The time my climbing line got pinched in a red oak crown break

I was working a big red oak in Cincinnati last spring, about 60 feet up, and the crown started to split right as I was making my final cut. My climbing line got wedged in the crack and I couldn't move it at all. I had to hand-saw my way down through the hinge wood to free the rope, which took nearly 20 minutes of hanging there. Has anyone else dealt with a pinched rope during a removal?

2 comments

2 Comments

jana_fox5022d ago

That reminds me of something I read in a trade magazine about red oaks being notorious for that kind of failure. They said the wood can be brittle in the crown, especially if there's any rot or included bark in the unions. Your story sounds like a real mess, hanging there for twenty minutes with a handsaw. A buddy of mine had a similar thing happen with a white oak, but his rope was only pinched for a few minutes before it pulled free. You must have been pretty tired by the time you got down. That's the kind of scare that makes you double check your tie-in points on every big removal.

wilson.kelly22d ago

Twenty minutes dangling there with just a handsaw? I can't even imagine. My arms would have given out way before that.