Was I wrong to free climb a dying ash tree instead of using a bucket truck?

Last spring I was on a job in Columbus taking down a big ash with about 60% crown dieback. My partner argued we needed the bucket truck for safety, but I figured the tree was stable enough for spikes and a flip line since the trunk looked solid. Halfway up I hit a patch of soft wood near a old woodpecker hole and my gaff slipped about 6 inches. I caught myself but my heart was pounding the rest of the climb. The tree came down fine and I saved about an hour of setup time. Did I make the right call or should I have listened to my crew and gone mechanical?

3 comments

3 Comments

colescott1d ago

Man I have DEFINITELY been there and it NEVER ends well when you let the time savings talk you into something dumb. I still got a scar on my shin from a gaff slip on a half dead oak last summer, looked like a total idiot bleeding into my boot while the ground guy handed me bandages. You got lucky this time but that soft wood is a REAL problem on ash trees even when they look solid on the outside. Trust me, your partner was right to push for the bucket truck, that hour you saved ain't worth a broken back or a ride to the ER.

nina_taylor1d ago

@colescott That scar story stuck with me all week. I used to think rope and saddle was always faster and smarter, but after watching a buddy punch through an ash tree top last fall while tied in, I completely changed my mind. The wood on those trees can look fine but just crumble under load, and like you said, that hour you save is not worth the hospital trip or explaining to the boss why you broke your back. You're right, the bucket truck wins every time on iffy wood like that.

phoenix_grant23h ago

I was the same way for years, thought rope and saddle was just the better way to go on everything, bucket was for lazy guys or big removals. Then I had a red oak that looked perfect on the outside, no bugs, no rot near the base, and I was maybe thirty feet up limb walking when my tie in point just snapped clean off with no warning. I came down through some branches, got lucky with just a twisted ankle and a bruised rib, but that was the moment I stopped being stubborn about it. That story about your buddy and the ash tree top just reinforces what I already learned the hard way, you cannot trust wood by looking at it no matter how good you think you are at reading trees. I still climb when it makes sense, but I am way quicker to call for the bucket now and I don't feel bad about it one bit.