SRT canopy work

windsurfslice

Hi everyone. I am new to forum/tree climbing in general. I have gotten into climbing basically to clean and prune very large sycamores that are on my property and overhang my house with widow makers small dead limbs etc. I'm a total novice. Thus far I have made several (10) climbs into the big trees with my Petzl tree climbing SRT kit and some additional hardware and a yates chest harness (please dont make fun of me for buying a kit, im new at this) I have performed my small limbing and dead branch removal then descended. Im tying off using a running bowline. Heres my question: I get a little sketchy limb walking way out on these big branches when the vector of my climb line is to a crotch near the tree trunk. Id like to bring a second line into canopy to recrotch and free myself of some of the ascender hardware etc while out on limbs so i could just be hooked in with like a prussik and a figure 8. I am reluctant to recrotch my one climbing line because i like the idea of being able to set the new line while still connected to the climb line I set from the ground. is this a bad technique? I was thinking of something like a slightly shorter dynamic line (recommendations welcome please) so it would be better fall protection than my static 11mm dragonfly line? The 10" diameter live limbs over hang my roof a bunch so I could get the line pretty well directly overhead of where I would need to be working with a 13" handsaw. I am not doing any chainsaw work or large limb removal. Maybe there is something major I have overlooked here so I am hoping you might have some input. Thank you so much for your consideration, I hope this is not a redundant post I apologize in advance if it is.

Joshua Rugg

it is verry common to use a long lanyard while SRTing. on large spreading trees i often use redirects and a long lanyard. set the re direct on a branch near where your working and then lanyard in. using a long lanyard with a hitch rather then a mechanical adjuster allows you to use it as a second climb line with out all the excess tail. although sometimes excess tail aint such a bad thing.

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Poulan P3314 14" ( new hire/groundy saw)

TrevMcRev

Yeah, all you need is to re-direct. Either by using a sling with biner, or a natural re-direct by dropping down through a fork higher up above the area you want to work.

Here is a pic example of a willow pruned SRT using natural re-directs.

Red dots indicate the rope path, blue dots the pruning targets.

Attached Thumbnails

 

Eric Frei

Do not forget that you can also use the tail of the SRT line.

You could throw a bunch of rope over a limb etc above, tie off to your harness and have a prussic. So in effect one one side you'd have your SRT and on the other a retrievable DRT, all you need to carry is a prussic loop and biner.

Sometime to reach that bunch of rope you can use a sidekick or pole with a hook etc.

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windsurfslice

thank you all so much for your replies I greatly appreciate your insight. I like the idea of simplicity carrying less up with me.

1) if i'm picturing this correctly would a slack tender micro pulley be helpful if i were to use the "retrievable DRT" setup on the tail end of the primary SRT line? would this facilitate walking back in?
2) any tricks/whats the best way to set a sling with a biner for a redirect if the branch is well overhead? Toss it with a small line tied to it? Do I have to climb above, set it, then go back down?

Again I apologize in advance if these are dumb questions, still learning. Thank you again for your consideration and expertise.

Jarrad Allen

hey mate, i highly recommend buying 'the tree climbers companion' by jeff jepson. its only about $35 and will tell u absolutely everything u need to know. It'll save u asking all these questions and waiting ages for a reply, i bought it when i first started climbing and found it very very useful. You can buy it at wesspur.com, they have heaps of good books and equipment there too.