Big job, new gear.

Therrin

Howdy guys.

Ive got 3 large pine removals coming up next week, collected the deposit on it and just got my new equipment in from Sherrill's.

Large steel port-a-wrap
200' of 5/8" Super Braid
3/4" Loopie, adjust 2' to 8'
2ton steel CMI block w/ 3/4" single eye sling, 12' long
Big buc double strap gaff pads w/ steel shin insert
Footplates for my gaffs
Peltor muff/mesh visor set for my Petzl helmet
Line bag
Chainsaw lanyard
6 - Steel oval auto lockers
Steel rescue 8 w/ ears
12' steel-core flipline
Gas can w/ no-spill nozzle
"The Tree Climber's Companion" 2nd Edit.

And, I had gotten a piston/cylinder kit from Baileys to replace the seized ones on my ms361. It's the big bore kit, 49mm from the original 47mm. Put my 361 all back together yesterday with the new kit and it fired up on the 34d pull. Getting it all nice and broken in and its working very nicely.

That about sums it up. Very happy to be back to work!

Looking forward to working with my new gear, and now trying to figure out how I did most of the stuff I did in the past without it.

Hope everything is well with the TW crowd, and hope everyone had good holidays.

Therrin

Yikes! I really didnt have any idea how BIG the 3/4" stuff is. Looks more like a full inch in my hands.
Really looking forward to trying the loopie sling, and thinking I should have gotten another one in the 5/8" size.

They sent the 200' of 5/8" rope on its own spool, but I'm afraid it might not be long enough. After 200' it jumps to 600' though... 350' would have been good, as it is they shipped it on its own spool.

After installing the new cylinder on my 361 I noticed the old one has a threaded stud in the top of the block that the top plastic cover of the saw screws down onto. Tried using the 2-nut trick to break the stud loose and get it out but for the life of me couldnt get it.
Went to Lowe's and found a package of bolts that have that same size/thread, so I guess I'm gonna cut one off and bevel the end with a dremel and set it in there. Still gotta see how that goes.

I ended up using just a very thin coating of Permatex gasket sealant when putting the new gasket and cylinder on the saw. Managed to get the whole saw back together even after its been sitting in pieces for the last..what, 8 months.
I think the only way I accomplished this was by grouping each set of parts I took off the saw and putting them in ziploc baggies and labelling each bag as I dissassembled it. Didnt end up with any leftover parts

Victor Lindsay

Anouther good DVD purchase for the future is, The art and science of practical rigging. Do you have a good ground guy? The new rigging equipment is only as good as the guy on the ground. Enjoy your new toys!

stirmantrees

nice purchase. jealous for sure. that wasnt cheap! esp. in the winter

Glad your back to work to

Levi Parkin

Sounds like a great load of gear. In the future if you'd like 5/8" line in lengths not carried by Sherrill or Wesspur, I can help you out as I have access to spools and spools of the stuff, just PM me. All in all, great haul. Nothing like having new toys around. My boss is buying us a new truck in the next coupld of weeks, can't wait.

Eric Frei

Have you been "out of work" all this time?

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Therrin

Relatively out of work, yeah.

Some small stuff, I'll go spend a week up in Lake Hughes and do a small removal here, a little pruning there, but usually I'm also doing other crap like welding and fabricating, installing a steel pipe propane line under a house (& pressure testing it), rebuilding stuff on my friends tractor, doing other farm-related work, etc etc.
So there hasnt been any "steady" or really decent sized tree work.

This job is a few thousand $$ though, so it's nice to get caught up, and it'll be great to have all the gear afterwards. It's a pretty dicey job though. I wasnt sure about taking it at first but then decided as long as I could get a deposit and purchase some gear for it I can pull it off.

I'm gonna have to put a lifeline anchor and a rigging line anchor in a live tree that actually hangs over the top of two of the dead ones. I limbed those two dead ones up about half way already but didnt feel safe going any further up them without a seperate anchor, like I mentioned. They've bot got quite a bit of lean to them, especially one of them. I'm planning on not actually flipping in to those at all while climbing them so I can swing free if they bust out.

The third pine goes up about 60' and then splits into a 5 leadered bugger, so it'll be interesting.

stirmantrees

pictures please
were interested now!

Therrin

Mmmm, I think I've got a bunch of pictures on my phone. Lemme see if I can get them on my computer.

Therrin

Mmm, they're not that great but they kinda show it. And I was wrong, the big one splits to 4 leaders, not 5. *scratches head*

I've got more pics on the camera but my card reader isnt hooked up.













The two "smaller" ones are on a hillside, and none are accessable by crane/bucket truck.

Attached Thumbnails

           

Jon

sounds like a technical job. A solid ground guy would be a huge asset.

Therrin

You offering?


Looks like I'll be using my dad, an old neighbor who runs a firewood lot now (he's doing all the cutting/removal of wood just for the wood, not for pay), and a good friend who's done several jobs with me and whos a rescue-trained guy who used to do rock climbing and ropes-course stuff with me.

Not much in the way of a "trained" or regular crew, but it's better than hiring random ppl off the street. Since I moved 100 miles away, all my old crew guys have moved on to other things.

stirmantrees

its good the big one still has some needles hanging on. thats usually a sign it has been recently that it died/dying. looks like a good days work for sure. maybve someone can snap some shots while your climbing

im so slow right now i'd work the ground in a heartbeat.

Jon

HaHa. Im always up for a challange...as long as its not 8 hours away. Im about over trying to hire saw happy guys off craigslist.

Therrin

I'd be over that before I ever started!!!

Dad taught me how to use a chainsaw, so I know I'm good with him around.
The old neighbor, Hank, runs a woodlot now and I just helped him with some stuff over at his place the other day. Did some cross-cutting on a 5ft dia euc log with some of his BIG husky saws.

And the other guy I've known for 26 years and we've cut together several times before. So as far as saw-use goes, this "crew" is considerably better than what I used to work with.

I used to only let the ground guys drag brush and feed a chipper. I trained one guy to run a saw but then he up and had a brain hemmorage and died in his sleep at age 27. Figures....

Levi Parkin

Isn't that just how it works? As soon as you find someone worth having around they either die or find something better to do... I can't complain about the guys I have working under my feet now well, except for the fact that they don't understand "Let it run". Just about clobbered me a couple of weeks ago. Hope the job works out for ya. If I were there, I'd give ya a hand. I love to be doing actual tree work. Inventorying gear is nice for making a check, but it sucks in 9 degree temperatures.

kel

You'll be fine seeing they've still got needles in them. Make sure you've got a long pole so that you can reach your rope a long way out. I use a modified pool cleaning pole. It is nice to be working again. Did my 1st for the year yesterday. A tall, dead Iron bark. All the best, Kel

stirmantrees

nice. got a pic of that?

kel

No, patten pending. By "modified" I mean I've put a 2" screw coming out the side to push and pull the rope and a spring clip to attach to harness. cost nothing and gives me 4m (13') reach. only use it in 25% of the trees but nice to have when you need the butt end of branch to go down first and not wanting to crawl out on the branch.kel

newguy18

Look like fairly easy trees,but more pics could prove me wrong.

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Therrin

rofl @ "fairly easy", and yes, the pictures will give better show of it.

One of the pieces I rigged off, when it fell, for some reason a piece busted off in mid-air and landed in the road (a good 30 feet away). That was pretty odd, but thankfully it didnt hit anyone.

All in all it went very well. 2 out of 3 are down, and the third (largest) one will be coming down on my next trip up there. Scheduling was all FUBAR, and I ended up having to wait till the one guy either got off work (just hours before sundown) or was on his lunchbreak and he'd zoom over to where I was at and we'd go at it frantically then he'd leave again. Not a situation that made me very happy, but we did what we could.

The port-a-wrap is awesome, and worked very very nicely. We dropped some 2' x 12' sections on it with no trouble from a good 70 feet or more, and several pieces a bit smaller.

The new pads and footplates turned my spikes into ...*is speechless*... absolutely amazing pieces of gear. absolutely ZERO discomfort, zero rubbing/chafing, no sore feet; they are really great.

Hey, i'm even a real fan of my new gas can, has a little push-button filler spout on it, completely leak free and doesnt dump gas all over stuff. LOL

All in all I used every single piece of equipment I ordered and just about every other piece I already own. It went very well though.

(I even made my own 2:1 system and used that today to ascend a good 80 - 90 feet up. Slower than my srt system, but much much smoother, it was fun)

Therrin

oh btw, gimme a straight pine anyday but SCREW the ones that lean so much!!!

The first tree (the noticeable leaner, in the photos) by the time I was up near the top I was a good 15 - 18 FEET horizontal distance from where it meets the ground, and that's on still just the main leader.

Leaners suck! only working it from one side and constantly trying to keep balance and keeping from falling around the other side wears you out alot quicker.

Victor Lindsay

Yes, leaners suck. That's when gurth hitching or using a prusik on your safety lanyard can help with balance.

Bruce Hopf

CONGRATES on the big job Therrin. Jobs like this one here, that you are sharing with us, gives a person a good boost of self esteem.
Heck, even having good equipment to work with, like you have just purchased, even gives your pride a good boost as well. All the best to you in 2010. Take care. Bruce. P.S. Glad to see you back at Tree World.

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Willard Holmen

Yes good to see you back Therrin, take it easy getting used to that new equipment and taking down those knarly trees. Your going to find lots of more work with every job you do, potential customers seeing you working is your best advertising!
Willard.