Tree climber ......Nuts !

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Lol...try being fully extended in a 145' man lift. Lots of boom deflection when it's scoped out all the way. You can literally see the bend in it and you really have to feather the controls when it's out that much or you will over swing when you go left or right and literally piss your pants.
So true! I’ve only rented up to 90’ but it still sways about 5-10’ as your bobbling around. Definitely helpful for big prune jobs if you can get the machine to it.
 
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Hang Glider 3.jpg


Here I am flying my Moyes Maxi hang glider at Lookout Mountain Georgia. I am up about 900 feet.
 
A college roommate worked for a tree cutting company when he wasn't at school. He would keep some of his equipment in his truck and we would take turns climbing the power pole outside our house (I did say college so I acknowledge that we were idiots). It was really a lot of fun, but I had a lot of respect for anyone working a chainsaw while working like that.
 
Being up in a tree like that scares the bejeebers out of me. I've got a fairly big walnut branch that I want to cut off, about 12' off the ground. Thinking about an extension ladder and electric chainsaw.

When I think of tree climbers, this picture always comes to mind.

men-at-work-on-the-dexter-elm-1896.jpg
 
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Being up in a tree like that scares the bejeebers out of me. I've got a fairly big walnut branch that I want to cut off, about 12' off the ground. Thinking about an extension ladder and electric chainsaw.

When I think of tree climbers, this picture always comes to mind.

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Looks about right. Reminds me of some big pruning jobs way back before I started using rock gear. Worse I remember me an another guy 9 1/2 hours on a tree in Morton Washington. So sore afterwards
 
Looks about right. Reminds me of some big pruning jobs way back before I started using rock gear. Worse I remember me an another guy 9 1/2 hours on a tree in Morton Washington. So sore afterwards
I'm sore after 5 hours of cutting up and handling trees on the ground. Even leg cramps in the evening, it is good exercise though. I couldn't imagine doing what you've done. Much respect.

Edit; In the photo, they were trying to eradicate a moth from the tree. Elm Tree Article
 
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I do not have the balls for 200', but I spent a good portion of my life on hooks and ladders doing aerial line work. I have topped a few trees, but never more than about 30 feet up. It makes me pucker.

A couple of weekends ago, I flopped a 9' ladder against a juniper tree that was leaning towards the house. I started lopping off branches and climbed about another 10 or 15 feet up and put a cable around it to put tension on it when I sawed it down. Standing at that level, I thought about just sawing it off, but I worry too much about kick back with no where to go. I am not a dumb as I was years ago. I'll be 69 next month.

A real thrill is putting a ladder on a cable leaning out over a cliff, and the cliff does not have to be very high to cause a pucker.
 
I’m having a 100ft fir next to my house taken down next week. It has already dropped large branches ruining my old rain gutters and some fence. Been lucky they break and swing down hitting the ground and not my roof. I will sleep better during wind storms for sure. The last one Tuesday night had 60 MPH gusts leaving us without power for 14 hours.
 
I had a Hawaii lady have me come and bid to remove a bunch of Doug fir. She had limbed them all, about 30 trees, about 50-60’ up . Just left about a foot of limb to stand on. She told me her husband was pissed when he came home and saw what she did. I never got the job but wow
 
Y’all can have the climbing. I hate getting 5’ up on a ladder. Roof? Nope. Up a tree with a chainsaw? Not a chance in hell. Don’t care what safety equipment there is, not doing it.
 
Saw a video a few years ago of a guy with a helmet cam climbing one of those 1000 ft radio towers to do antenna maintenance, it just looked like once you get over 80-100 ft it becomes surreal. Took him a long time to climb that sucker. The kids bought the wife a helicopter ride around the shoreline of Cleveland last fall, so I got to go along and it was the same thing- once you're up 20 ft there's nothing you can do if something goes wrong so you should just sit back and enjoy the ride.
 
Hard pass on heights. I've never been able to get over it so I just accept it now and stay grounded. Highest ill go is my 2 story non-steep gambrel roof only if I absolutely have to and I don't even like that.
 
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I started when climbing I was a young teenager helping my neighbor who had a weekend tree service. Him and formed an llc when I turned 18. I remember the first really tall tree I was about to climb he said “ just remember to tuck and roll!”
 
I saw that video of the guy climbing the 1,000 foot high tower, it is on youtube. It gave me the creeps I could barely stand to watch.
As I said being up at 1,000 feet in the hang glider didn't bother me, in fact I like it.

But being up that high on a tower I can't stand the idea.
 
Spent my first five years after the USMC as a lineman. Could actually take a nap sitting on the cross arms after a rough nite. Now I get dizzy just looking up
 
Thank you so much. I will be dizzy for the rest of the day! So much for productive work this afternoon.
Several weeks ago next to the building where I work, I saw a helicopter hovering around some major power lines going up the mountain. At first I had no idea what he was doing, but after watching a bit, I saw the blades hanging below on a cable which were trimming trees along the power line. Doing that job would be much more stressful to me. Here is a video showing the process:

Trimming trees by power line with helicopter - YouTube