, took the tension off the GRCS line, then moved it further out. Cut more butt weight off, and Jose did more tip limbing. Cranked it nearly off the roof, then he gave it a tug and it swung neatly off, and around and into a rhody, and over my phone, a chain saw, and my bag with $10k of camera gear in it, but still suspended. Moved the gear and brought it down, only breaking one rhody branch. Guyed the remaining half of the tree, which we'll bring down soon, maybe Tuesday. We have 2 log truck loads of trees on three different jobs to crane out tomorrow.
Video and pics maybe...but right now, I gotta go get the big saws ready for craning tomorrow.....that means making sure the 32, 36, 42 and 43 inch chains are sharp, and the 60 inch in case I need it (have a 6.5 foot butt cut to make, and a 4.5 footer....the saws will be my old 2100 as backup, the 3120, 066, and 7900, plus plenty of 18-24 inch equipped saws for the smaller cuts. We have at least 2500 feet of good export fir that hopefully wil pay $650mbf (used to pay as much as $1250...) plus the cedar, that will bring $900-1050mbf depending on the lengths we cut.
Channel 7 might run the story again tonight at 11, I hope! They already showed it at least twice, and the second segment had added clips, even included my name and company name!!
