The Official Work Pictures Thread

Blew the side off a dead Doug-fir tongue-and-groove over a crumbling retaining wall, uphill fell. Spec'ed impact to wall was acceptable by homeowner. Trunk came down, blew the side off, flexed downward, and rested back up higher.

Nothing to lose to try it. Overhead Humboldt.

No damage.

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Dude, WHAT did you tell Matt over at Eastside?? He called me out of the blue and made me a pretty sweet deal, pretty-much just on good faith... looks like I owe my entire blessed job to you. Why would you do that for me, man?
 
Head east Jed. I'm sure I can get you a job with a small family owned company that will be starting up sometime soon;)

I did, in a way, Rich... Eastside Tree Works. Won't be heaven on earth though, until your runnin the show. I dunno, you'd probably be a slave-driver though, seeing how you guys work.
 
2 weeks before Christmas??? Don't they give you guys a Christmas bonus

Nothing.

Say Paul... the new guys's got a 170' crane! Not lookin ta come out West are ya??

Sean: You'd probly like my new boss Matt Ringo... super knowledgeable about root-wad health. Pays his climbers to go way out to the tips of the Fir-limbs, Reg Coates style. Never takes more than 15% out of a big Fir, etc. We'll see how she goes.

Mick, Burnham, Biggun Rich, and everybody... thanks so much for all the well-wishes, seriously. Bit of a leap in the dark, I guess... see how she goes.

Burnham: So I'll assume that you've at least TRIED Space Dust then? :/:
 
Glad to hear this, Jed.
You have IMO been too good for "Big Green" for a long time.
 
Probably took absorbed of the impact before breaking.

I figured it took a hard hit, absorbing some energy. I didn't inspect the bottom of the notch after felling, to see if it had a dent from impact. During the fell, I was getting out of Dodge, so I don't know the details, with certainty.

In hindsight. A trucker's ratchet strap just below the bottom of the tongue would have helped it hold, not blowing out the side. Wider walls, narrower tongue would have been better.




I imagine that flaring outward to the rear does two things, possibly a double-edged sword.

First, it gives more fudge factor on the plunge cuts being dead-on square, to prevent binding while tipping, which might help break a brittle hinge, or prevent tipping altogether. A slightly flared bottom cut on the tongue might give a wedging area. I was banging wedges at 7'-8'. Not a big deal, we had to pull it with a rope, as it was solidly limb-locked. I wasn't forcing this tree over entirely with wedges. I looked at the down-sloping bottom of the groove, under the tongue, as another opportunity for a wedge, not as a replacement, necessarily, being mindful of not jacking the tree upward, breaking the hinge.

Second, it looks like the flared back of the tongue, coming down with force into the front of the groove could be used to try to trap butt of the log. In this case, it might be what caused the blow-out of the brittle sidewall. On a larger, green tree, that would allow a strong sidewall, possibly in conjunction with a trucker's ratchet strap for support just below the tongue, it might work. It would be just a slight outward flare. More dramatic flare would seem to create more wedging effect, blowing out the sidewall.




I think its obvious that most often, the three simple-cut felling method (two kerfs for the facecut, one cut for the back cut) suffices for the vast majority of trees cut, overall, and this is just a rare-use type of cut. I'd just rather practice when I get an easy opportunity with no/ low risk, and if it works out, I get a "gold-star" from the customer, and a talking point for the customer to relay to people, spreading my name.
 
I would say that any twist when the tree hits the deck on that hinge will break that off every time, especially with softwood.

Interesting, but I wouldn’t risk an insurance claim on it.
 
I would say that any twist when the tree hits the deck on that hinge will break that off every time, especially with softwood.

Interesting, but I wouldn’t risk an insurance claim on it.

I wouldn't, either!



Messing around keeps it interesting.
 
Slave driver!? Not me. I guess I kinda push the equipment hard though. Hope things work out for you Jed.
Sean testing like you're doing is great, but I just don't see that being useful to me. I understand wanting to keep it on the stump but that can be done with a really wide notch and good hinge wood on a lot of trees.

Only pic of the day. Couple of dead blue spruce. Easy peasey. Less than two hours
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Guy has ten more that are much more open he was gonna do himself till he saw how fast it was to just chip the limbs.
 
Finished up the other job last Sunday.

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That job led to these 3 Pines and 1 small box elder to the right not pictured. I think I'm gonna get them on New Years weekend. Okd access to the field I was standing in so 4 easy drops. About a 1/2 mill from the mill where I dump.
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White pine..... I think

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Just caught up with you Jed, I'm tickled for you man. With your skills, you need to be running your own outfit. Cool pics Rich, Denver. I haven't posted a pic in a while, took out this beetle kill over a garage. Pic looks kinda fuzzy to me. Zipped most of the limbs which I love and is such a time saver. IMG_2475.jpg
 
Dude, WHAT did you tell Matt over at Eastside?? He called me out of the blue and made me a pretty sweet deal, pretty-much just on good faith... looks like I owe my entire blessed job to you. Why would you do that for me, man?

They posted on Treebuzz looking for help. I saw they were near you and their equipment was from this century, so i sent them an email recommending you, gave them your phone number, and suggested they get in touch with you. Glad you took the leap and hope it works out well for you.

We worked together for less than a year, but you had a huge impact on me, both personally and professionally. I still hear your advice in my head almost daily, just trying to return a favor man.
 
WOW, Jed, glad you dropped that Davey pig wallowing of a job man!...lots of other possibilities with your skill level big guy ;)

ruel (Sean) beautiful man, what a cool thing to do for Jed!
 
Most of us look with disfavor at a big company like Davey but I'm thankful for my time working for them. I was exposed to an awful lot and gained experience that I would have missed out on otherwise. About 95% of my crane experience came while I was working at Davey and that was a huge factor when I decided to buy my first bucket truck with a material handler. Odds are I wouldn't be where I am now without that time at Davey 20 years ago.
 
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