Exploring the Principles of Rigging
Imagine the amount of information shared with young, and often inexperienced, arborists each day in the field. These newest members of the tree care industry are exposed to numerous training tactics and safety techniques – some good and some that bear the consequences of critical injuries and worse. With the right training and techniques, paired […]
Limb Control: When Uncool Rigging Pays
“Sorry about your fence.” Have you ever uttered these words to a client? Yeah, me too. It could have been a fence, birdbath, gutter, roof or solar panel. The list of what is under trees and also breakable is quite lengthy. After all, why would you need to control a 2-inch limb? It’s just a […]
Knuckleboom Best Practices, Part 2: Grapple Saws
This is the second part of a two-part series. Part 1, “Knuckleboom Crane Best Practices in Tree Care,” also by Ben Heller, ran in the February 2020 issue of TCI. Click here to read Part 1. All knuckleboom-crane best practices apply to operating with a grapple saw, and there are some additional things to keep […]
Bend-and-Swing Rigging
OK, here’s what we had to do: Remove two bent birch trees (leaders) that were overhanging a beach. We couldn’t just drop them into the lake, because we had no way to fish them out of the water. They would be partially submerged and ridiculously heavy underwater, and they were already full-length leaders weighing close […]
Rigging Tools: An Overview for Ground Technicians
Let’s take a look at old-school, natural-union rigging and what it created – friction! This same principle is in play with the new rigging rings that are becoming more and more prevalent in the industry. A rigging ring creates consistent friction aloft, just as a port-a-wrap or bollard-type lowering device would at ground level. It’s […]