Tree Machine ... Jim Clark, inventor and ahead of his time

Tree Machine

These business cards are the first of a long line of my cool 'secrets'.

a_lopa

im interested T/M please contact them see what we can do,i really think the "your treeguy"is a very good selling point.

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Drouin Tree Services and Excavator Hire | Excavator Hire - Drouin and SE Gippsland

Eric Frei

Too right, get them in for a chat.

Great idea, I just spent a little time googling aussie results, there's none!

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jim1nz

Sounds like a plan

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SPEED ALWAYS FOLLOWS TECHNIQUE

Tree Machine

A plan it is, then.

I'll give em a call on Monday (tomorrow morning) and let them know of their invitation. This could be quite edgeucational.


Hey JimNZ, I love your avatar. I think I've met that tree. Elizabeth and I flew half way around the world to visit that tree and walk through the Kauri forests. That tree is Tane Mahuta, a giant Kauri in in the west of your north island. Yes? I took a picture of the base of that tree, and of the top. Let me do a little Photoshop and see if we can get the proper perspective,

hang on,


gimme just another minute.......


THERE!

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Tree Machine

My best girl.

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Tree Machine

It's one of those trees you hike to, and when you turn the corner and see it, it just takes your breath away.

Eric Frei

Crikey!

What happened to the head of that tree, storm damage or possum food?

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a_lopa

They make some fine boats out of that!

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jim1nz

Mate if you were 2000 years old you'd have a few scars too!

Haha, actually a lot of is is lightning strike. Possoms dont hammer Kauri too bad but do heavy damage to other natives. Kauri trees are truly amazing trees with a long history.

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jim1nz

Some friends and myself have been able to help out on a project lately lead by a generous protector of the forest around where Tane Mahuta lives.

The project is called the Kauri millennium forest project.
http://www.waipoua.org.nz/kauri.htm
http://www.waipoua.org.nz/trust.htm

Our aim was to collect genetically strong Kauri seed the older specimen trees for propagation, this is the easy part. The amount of time it takes to propagate, raise and establish these trees is an absolute credit to Stephen King and the Waipoua Forest Trust / Te Iwi O Te Roroa people.

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Mike Poor

Is kauri the genus name? very amazing tree!

Eric Frei

Ironic that the Kiwi's named it Agathis australis instead of Agathis zealandalis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agathis_australis this link explains a lot about the trees.

We have a native to Australia to called Agathis robusta, still gets big but not as big.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agathis_robusta

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mdvaden

Tree Machine...

Even met my friend Douglas Fowler that has a tree service in Bloomington?

Met him in Oregon, where he did tree work for maybe 10 years. He's from Georgia, originally.

We keep in touch, every few months.

jim1nz

Hahaha yea i know, shoka a!

Ekka that is the Queensland Kauri?, well thats the common name we use for it here, we have an excellent specimin in Yatton park here in Tauranga.

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Eric Frei

I dont think it is Jim, they say it's a native of your land but same genus ... worth checking out though, then again, ya just another state of Australia over there aint ya? lol

Nah, just kidding, actually there's many a smart thing done over there which should be done here.

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jim1nz

Had a quick look and this is what i found.

http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plan...s_robusta.html

Hahaha oh yea thats right NZ is attached to the AZZ end of Aussie too i bet

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Tree Machine

No, Mario, But Bloomingtom is about a hundred kilometers south of me. From Bloomingtom, south, is Indiana cave country. My wife and I have been through Bloomington many dozens of times on our way down to outings.

I used to have a girlfriend I'd visit there, back when I was 25 or 26, even though, at the time, I lived in Michigan (4 hours away). Fond memories, a very cool college town (Indiana University).

I don't really know too many tree guys, to be honest, especially here in Indiana. Just some apprentices I've trained. I don't get around and meet other Arborists. I'm, quite honestly, too busy being an Arborist.

Hey Mario, I think your photography is outta site. It's really, really good.

Eric Frei

OK Tree Machine

Stop holding out on us, we're all ears to see what clever system you climb on, I know it's SRT but hitches suck SRT and some mechanical devices are, well, cumbersome and jerky to use.

Come on mate, spill the beans.

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Tree Machine

I guess that's sorta why this thread got started.

It's sort of hard to explain in a nutshell, except to say I don't ever use friction hitches, very rarely tie knots (eye terminations) and have used so many different simple devices that I've lost count.

I think I'm in my 14th year as a professional climber/rigger and through the hundreds of differing variations and ways of controlling friction for both rigging and self-belay I have boiled it down to two exceedingly simple systems. One is rope-on-metal using a tube-device, like many of the ones shown here or creating friction with other simple devices like the ones shown here. I have what I consider my favorite, but for the purpose of tree climbing, even my favorite is missing simple features that would complete it for us. In other words, the best rope-on-metal descent device for tree work does not yet exist, though I have a really solid thought of what it looks like.

The second is a combination rope-on-rope / rope-on-metal system that is especially simple, but a device has never been fully conceived for it's application. I have never seen this system in action by anyone else, but it is so perfect in it's possibility that I would be amazed if someone has not thought of it. A device like this does not exist on Storrick's site, and the configuration of the ideal device is similar to one I created a few years ago and use frequently, it is an upgrade in form, and is swimming around in my head. In other words, this second device has not yet been invented and does not exist.

Actually, neither devices have yet been seen by human eyes.

That's why its sorta hard to fully describe.

Tree Machine

Also, Ekka, it's not SRT. It's ALL THREE systems; 2:1 DdRT, 1:1 DbRT and 1:1 SRT, all do-able on the same device and interchangable at your will.

That is what is the key advantage. The versatility to work different systems as needed, or just according to whatever mood you happen to be in at the moment.

Either of the two yet-to-be-invented devices will allow this.

Scottyfl

I saw Tom D in Ga. at there comp with the Unicender and was impressed, but come on Tm vidio please.
Scotty

Tree Machine

OK, Scotty. The video is actually where I'm hung up. I am really bad about labelling tapes. I have 15 one-hour DV tapes and have to fast-forward through entire tapes to find what I need. I may be further ahead to re-shoot, but I don't have any ground help to do the camera work.

The clips I can offer don't lend themselves really well to still photos since its more than the piece, but how the piece performs. You want to see smooth, not jerky, precision adjustment, one-handed, left or right and no-handed friction control. You want to see the device being put on the rope in two seconds or less. It needs to be shown working the two versions of a doubled rope and a single rope. You need very specifically to see soft lock / hard lock in action and it would be very good to see an in-air crossover swap between ascender and descender done in under 5 seconds.

Then there's the Quicktime thing, the .mov video format. I would like to present the stuff in .mov and .wmv to make sure that no one is excluded. Ekka and I are working on that. Also, there is no function within regular threads to post video, that function is in the video forum so I believe we'll have to link between here and there and transmit to a server, rather than to the thread itself. We'll work that out. I started digging into this stuff a few days ago and learned it was more involved. Like anything in life, you can schlock it together, or you can spend the time and do a good job. I doubt you guys want to see schlock.

As a special treat, we have made communication with a special guest, a world authority on mechanical devices. We have summoned forth this expert and he has agreed to join us in the thread. This motivates me greatly as I'm not so alone in the presentation. We have someone who can scrutinize and call me on any fine points. This third-party specialist can greatly increase the depth of the thread and keep the information factual to a high degree.

Men choosing to try these methods out in the trees will be putting their lives on it. I take this very, very seriously.

Sean Freeman

For anyone wondering what the unicender looks like and a glimpse of how it performs visit http://www.thompsontreetools.com/ There's a flash media version and a HTML version.

Eric Frei

I dunno, $10 of rope and a Blakes'll do me. Just more gadgets. Big honking lump of Looominum in ya face.

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Sean Freeman

I know what you mean Ekka, but there's a little rock climber in me that just loves the sound of all that gear clinking away as I walk, reminds me of all the quick shots and friends i used to cart around on my (now seems very flimsy) rock harness...and gadgets mate I love em

Tree Machine

Quick draws?

I know what you mean, Boa. I sorta look like a space alien sometimes, a self-proclamed gear freak much like yourself.

As far as the saddle goes, though, gear has come and gear has gone. Very open-minded to try something different, but it only finds permanent residence on the saddle if it pays its rent.

If I pulled all the biners off, and all the slings off, the saddle would look very stripped down. What would be left is dual-handled ascenders, a couple descent pieces and an SRT backup, chainsaw bungee lanyard and flipline. Actually quite typical for a tree climber, except for the descent pieces and SRT backup. All these together will fit in the palm of my hand and all together weigh less than a single steel triple lock. Then there's the sliding bridge piece, that's different. That's a truly one-of-a-kind. I suppose you could call it an 'invention' but's really more of an amalgamation of different parts from different industries, a modification specific to a flat-profile sliding bridge saddle.

Ekka and I use the same saddle, the Buckingham Versatile. I keep trying on new ones, but keep coming back.

Gotta fly for now. Another company has me hired to do the aerial work on a crane job they got going. Crew of five, I can't be late.

Sean Freeman

Sorry TM yes Quick draws...crikey don't know where my head was at...quick shots what the heck are they...something you drink as the bar is closing maybe?

Eric Frei

I use a Traverse, has dual sliding D's, note the special Aussie style saddle with dual side D's too. (and hard seat for me)

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Tree Machine

Boa, hopefully someday we can do a quick shot together, maybe a number of them. That would be a multi shot.

Sadly, however, we're on the opposite side of the planet and in different hemispheres. For us to actually be together and do a quick shot, now that would be a long shot.

But as far as the quick-draw, for those unfamiliar with that, it is simply two caribiners attached with a short length of sewn web. Rock guys use these on lead climbs on bolted routes. The quick-draw is clipped into the anchor with the top biner and the climber's rope into the one just below. In tree climbing we call this a redirect and our 'quickdraw' is generally a sling with a biner at one end. We choker the limb and then slap our rope into the biner. Used mostly when you've climbed above your tie-in point to create a new, temporary tie-in point, or when you're way out, horizontal and some distance from where your rope is set. Set a redirect so if there was some mishap, you wouldn't do a monster pendulum back down and splat on the trunk.

I realize I'm not telling anything new here.

I actually did buy a quickdraw a few months ago at a sport shop. I just needed a Petzl bent gate non-locker. They didn't have any, except for the ones in the quickdraws, which included a non-locker straight gate. I bought it, figuring I'd just remove the biners, but I never did. I just hung it and I have grown somewhat attached to it. On yesterday's crane removal when the ball and cable would appear, I would slap the quickdraw on the cable to keep it right there while I got myself positioned and set the rig. I found a sweet spot on the saddle where it can sit, available, without getting in the way of anything else.




Hey Ekka, can we test a video?

I managed to get yesterdays tree job on time-lapse. The batteries lasted the entire job and no one parked in front of the camera. I futzed with it a bit last night and got the frame rate slowed down a bit, then posted it to a server. It's about 5 meg in Quicktime format. Click right here and if you see the big 'Q' just give it a few moments. Dial-up guys, go make a sandwich. I'm sensitive to how long it can take, even though the video streams.

I climbed SRT this whole job with the rope anchored up at the top of the tree, rather than at the base, like it is traditionally done. I used spikes.

The footage is not intended to impress you big dogs, but there's something uniquely cool about time-lapse.

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