Sept
2019
Conifer Tree Removal
This conifer tree was being removed as it had outgrown its space and was damaging the fence behind. It was growing directly next to a greenhouse so removing the tree meant that nothing could drop onto the glass. In order to do this, a rigging system was used to lower the branches to the ground by rope and pulley. By using this method we could control the speed and direction of the branches fall to avoid any damage to the greenhouse.
The first job is for the climber to get a suitable anchor point in the top of the tree. Once this anchor point has been selected, a rigging pulley is then attached to a separate anchor point in the upper canopy. This will be used to lower all of the branches down to the ground..
The climber attaches a sling to each branch that is being removed. This sling is then clipped to the rigging rope. The groundsman is responsible for controlling the speed that the branch is then lowered by holding the rigging line as the climber cuts each branch. If the branch that is being removed is too large/heavy for the groundsman to safely control by hand a friction device is fitted to the base of the tree. The rigging rope is then wrapped around the device and then held in the same postion as before by the groundsman. The wraps around the device add extra friction into the rope which slows the branches as they fall. The larger the section being lowered, the more wraps of rope are put around the device.
This process is reapeated over and over until all of the branches have been removed from the main stems and lowered to the ground. A similar process is then adopted for the main stem sections whereby a pulley and rigging line are attached beneath ech section that is being removed. This is called a snatch rigging system. Each section of timber is tied off to the rigging rope and cut by the climber. The sections are then pushed off the stem. The groundsman will have enough slack in the line to allow the section of timber to clear the climber but not free fall and reach the ground. The section will then come to rest on the rigging line and pulley block, where it can then be safely lowered to the ground in a controlled manner.
This particular job took 4hrs to complete.