Agreed.

Haha thanks man! I said newbi 😂 I feel like someone who has used the GRCS as much as I have shluod have been able to make that a little safer 😅

Thanks man! I have to say that it all just cokes from practice. I've had my share of jobs that didn't go to plan and took linger than I wanted. That silver maple sounds huge 15 spars is crazy!

That's great, man! Ooo, a span rig could be really easy to misjudge. Span rigs can generate up to 6 times more force on the rope than the weight if the load. Plus, they tend to load the tree laterally which isn't great either. Hope it didn't have too big of consequences for you.

Thanks Mike! It's encouraging to hear you say that 😊

Thanks Jon! This one hab me thinking about those two white oaks we did for Evan 😅

Hey Jake, thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. Almost all the trees I remove these days need to be rigged out or crane out and so I don't get much free fall experience and consequently I don't get to experiment with different cuts as much. I'll peel out rigs sometimes when the situation is right though

Thanks, man!

Ah thay is a tough spot to be in. It does take the right climber and groundie to make a GRCS useful. I've definitely heard about plenty of them that sit in the corner and collect dust. Maybe talk to other companies in the area and see if you can expose him to one before buying. Soke contract climbers have one, you could hire one of those guys for a day and be on the ground to help your groundie leanr and accept it.

@@zaccheus thanks, your comment back made me think. a company that contracts me has one that mostly collects dust. why dont i just ask to borrow it. thanks for response, made me think. simple solutuon.

In my opinion buddy I would hire a new ground dude who's willing to learn new things of the trade because that's what makes the job easier and less dangerous things like that also if you're grounded doesn't want to learn new things then I would get rid of him I'm not saying you have to we all need to learn I've been cutting climbing for 22 years and I still learn new things no problem at all it's what makes us better in life

@AndrewAntonelli-dj4qt there you go! Maybe they'll even let you buy it at a lower price than new 😅

@br-dj2ti Fair thought, Bill. Thanks for sharing, there is alot of value in working with someone who is willing to learn

Thanks Dan!

Thanks man!

Thanks, Mark! That's a really powerful thing to say. Thank you for taking the time to share that with me.

Thanks Greg!

I was really sad to see it go too. I'd love to have that tree at my house. A local fella was crushed in his sleep by a tree that came down on his house recently in our area. I'm thinking people might be a little on edge because of that.

Haha, sometimes I really wonder if I'm as savy as I should be to all the hazards I face 😅 it's been said thay God had to assign extra Gaurdian angles to me because I get myself into too much trouble for one to handle 😂

You might be on to something right there. It is possible that I misjudged how high to tie it. I try to be really careful about that because it's the difference between a dynamic load and a static one and I tend to rely on things being pretty static when rigging big like this. I think also having a wider face cut and better hinge could have helped. Maybe it was both 🤷‍♂️ but I'd say definitely one or the other. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the matter!

@@zaccheus It gets tricky on the really long laterals. I've found moving the back cut out a bit so it leaves a small step is good for keeping control of things, but it can make it harder to get the but to come off. But when your doing big, fairly high consequence rigs you wanna stack the deck in your favor.

Haha yeah, there was a good one in there for sure!

The GRCS is the only device made by the company that makes it. There are similar, competing devices such as the smart winch, transformeur by FTC, Hobbs, and probably others. The GRCS is not the cheapest or the most expensive, it is not the weakest or the must durable, but I do believe it is the most productive, especially with the use of a drill to power it.

Thank you!

Haha, it's a game changer if you can get the right people to help you use it, man! I think it's the greatest tree care invention since the chainsaw. Maybe aside from intercoms anyway. Those are pretty important too.

@@zaccheus for sure, comms are an absolute must for a safe worksite. Once you have them can’t ever go back ⛑️

I think the GRCS is the fastest way, but they could be worked down in pieces, too, if you don't have one. Spikes are just the fastest, if you're pruning, you can throw a rope out into the top of a nearby spar from the spar your in and make a DRT system to get you into that other spar. Or a captains hook works well, too. Both take a little extra practice to be good at.

My biggest challenge is getting towards the tips of long branches that are well away from any overhead tie off points. I might pull the top towards the trunk with a redneck grcs (come along) or maybe try climbers with a secondary safety as I advance, in case I slip under the branch. I'm just a homeowner hack, but I know rope systems.

But I don't know enough climbing techniques...

@jimp7181 I took a class that bought me some stuff. Ypu might be able to find something in your area that could help you improve your skills

A long hook pole will help you set a rope out there, up there, 'bout any where.😮😅

Thanks Chris! That's 5/8 stable braid we used on this tree

For every system, its important to tend slack. The akimbo typically doesn't let rope fall through it unless you run it really lose, which I would not recommend. There is a spring in the upper cam designed to help the akimbo grab the rope before the climbers weight makes the device grab the rope.

Thanks Bill!

Aw, thanks, man. I definitely have room for improvement, I think everyone does. It's really enluraging to hear you say that.

I buy as much as I can from my local arborist supply store. I try hard to support them because I can get stuff there without waiting on it to ship to me. Check their website out endorstreegear.com

Haha, more importantly, I have the Lord above keeping me safe. I've probably already used more "saves" than the average person maybe 😅

Haha I've never done it, but I've heard of others doing it and I live in fear of doing it 😅 I think it happens most when one person does the estimate and then there is a communication break down when the crew arrives.

I knowww, I was really sad to see them take it down. They had several declining maples in the backyard that were much better candidates for removal. I'll never know why some folks are so adamant about what they want to have done.

Yeah, I do like it. I really haven't used my 201 at all since I got it 😂

I wear a protos, Bo wears a Kask. He likes it a lot and I can see why. I like his face shield more than the protos options

I'm just a contract climber, I don’t ask what the value of the job is

Yeah man, I hear you there. There were a number of other trees on the property that were much better candidates for removal because of their state of decline. Placement is a big deal too and this tree was in a poor place. I would have happily lived under it, but the homeowner was not comfortable with it. I didn't sell the tree removal, so I don't know what the conversation looked like. But I was sad to see it go. The rope on the piece is a bad idea in principle for sure. The limbs were all 30 and 40 feet long and it takes a substantial amount of time for that 12 inch gasoline chipper to eat through 20 feet of those limbs. I do wonder if making that cut better would have helped that situation. I know for sure that eliminating that stub would have avoided the risky cutting I did to solve the problem.

@@zaccheus agreed. Tree selection and placement is very important. A healthy oak is one of the best trees to have next to a house. Very Stout and storm resistant. Don't beat yourself up too bad about the "stub" lol. I would have left it and tried working around it rather than calling for a bigger saw just to cut it out of the way.

@geekay4703 species selection amd placement really is important and often under considered. White oak, especially because they often have desirable unions and great wood strength. Like I said, I'd happily live under it, but that doesn't mean someone else is comfortable with it and if something is up there, it can come down. I've seen the results of the inexplicable "June drop" and it does make it hard to say that anyone has a guaranteed safe experience living under a tree

@@zaccheus for sure. I wasn't challenging you. I have removed trees when I didn't think it was necessary or a good reason. It just sucks when you cannot convince a homeowner of the benefits of leaving it standing.

@@geekay4703 Absolutely. I'd have loved to have that tree at my house.

Nah, it was a struggle with this video. My editor, Taylor, did his best to improve the audio, but with the chipper being right there, it was tough to separate my voice from all the noise. Normally, I only film jobs where the chipper is elsewhere or no clean-up jobs because of this.

Haha that caught me off guard too 😂 I gotta be more careful when I'm staying at the back of the camera.