High Limb removal

[SAW MILLER]

  I know this isn't a high limb story but logdog's story reminded me of it.
         My old boss was installing ductwork in a crawl space and one area was too tight to crawl in.they were trying to figure out how to get the flex duct from point A to point B when in walked the owners little ankle biter doggy.
   They tied a string to ol pootch and stuffed him under the house and closed the hatch and then went over to the registar hole and called to him.Than they had a string to pull the duct.
    Later while  working on a sewer main we ran a remote control car to pull a string through a 12 inch sewer to pull a tool called a pig through the pipe.We were amazed the singnal picked up through the soil.

[jkj]

I jokingly said that I could bring my bow in with my Game Tracker string and send one through the ceiling...

We've used a slingshot and a fishing reel for cables - a spinning reel with the flip-up bail works best.  Tie a 1/4" or so steel nut to the fishing line and launch with the slingshot.  I learned this trick from a buddy who installed security systems.   In addition to running cables between joists and other spaces, I also used this method to put a steel cable over a 50' high hickory limb to make a swing.

...they sell a type of saw that looks like it employs a long rope with a chainsaw chain in the middle that you throw an end over and then saw back and forth with the two ends of the rope for limb removal.

As for the rope saw, I've had a couple of these and they do work but usually found them difficult to use and very time consuming to cut anything other than a small limb.  For a high limb removal, getting the saw over the limb and orientated properly (with the cutting edge towards the limb!) might be a challange, even using the bow or slingshot method.

JKJ

[Bill Johnson]

Back it the mid 70's early 80's we used to use high-powered rifles (30-06, 308, 30-30) to shoot the tops off white and black spruce trees that exhibited exceptional growing characteristics.

We had tried 12 gauges and slugs but they just didn't have the same effect as a high powered round on 4-5 inch diameter stem.

Typically what we would do was select the candidate trees in summer or fall, meaure height, diameter, age, vigour etc. and those that were acceptable we'd go back in January or Feb. and shoot the tops.

Black spruce yielded cones for progeny, provinance or seed orchards while white spruce yield scions for seed orchard establishment. 

One thing to bear in mind though where we were doing this there was absolutely no one around for miles.

[D Martin]

All this talk about guns n arrows makes me want to bow hunting. Lake an midwest boys arent the only gun toting "rednecks" out here. NH archery season just opend friday and there are quite a few hickory where I hunt, I didnt think deer ate them.  What do you do with em

[farmerdoug]

Tom,  You said you hit a jacketed bullet and took out several teeth on a blade.  Was that a steel jacketed bullet?  I would think a copper jacketed bullet would not do so much damage. ???

Farmerdoug

[Gary_C]

How did this get brought up from the dead threads.  ???

[bull]

Hey are you guys to blame for all the DANG Hardware and lead  Ive been sawing Lately........   
Forestry Forums "Team Hardware" keeping the blade guys in buisness !!!  The sponsors thankyou !! Two Starrett rounds from black powder shot into log pile on landing was my favorite....  Brand new blades w/ no teeth left  "Way Cool"  12 gauge lead slugs aren't to bad on the blade !!!! copper and brass jackets are great too !!!!

[beenthere]

 ;D ;D
Don't think so, but mine was all lead.

Are the steel jacketed for armor piercing?  Seems all my hunting bullets have been copper jackets.

[snowman]

A neighbor of mine from Australia once said to me, "you Americans think every problem can be solved with a gun, the bigger the problem the bigger the gun" guess he was right :D

[farmerdoug]

Alot of the imported foreign military full metal jacket ammo has a copper plated steel jacket.  Heck, alot of it has a steel shell casings too.

I was asking because I was thinking that the copper jacketed bullet would not destroy a blade maybe dull it faster though.  There is alot of solid copper shotgun slugs used now too.  I wonder what kind of damage that will do to a blade?

When I started huinting I was good at killing trees too.  I would shoot at a deer and then sit there wondering how I missed. ???  A few seconds later a small tree would fall over. : :D :D

Farmerdoug

[rebocardo]

> Are the steel jacketed for armor piercing

I do not think so, I think it is steel jacketed because it is against international law to use deformable bullets (lead - dumdum - etc.) to cause further or greater harm. Hence, a full metal jacket. Though I heard during WWII many soliders would X their lead slugs.

[gary]

 
I took this limb down with my shotgun. I had about 30 shells that were getting old . It took 28 of them to get it down.

[Dale Hatfield]

I have often heard of loggers using the same practice of shooting into the tops of high quality trees. Ya know the ones that are  worth a bunch and no place to lay em flat, or they have so much lean into a fork ,that if felled all that would be  left was toothpicks .Never seen it myself or know if they had any luck.

[rebocardo]

That must have been fun, I bet the squirrels probably had heart attacks.

[limbrat]

I hunt squirrels with a 22 they will lay down on the limb to hide when they know your there. If there on a small limb i have often shot the limb right under there head. The concustion will sometime knock them senseless and out of the tree. They hit the ground out like a light without a mark on them if you dont do something then they wake up grouchy.

[theorm]

Limbrat,

Wouldn't it be ironic, you creating grouchy limbrats???????????? 8)

[Jeff]

We're planning on taking what we learned from beenthere's school of high limb removal and going after this one later this month. Its hanging right over the trail to Pete's deer blind and probably over 70ft up. These are some B I G aspen. I'll try to record the de-limbage. Actually in this case it's am entire top. We're thinking a combo of 12 gauge slugs amd 300 Winchester magnums should be appropriate.

[chet]

Judgin' by yur pics, I'm think'un yer gonna need a whole lot of ammo.  ;)

[Norm]

Or a bigger gun. ;D

[Kevin]

That's a little limb locked isn't it?  :D

[Jeff]

I dont think its as limb locked as the photos make it look.  The top is still attached by a small strap.  I think (think) thaat if we sever that, the top will swing off of the trunk and the sheer weight of it will bring it down.  If not, We get to shoot the guns and clrar a new loop for the trail and avoid that trail until it comes down on its own. 

[rebocardo]

I bet if you have a Bigshot slingshot you could get a string and then steel cable up there to pull it out of the tree with a 4x4. Looks like an easy shot and pull down would be easy if you did it from the other side of the tree from which the picture was taken.

[Kevin]

Drop all three at once.

[Jeff]

Drop all three at once.

We'll be here all week. ;)

[chet]

Too bad I ain't got time ta git over dat way.  :-\  'cause I'd be will'in ta bet if you put a box of dem Brewskis under dat hanger it would just fall right otta der.  ;D  I seen it happen more than once.....it's truely amazin'. :D  :D  :D