|
Our climbers have been trained in many of the common
arborist techniques for tree removal. Unlike many tree removal companies
who hire climbers and cutters who have basically trained themselves and
never learned the craft of proper tree removal. There are techniques and
tools that when used properly make the job safer and easier that are not
even heard of by the average "on the job" tree trimmer. A good way to
determine the quality of your tree trimmer is to ask a couple of
questions: 1. What is a "port-a-wrap"?
Answer
2. What is a 3 point system?
Answer
3. What is a Whoopie Sling?
Answer
4. What is a False Crotch?
Answer
Any of these questions will give you an idea of how much knowledge a tree
company really has before they begin work on your property. Are they really
trained or are they "on the job" trained or have they just been trained by the
"school of hard knocks".
For an example of expert arborist techniques see:
Cannon Falls Job
|
Port-A-Wrap
This is a device used by arborist but not really known or used by self taught
tree removal persons. This is a friction device which is used to gently lower
large limbs or chunks of wood and operated by only one ground person. A single
person can lower almost a ton of wood under control and hold it with one hand if
need while maneuvering the wood in he landing zone.
The device is designed to cause little or no damage to the ropes as it slides
through the device. In the photo to the right the ground person (Aaron Landon)
has used a couple of wraps on the port-a-wrap and is positioned to absorb the
shock of a large limb as it drops from the tree and is caught by the rope. Using
this device Aaron can handle this job by himself. Without it the limb would not
be able to be cut this way and would require greater risk to the climber to
remove it safely from the tree.
For more examples see:
|
click image to enlarge |
|
|
|
|
Three Point System This term refers
to the method of climbing used by most professional climbers. It involves a
"flip" line that goes around the tree and attaches to the climber on the left
and right waist. In the picture at the right you can see the rope that goes from
the climbers right hip to the tree. This rope goes around the tree to his other
hip. This rope allows the climber (Aaron Landon) to lean back using the spikes on his feet as
anchors then flipping the rope higher he can take another step up the tree. The
flip line is considered 2 points of contact with the tree. The third point is
the orange rope coming straight down from the top and is tied to a rope attached
to the climbers belt in the front. This is the backup line for the flip line. It
also provides a means for the climber to rest his legs, as you see in the
picture. Most self taught climbers only use a flip-line and do not use a helmet,
eye or eye protection. The far picture shows another
For more examples see:
 |
  |
|
|
|
|
Whoopee Sling
This is a device (the green rope) that can be used to attached the Port-A-Wrap
to the anchor, such as the base of the tree in the first picture. However, in
the first picture the device is simply tied with a bull knot. This device may
not be know by some professionals as it is a unique device and not all shops use
them. The area of the woopie sling mark with "A" is like the old "Chinese
Handcuffs". If you hold that area with on hand you can pull the tail "B" to the
left and close the loop on the right to tighten the grip on the tree. Release
your hand at "A" and the rope can not move under 5,000 lbs of pressure. |
 |
|
|
|
|
False Crotches
When taking down a tree, many times a branch or large "chunk" of wood needs to
be lowered to the ground. Since most tree work is not done with a crane we need
to make do with what we have to work with. What we have is natural cranes. They
are called branches that are higher up from where we are working. By placing a
rope through a crotch in a branch above the chunk we need to lower and tie the
rope to it. The ground crew on the other end can gentle lower it to the ground
letting the rope slide through the crotch of the tree. However, as the job
progresses we get to a point there are no branches above us to use. We then need
to use what is termed a "False Crotch". The technique at the right is a very
technical method that arborists use to remove big wood without damage to the
turf or obstacles underneath the tree. It is unlikely any self taught tree
service would be aware of this technique. The climber has placed a pulley
(purple rope) strategically below the wood he is cutting . The rope the ground
crew is holding with a port-a-wrap (red rope) is run through the pulley and tied
to the wood being cut. Both the flip line and climbing line (blue) are tied
around the tree in front of the climber. The pulley is the "False Crotch". The
wood is cut, the chunk falls and the rope tightens as it is caught by the
pulley. The pulley is placed so the wood falls beyond the feet of the climber
before the rope tightens and hits the chunks swings back into the tree. Using
the "False Crotch" the wood can then be gently lowered to the ground. |
 |
|
