Fingers crossed he finishes without tearing anything up or hurting himself. If you’re roping don’t stand in line with the fall direction.
Ah yes, full extension and I bet wobbly as hell too. Not for me. Like I said, I would have hired it out. A professional tree cutter would rope in and out, no bucket involved Now, more than anytime in the past, the level of danger is very high. I had a professional tree cutter remove a huge leader on the cottonwood out front that was over the house. It was handled in about an hour, everything on the ground and I cut it all up and went to the burn pile. Cottonwood is junk anyway. They charged me 350 bucks and it was well worth it and I supplied the cold beer after ward's. I do have a pretty good in with tree companies around here as I sharpen their chipper knives for them. You have a few 'widowmakers' up there yet. Just stay out from under the fall zone and hopefully you are wearing a hard hat. The big maple behind the shop will come down with me on the ground and with the 'help' of one of my big Kubota's. I bet your buddy is pizzing his pants about now. I'll probably get out the 075 for the trunk deed.
He just left for the local Home Depot (less than 3 mi). Picking up a Dewalt electric pole saw. They advertise up to 15’ reach but he doesn’t need that much. We’re talking about it and I think it may help get the job done. He’ll be able to get all the green down and then should be able to tie off on the rest. I’m staying way back when he’s cutting so no worries there. I don’t approach till the limb is half way down on the rope, and I’m wearing my helmet.
Remember, the top 3 wires on the power pole ae 3 phase and probably 14,000 volts too. getting tied up with them would be instant cook like a hot dog.
Not for me either!! It’s not wobbly, when I first got here yesterday I went up with him to see if 2 in the bucket would be more productive. It was surprisingly very stable. I was a bit white knuckled so we agreed I’d stay on the ground. edit: Shaun Carr ported 394 w/ a 42 will make very quick work of the base, if we get that far.
I have the Harbor Freight edition and I use it alot. Mine is corded so I use a portable genny and an extension cord. Problem is, the bar is pretty short and undercutting limbs can and will result in a pinch if you aren't extra careful. Love the play by play and glad I'm not either one of you.
Everyone I've fiddled with had some wobble in it. It's the result of all those joints on the arms. Like I said, I prefer a stiff arm but won't use that either.
With my fear of heights (which has gotten worse the older I get), I'd be wetting my drawers at 15 feet vertical. Way back when I owned and operated a commercial tree business and it was nothing back then to rope in and out of 100 foot plus oaks. Never owned a bucket truck, all ropes and climbing gear. Never had an issue either though insurance was super expensive, even back then. Where my 075 came from as well as my 028. Both were company saws. Only had one incident where I pitched a limb out at about 75 feet and it went down through the limbs and to the right and skewered the roof of the house next door. Didn't make any money on that job. Still have my harness and climbing spurs hanging in the garage to this day. Those were the days. Don't miss them one bit either.
Not sure if you are aware, or that every machine has it, but most of the JLG's that I've used have a power outlet in the bucket...then you just need to run a cord to the machine on the ground. They are rated for 2 in the bucket/600 lbs, even at full extention. I would think that a 45' model like that would be very stable...once you get into the 80-90' stuff, things start to sway more. I worked out of a 125' once...that was a bit unnerving as we were tugging on some very large wrenches, causing lots of sway, and the machine was parked on a bank, but where we were working was out over a valley of sorts, so easily 150' down!
The lift i used was rather wobbly in the wind. It was weird topping a dead spruce while you and the tree are in sync with the breeze. Good wind the day i did it a couple years ago. Life is short Jason, dont you wanna cross that off your bucket list??? Youll be closer to God too! (sorry old roofing joke there)
How did he like the Dewalt? Was that the 20 volt model? Same one i have. Thought of getting a gas one.
