I need to trim a really tall palm tree. It's diameter is a little less than say a telephone pole.

I have a tree pole saw that goes to 12 feet. Standing on a 6' step ladder I still can't reach.

So how to safely use a extension ladder where the side rails on not on the tree??

Lawn/tree guys do it, but I do not feel like breaking my neck.

Thinking some ratchet tie strap but still have to climb and attach it??

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Still Running Against the Wind

I'd pay someone younger, bonded and insured for that task.

No reason to test the benefits of your health or disability policies.

I have several trees in my yard that need trimming up high but that's really dangerous and I'm 58 so I won't be going on any ladders. I know a guy with a bucket truck that trims trees so I'll just pay him to do it, he said he can trim a lot of trees in an hour so even if his rate is high it's better than breaking your neck.

Judge Judy's advice to elderly people is "If you want to live a long life, don't fall."

My corollary to this: "Don't be climbing ladders."

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You're shy a few manners.

That's gonna hurt if it slips.Saw my neighbor do something similar last year.He just lay there writhing around,but popped back up before I got over there.Of course he's in his early thirties and still bullet proof

I was trimming a maple tree for my late father a few years back (I'll take care of that for you Dad!).
Up at the top of a 26' extension ladder, the ladder was able to reach the limb, no sky hook rig like you are considering!
But,,the limb I sawed kicked back and wiped that ladder out from under me in an instant. Down I went w/ chainsaw to the ground.
Broken arm and left wrist. Have a metal plate & screws in that one to hold it all together.
The biggest fear was that after the humpdy dumpty fall I could not get up, could not move my legs at all. I thought the worst as I lay there.
It took 6 mo+ of painful recovery to get back on my feet again. The arm & wrist are usable but no where near where they should be.

Set me back big time. All that and I had just come back 1 yr earlier from a fall off the house roof clearing ice. Broke the other wrist and orbital bone on that one.
I move slower now,,work slower now and pay some 20 somethings with a tree sign on their trucks to climb trees w/ saws and ropes to trim them.
Keeps the local economy going and me in one piece.
I'd rather me working on a gun anyway.

just my .02

As a construction worker & volunteer fireman that spent a lot of time erecting and using ladders let me just say. If you are in doubt, DON'T!

Now just about 72 and a few years ago I made the decision to only do jobs that keep my feet on the ground or within 3' of the ground (very short stepladder.) Let someone else pay for my Ortho docs new Mercedes Benz!

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

When younger, I would have set the ladder in the back of my truck. Now, I hire someone with training and equipment. Nothing quite as exciting or eye opening as riding a ladder down with a running chainsaw in your hands. I discovered that I can get good loft and really good distance in the chain saw toss.

This guy has a solution.

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Mike
S&WCA #3065

Ok, Ok I get it

Believe me I have no problem paying someone to do it. This time of year you can't get anyone!

If you do, they are illegal aliens with no insurance or license or Bubba and his cousin Daryl in a pickup.

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Still Running Against the Wind

Here in Atlanta we are blessed to have Shepherd Center, a neuro rehab center.

I mention this because it is not unusual to see young men on ladders at construction sites. Multiple ladders, tied or clamped together. I have only witnessed three ladders connected at one time, but these geniuses had the contraption in the bucket of a Takeuchi bull dozer for an additional 5' of lift the next day.

It cost just over one million dollars per patient to run someone through Shepherd's rehab program.

Hire a professional to trim your tree.

My advice is to hire someone to do it.
If you must DIY tie a rope to the top of the ladder around the rung and top step. Extend the ladder against the tree. From the ground take the rope around the back of the tree and flip it over the top step and other rail and then tie the rope to the rail and a step that you can reach from the ground. Take a short piece of rope and really tie the top of the ladder after you climb it.
And again my advice is to hire someone to do it. Larry

YIKES!!!! A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

This person is a former neighbor and forum member here so I will not use his name. In the spring of 2014 my old neighbor used a climbing tree stand to take down three poplar trees in his yard in Gwinnett county. These were between 85-100 feet tall. He climbed to the lowest limbs and began to cut them off and climb higher. He topped the trees, then backed down cutting the trunk in six foot sections on two of them. The third tree he dropped about sixty feet of trunk into his back yard.

His wife worked at:

Shepherd Center , LOL!!

In other words, tie the rope around my neck, it will be faster and less expensive.

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Still Running Against the Wind

INGENIOUS solution.

Bekeart

Traveling & living abroad in career, observing some of the damndest commonsense safety violations. A lot to do with value of life, particularly in Asia... Sad! From last assignment in Ru, viewing that ladder scenario, too typical if a bit extreme. Expecting in such scene, fit young man, small lunch sack and beer bottle. There... Bravado, 'get it done' work culture, maximizing available resources & most; time maximizing reality of keeping a job at any cost. Resulting such gambles.

Stateside, seems little excuse. For those of us with disposable income for 'toys', littler excuse. Among such of us 'seniors', littlest sense!

Just a frank take

About a yr. ago a friend of mine was painting an eave while on an extension ladder...he was in the driveway and told his friend who was with him he didn't need him to keep the ladder steady.
He fell from the ladder, landing on his back. 2 days later he died from internal bleeding. Multiple fractures of his spine penetrated some of his organs.
I've never looked at a ladder the same way since.

Anything that can be done can be done safely. Probably the best solution is to spend a couple hundred bucks on a professional pole saw. I did a couple years ago and it's been great. Four aluminum pole sections that will extend up to 24 feet.

The next possibility is the use of the ladder. First you want to make sure you use a ladder that is rated for the total weight of the intended load. Most household ladders are rated to 250 pounds. Industrial ladders can go up to 350 in some cases, but most of them are at 300. Read the labels on the side of your ladder. Honestly, I'd suggest renting an industrial extension ladder that will get you to 24 feet.

The next step, again if using an extension ladder, is to extend it up to the closest point of the work you can. Before you climb, make sure the ladder is set at a 4 to 1 incline. There should be a guide sticker on the side of the ladder that looks like a reversed L. Make sure the long part of the L is close to perpendicular.

Next, drive a stake ( or two) into the ground between the ladder and the tree and tie off the lowest rung securely to the stake(s).

Now you can climb the ladder WITH NOTHING IN YOUR HANDS! Make sure you have at least three points of contact at all times. On foot two hands, two feet one hand, etc. This means you will need to use your saw one handed while you hold on to the ladder with the other. Take a length of rope with you to near the top and wrap it around the trunk then tie it back to the closest rung, making sure it is tight. Climb back down and get your saw. Tie a long enough rope to it that allows you to climb into position then pull the saw up to you. Again, don't climb with anything in your hands. And remember the belt buckle rule, keep your belt buckle (centerline of your body) between the ladder rails at all times. This will keep the weight centered and prevent you from losing your balance.

Wear a pair of safety glasses, gloves, and a hard hat while working. Don't cut directly overhead. Watch the wind and make sure the tree won't be moving around. If something unexpected happens stop, climb down, and rethink the operation.

Before you even get started, make sure you are well clear ( at least 10 feet) of power lines. And make sure someone knows what you are doing, or better yet have a ground person that can help out and stand by in case something happens.

This ought to see you through. Or hire a professional.

Good luck!

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Even older, even crankier....

Get someone under 50....if you can find one in Flowrida

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Sure you did

This was a very large willow tree that was dying. Mother nature did me a favor and blew the top out of it last fall. What was left the branches leaned one way and the trunk another. I did a lot of walking around it before the ladder came out. My wife didn't stay out to watch. It's not a pretty sight a 77 year old man with a 40 year old chain saw on a ladder. It all worked out well, but I did a lot of thinking because I break easy anymore.

Trimming a tree, especially one with substantial branches, is best left to the pros. Too many people are injured or killed trying to save a few bucks when a sawn branch fools them and falls the wrong way.

I got knocked off a ladder when a limb swung to me on its tether, which I had "smartly" thought to use. I had the presence of mind to toss the chain saw so that I didn't fall on it. Limb crushed my inexpensive, homeowner grade, Sear Roebuck A ladder. It would have made a great Youtube video of how not to do something.

I don't do ladders much anymore either. When it comes to using one, it is IMPOSSIBLE to be overly cautious or too safe.

I learned the hard way 3-1/2 years ago that a fall of even 6 or 8 feet can cripple you for life. I destroyed my right knee in a fall from a step ladder and I only fell about 6 feet. My knee will never be better than it is now - about 75% - and it will continue downhill from here as long as I live.

So, even if it takes a while, I find a younger person - someone who is better able to "bounce" than I am - to do any ladder work that is more than a few feet high or anything less than 100% rock-solid stable.

Two absolutely true stories here:

Years and years ago, a late cousin's husband had his extension ladder propped up on a tree limb, doing some pruning.

Now, Rob was a highly educated guy. Graduated with honors from one of the top colleges on the eastern seaboard. Got a high powered job as an attorney with the Interstate Commerce Commission. Well, ol' Rob's up there, just a sawin' away, okay? And it's such a mindless action, repetitive motion thing, that he probably got to daydreamin' a bit. And he just sawed the limb off that he had the ladder propped on. Fell fourteen feet, broke his leg. Sounds like something you'd see in a cartoon, doesn't it? It's true, though.

Another time, I was over at my parents' house when they were still alive. Walked in and asked mom where dad was. "Oh, he's down in the woods doing something, I think," she said. Walked down there, didn't see dad. Walked around, then spied a ladder leaning up against a big ol' pine tree. Looked further up, and there's dad about forty feet up that tree hooking a chain up to the top of it so he could top it out and pull the top the direction he wanted it to go.

Well, how do you (politely) tell your dad to get his 76-year-old butt down out of that tree? He says, "I'll be down in two shakes of a lamb's tail, hear? Hey, while you ain't doin' nothin' grab ahold of the end of that chain for me and pull it tight will you?!"

Well, what're you gonna do? So I played groundman to dad's lumberjack while he topped out the pine tree.

Dad was an ol' country boy who'd grown up during the Great Depression...back when folks did things with whatever tools they had at hand, and when they didn't want to pay someone else to do their work for them. I don't believe it ever crossed his mind that if he'd fallen out of that tree, it probably would've killed him.

Wish I'd had a camera with me. That pine stump is still there. I smile now, every time I see it.

Been thinking of the wisdom of ladder work more as I increase in maturity.
Remember part of the try-outs for a sniper position on my PD was climbing the ladder of a FD ladder truck 150 feet positioned exactly vertical.
It was a little breezy that day. Had to go to the top, cross over to the other side and down. I guess I'd never thought about the ladder truck's ladder extensions growing progressively narrower as they went up. Top section was about 12" wide.
The FD Station we were doing this at was on a major road in the city. Passing cars below looked very small.
i was sorta glad to get back to the bottom, and especially to shed that goofy FD hardhat.

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Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

When I retired I said I was never getting any higher off the ground than a chair at the kitchen table but I lied. About 4 years ago I was working on a step ladder and the last step to the ground something happened and my foot broke and it took about 6 months to heal. That's the reason for the advice to hire it done. Larry

Get a longer pole, even if you have to buy a new saw. I would not use a ladder. I prefer that my feet be on the ground. I know how clumsy I am.

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Corripe Cervisiam

Getting a bit personal now aren't ya.

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Still Running Against the Wind

I carry a 32' extension ladder on my service van for access to various roof tops around Atlanta. If the area I have to set the ladder up is even a little bit sketchy, I call dispatch and decline the call. I tell them I did not get this old by being stupid.

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Recycled Bricklayer

I used a pole saw while standing on the top step of a ladder all fully extended to cut three limbs from an oak tree in my back yard. NEVER AGAIN!!! My forearms were in such pain I could hardly move. I was told that a common injury for idiots like me was that they would actually separate the forearm muscle from the bone or something like that-pretty gruesome. I was also told that I was a stone idiot for even attempting to do what I did and I was lucky I didn't kill myself. Cutting 9" limbs with a lowes 6" pole saw attached to my Troy bilt string trimmer isn't too bright and is wayyyyy beyond the capacity of the pole saw (which I totally destroyed-you could shake it and hear stuff-broken gear head pieces- rattling inside the cutting attachment after I finished).
I'm at the age now where if if it is over my head-I'll call someone else to do it.....unless I get a bigger ladder

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Forum consigliere

O.K. everyone has told you it's very dangerous but if you are like me (in my younger days) you would probably attempt it anyway. I once needed to paint the cupola on top of my garage that was about 30 feet in the air and that part of my roof was very steep and you couldn't walk on it or ever crawl up on your belly. So I threw two ropes over my house and put on my big leather weightlifting belt and attached a loop to it. I ran the ropes through the loop and I put some paint in a plastic coffee can and tied it to my waist and started climbing up the ropes (Batman style) to reach the cupola. Once I got up there I probably looked like a monkey making love to a football but I eventually got the cupola painted. So, if you want to be a gutsy redneck tree trimmer I would recommend rigging up some type of safety belt on a rope like I did. The OSHA approved professional safety harnesses are about 300 bucks so those are out of the question for your average red neck.

So THAT is how I was supposed to change the battery in a certain smoke detector in the last house I lived in.

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Release the Kraken

Pro tree guy story....

VFD dispatched to an "injured subject" call about two blocks from my house. I carry a jump kit in my truck, so off I go to the scene.

Arrive to see guy #1 flat on his back in the mud. Guy # 2 is sitting next to him on the ~60' long tree trunk, that I now can see guy #1 is teathered to. Both guys are laughing hysterically. Finally, Guy #2 gains enough composure to explain "it was just like a Road Runner cartoon. We had the trunk and one limb left. He was hanging off the trunk and reached around and cut the limb off. The limb hung there, and the damn trunk fell down."

Luckly no one was injurded, but he missed a concrete side walk by about 2 feet.

Sent from my SM-J320P using Tapatalk

Rule3. If you don't have a solution you are 100% sure of, don't do it.

I took a pretty good fall trimming trees a few weeks ago. I was very....very lucky and it still sucked.

I'll be employing a pro next time.

Do you live in a city? If not you might employ my solution to branches to high to safely saw. I shoot mine down. I get directly under the branch and start shooting it with a 22. You can hear it breaking and can leave in time if you pay attention.

Thought a ladder would be for taking your case to a HIGHER COURT

Bekeart

I hate ladders and heights. I had quite a few tree limbs that had grown over my roof and some had grown close to my light pole and there was no way I wanted to climb a ladder that high and start sawing limbs.

Well I watched Hickok 45 video how he trimmed trees with a shotgun and I figured that's for me. I got out my Remington 1100 12ga. and commenced to trimming limbs. It worked great and I didn't have to climb no darn ladder. You might check laws in your area for doing this.