Shoutout to the crew I saw working on the big oaks in Central Park last Thursday

They were using a rigging technique I hadn't seen before, where they set a pulley in a neighboring tree to lower limbs over a busy path without closing it. The lead climber, a guy named Mike, said they picked it up from a training seminar in Oregon. It looked way smoother than just trying to drop pieces into a tight zone. Has anyone else used a redirect like that for public space work?

3 comments

3 Comments

nathan9011mo ago

Redirects are a game changer for city work. We started using a similar setup after a close call with a falling branch near a playground. The key is having a solid anchor tree that can handle the side load. It adds maybe twenty minutes to the job setup, but it lets you keep walkways open and the public calm. Watching a big limb glide down on a rope instead of crashing down builds a lot of trust.

tara6421mo ago

That redirect trick @matthewdixon mentioned won me over.

matthewdixon1mo ago

Man, my buddy had the same thing happen last year. He was clearing a tree over a sidewalk and used a redirect to swing a huge limb right into the street. The people waiting to walk by just stood there watching, totally calm.