Justin Donahue, owner of Donahue Arborists in Honolulu, Hawaii, seasoned International Tree Climbing Championship (ITCC) competitor and a veteran tree worker with more than 30 years in the industry, talks from a place of experience. And fatigue. He’s accustomed to ascending Hawaii’s monster tropical trees, and he says that climbing can “be a lot” some days. That’s why he chooses to climb with a partner on applicable removal projects.
Projects like working in the 150-plus-foot-tall albizia trees – those sometimes colossal, often precariously rooted invasive exotics growing on Honolulu’s sheer cliffs – he speaks about almost admiringly. He doesn’t always work alongside another climber aloft, but when he does, it is on just such projects, namely difficult, tall, sprawling trees that push a climber to the limits.
“You’ve heard of how to eat an elephant, yes?” asks an eager Donahue, who also serves as an ambassador for Courant Tree Care, a manufacturer of climbing lines and gear and a three-year TCIA corporate member company based in Angers, France. “One bite at a time.”
And that’s just what Donahue has in mind each time he straps on his spikes and hoists himself into that first cutting position. “On huge trees, you need another climber.” Not only to save the wear and tear on your body, but in getting that elephant deboned. This sort of monumental process begins even before this, however.
For those ascending into the heights above Hawaii’s main island, the work begins on the ground. “It needs to be an orchestra up there,” Donahue stresses. Any hint of potential chaos that might ensue from having two climbers limbing out the same tree at the same time needs to be dealt with proactively. That means reviewing tasks, talking rigging and using a laser pointer to highlight hazards and boons (benefits). And it means being “familiar with everyone else’s strategies.” All of this is before anyone’s boots ever leave the ground.
Planning and communication
The amount of planning and communication that goes into your run-of-the-mill removal should be substantial. For a tandem-climber removal, it should be double. Probably more.
“Treat the tree like separate removals,” states Donahue. Each climber will have their tie-in points and rigging points selected, and will stick to them. “Engineering of the job and rope management are a necessity.” As is neatness, and I can visualize him hitting this with an emphatic fist as he says it. Keep it neat on the ground – a mantra we should all live by throughout the day on our job sites, but something that becomes especially vital when multiple limbs are coming down simultaneously.
When should you use two climbers?
So what counts as an “applicable” removal project for two climbers? When might it make sense to send two climbers aloft on a removal?
In order to gain a better understanding of the prevalence of this approach to removing a tree, I reached out to Phil Rogacki, CEO and co-founder of The Academy, a training company and four-year TCIA corporate member company based in Walnut Creek, California. Rogacki is also half of the Two Tree Guys podcast, and agreed to enlist the help of his podcast following and post a number of questions on his @2treeguys Instagram account. The post reads as follows:
Climbers and crew leaders!
Have you ever put two climbers aloft for a removal? If so, why?
What were the advantages of doing so? Disadvantages?
We’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic.
The response was both immediate and enlightening. It will be helpful to list the findings first and then discuss them in more detail later.
Social media weighs in
Though far from a scientific study, it is useful to break down the numbers. There were 46 respondents to the original Instagram post poll. Of those, 35 were “for” utilizing two climbers simultaneously in a removal, three were “against” and eight can best be listed as “other.” (i.e., “If you put two climbers aloft at the same time, they can snuggle.”)
Of the total respondents, 76% agreed they would send two climbers into a tree simultaneously, 6% said they would not and the other approximately 18% had an answer that could have swung either way. All told, an overwhelming majority of tree workers who responded said they were in favor of a tandem-climber removal scenario.
Why two climbers?
The reason for two climbers apparently makes a difference. But why? Here’s where things get interesting. It might be simpler to list the reasons given, along with their popularity. Afterward, we will talk a bit about each one of the reasons, discuss some possible drawbacks and then finish with some thoughts from a few helpful folks with whom we shared the results.
Reasons for two-climber removal:
- Large, sprawling and/or technical tree: 25%
- Crane jobs: 20%
- In-tree training: 18%
- Production speed: 16%
- Species-specific tree forms: 7%
- Bucket and climber: 6%
- Keep tree balanced: 4%
- One guy watching in a hazard tree: 2%
- Division of labor/strain: 2%
Big trees
First and foremost was big trees. We all know the kind – the 50-plus-inch-diameter, multi-stem, cable-riddled, lightning-struck red oak or silver maple or loblolly pine. (Insert your local monster tree varietal here.) The kind of tree that makes you do a double take and sends shivers of excitement and fear down your spine. It’s the tree that you could definitely tackle single-handedly because you are a professional and it’s what you do. But also one that would be a bit easier with another climber to hand off ropes to, set rigging and redirects and second-guess you when you’re thinking of taking that limb that’s a little too long over a drop zone the size of a picnic table.
I recall a particularly pernicious tree at the famed Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia. Kenny Rogers had recently passed (“You gotta know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em…”) and his burial plot was directly beneath a tree like the aforementioned massive, cable-riddled, lightning-struck red oak. The city wouldn’t allow the main road to be blocked by a crane, and the only other setup would be on top of hundreds of graves of Civil War soldiers. Manual rigging was the only option.
It was the busy season, and extra crews could not be spared. I climbed the whole thing over the course of six days. I think about that tree all the time, about how much easier, safer and smoother the whole thing could have come down with a second person aloft with me. I was a wreck after that week. I limped around like a wounded soldier myself. Bruised and battered, I felt like I was 100 years old. It would have been an entirely different story had I had someone to take turns with.
Think of the crew as a whole
Alex Kasprzak, with Elevated Tree Care, a three-year TCIA member company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, talks about the usefulness of two climbers, especially when there are two or more work zones in a tree.
“It limits the strain on the main climber,” says Kasprzak. He goes on to detail something I think makes a lot of sense when we slow down enough to think about it – production quality. “Especially when ‘going big’ isn’t a safe option. Less stress means safer work conditions for all members of the crew. If we want progress in the industry, we’ve got to reinvent the wheel, especially in a quality-oriented production setting. The site manager has to think of the whole crew, not just getting big, unmanageable pieces on the ground fast.”
Thinking of the crew as a whole, and not just the climber, while keeping in mind the quality of work we produce for our clients – that is at the core of tree care. And it’s something we can include in projects ranging from our smallest trim to the nastiest dual-climber removal.
Crane jobs
Crane jobs come in second place. The straightforward nature of these jobs lends itself naturally to a two-climber arrangement. The first climber sets chokers or chains, the second climber stays at the trunk and makes cuts. Time and sweat equity are saved with each pick, and everyone goes home with energy for the next day of work. If you have not seen a crane job run tandem climbers, ask around and find out why not!
Showing a novice climber
Our third rationale for sending two climbers up the same tree at the same time might be obvious, but I encourage veteran climbers and crew leaders to heed the following: Sometimes it’s just easier to show than tell. How much time have you spent yelling up into a tree at a novice climber? “Not that branch, that one. No, no, no – not that kind of face cut, this one.”
If you’ve never yelled yourself hoarse, you either haven’t been doing this long enough, you bought into a comms system early on or you are participating in that most hands-on and helpful of activities, in-tree training. This can and should be happening in your place of work, particularly with new recruits, and especially with new techniques. A co-worker and I recently spent several climbs dangling together, working out a new tie-in-point technique. The time is always right to be aloft together, solving problems and creating novel solutions.
Speed
Production speed ranks next on the list. Contrary to the previous statement about production quality and needing to have one’s ducks all in a row, there are times when quality is quantity, where quality equates to speed. (These are not necessarily opposites.)
August Hunicke is owner of monkeybeaver.com, a provider of arborist supplies and a second-year TCIA corporate member company based in Grants Pass, Oregon. He refers to some of his YouTube videos of tandem-climber removals and says, “Teamwork is the way. So many options. More stuff hitting the ground.”
Hunicke mentions having an “A-team” of trusted folks in order to execute such a project. Speed isn’t everything, but when it’s necessary, utilizing two climbers can move things along nicely. Just make sure to have that much extra help and/or efficiency on the ground!
Tree species and health concerns
Species-specific tree form is mentioned by a number of folks, and it’s worth noting those instances here. A respondent named David O’Brien mentions a beech-tree takedown, citing specific health concerns: “We carried out a large beech removal with two climbers working opposite each other so as not to unbalance the tree. The tree had Meripilus giganteus (a polypore fungus that causes a white rot in various types of broadleaved trees), and we were concerned about instability, and using a MEWP (mobile elevated work platform) wasn’t an option. (The climbers) worked around opposite each other simultaneously so as not to unbalance the tree.”
“In South Florida near sea level, trees are spreading and short,” explains Drake Kurlander, lead climber and owner of True Tree Service LLC, a seven-year TCIA member company based in Miami, Florida. “With our trees, it makes a lot of sense (to send two climbers aloft), because you can have equipment and pulleys moved by one climber and another climber at the place to tie and make cuts. Meanwhile, they can alternate to other sections and set up vice versa, depending on which section of the tree we’re on. I’d say the type of tree species and its form are the determining factors.”
Rounding out the reasons with balance and division of labor
Other reasons mentioned are climber/bucket removals (in which one worker is climbing and the other is flying a lift) and simply having another person closely watching to see how the tree could react as it is being removed.
Perhaps surprisingly, division of labor/strain comes in at the very bottom of the list. Apparently, we climber types would rather sweat, grunt and curse it out than let someone assist us. There are days when it is certainly more enjoyable playing the tree care version of James Bond – aloft in a great and terrible tree, sawing away into the glorious sunset alone. But I suspect if we all set aside our egos once in a while, we could find time to admit that it might – just might – be nice to have some help.
Some disadvantages
It is imperative to point out some potential disadvantages of running a removal tandem style. Seth McPherson, who has climbed on his own and for other companies and now works for Madison Tree Care and Landscaping Inc., a 45-year TCIA member company based in Milford, Ohio, hits all the high points. He says it is worth it. “Absolutely, but it takes a detailed plan and a crew you can trust. There are many considerations when removing a tree where there are two minds at work aloft, even more considerations if both climbers are rigging.”
He continues with a barrage of questions we should bring to the table if we are considering this type of removal technique. “How are we asking the tree to support loads from multiple directions? Are we sharing a rigging location? Are we taking turns? Rigging at the same time? How are we effectively communicating? Does each operation have enough space? Are the two operations sharing space? Man, this list could go on forever. It helps tremendously if both climbers have a similar style.”
Strong opinions against dual climbers
Donahue’s wisdom comes back around here as well. “Never have vertical placement of climbers.” He describes learning the hard way that climbers need to remain on their own side of the tree when the other is actively cutting. “A climber was positioned in an area below the other climber’s rigging point when he was making a cut. The rigging point broke and almost hit him.” It’s precisely because of the unpredictable nature of our work that we need to ensure that we stay in our own lanes.
Several folks had serious doubts about two climbers working in tandem. Bob Andrews of Andrews ArborCare and Outdoor Resources in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, makes a strongly worded point: “Everyone better have their (stuff) together full shift, including a double-injured-climber rescue plan.”
And Zachary Richards, a traveling contract climber based out of Wheeling, West Virginia, has this to say. “Often, the solution to a big project is to ‘throw more (crew members)’ at it. That’s a weak substitute for skill, equipment and well-thought-out rigging.”
He speaks of building rapport with a crew, and how that can be lacking for some, like himself, who work as contract climbers. “It takes time to build rapport … two climbers with pieces coming from multiple directions could be a tough task to get dialed in.”
And like Donahue’s second climber placed poorly beneath a faulty rigging point, Richards says, “There is enough going on with ropes and pieces swinging around. I don’t like adding a second body to think about. Very rarely does a large crew contribute to a more efficient job site.”
Ground considerations
Daryl Stanley, a skills instructor and leadership coach with 3Strand Teams of Johnson City, Tennessee, adds to our list of considerations from a slightly different angle. “Some of the risks include more people on the ground to track/communicate with and more happening at once both in the air and on the ground.”
He stresses rope management for all lines in play. He goes on to talk about “synergy among crew members.” Good stuff seems to happen “when we use our best-connected people as opposed to our best people.” Meaning, owners and crew leaders need to focus on setting up their teams for success based on who works best together as a team, and steer away from throwing all the “best” employees at a large removal project.
Stanley, like Donahue, reiterates rope management before talking avidly about chaos. “Avoid the introduction of chaos.” By which he means, if the tree doesn’t require two climbers, don’t send up two climbers.
He reminds us that this technique is only applicable for the occasional project. “We do 10 or so two-climber removals per year.” And what metric does his team use in deciding to do so? “Will this increase efficiency without diminishing safety?”
If we can answer yes to that, and avoid “introducing chaos,” Stanley says, “Go for it!”
Now go try something new – and safe climbing!
Jim Kasper is an ISA Certified Arborist and Climber Specialist. He has a master’s degree in public health (MPH) and is a climber with Gill Tree Care in Decatur, Georgia.
