On Sherbrooke Tree Services second visit to the Tahune Airwalk in Tasmania’s south-west, we removed a large dead Eucalyptus regnans from alongside the airwalk. There were a number of difficulties in climbing this tree, as it was so dead there was very little holding the tree up. The whole stem was oscillating as Graeme spur climbed it, and since there were no high points anywhere near the tree, access was very slow.
In the first video, the location of Tahune and some of the access difficulties are shown. Even with the top of the tree gone the stem still stood approximately 30m over the top of the 30m high platform.
Graeme lead climbed the trunk using ratchet straps. These provided a dual purpose; they held the tree from falling apart, and allowed Graeme to clip his climbing through.
In the second video, the tree is being blocked down. Scott Sharpe uses a pulley system to rig the trunk sections over as Graeme cut them. During this video, the stabilising lines can be clearly seen. These stabilising lines were pre tensioned to 1000kg, and were offset 90 degrees from each other.