Spider lifts and cranes – why not?

I don’t think of myself as an old arborist although the reality may indicate otherwise. I began my training in the 1980s which for some is an impossibly long time ago but for those that I trained with, it was just yesterday. Time is indeed relative.

Of those that I trained with I doubt any are still on the tools. The few that remain are in management or have become business owners, but most have left the industry; lost or broken, they have gone away. I still have the tools and from time to time I get to use them, but I am far from a commercial tree climber – I’m more like a sloth in a shiny harness that takes rest breaks and then goes home in need of pain killers and a warm bath.

Old arborists seem to like to tell the youth about what they used to do. I try not to do this. As an old arborist (which I may or may not be), why I would want to tell anyone about the dodgy things that we used to do? The good old days weren’t always that good, and safety was often optional. We did what we did, and most of us were broken by 30; elbows, knees, lower back, wrists and ears. Seems we weren’t as bulletproof as we thought we were.

So, what has all that go to do with spider lifts and cranes, or single-line, mechanical friction devices and chipper-winches for that matter? All of these are improvements that make an arborist’s life easier and lessen the chances of being broken by 30. But are they as good as they are cracked up to be?

In New Zealand we might say, yes but no. Elsewhere in the world, they might say, there is more than one truth. Note that both of those are completely different from alternate facts. Alternate facts are lies or selective truths, at best they are only half of the story. Whereas there is nothing disingenuous or sinister about yes but no, or more than one truth. These are pre-cursors to the full story; the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Yes, spider lifts and cranes (and the others) can indeed make an arborist’s life so much easier. They can increase productivity and reduce lost time due to strains and injuries. They can extend your working career and leave you as a fully functioning human if or when you decide to leave the industry. Not only that, but spider lifts and cranes can create opportunities and expand work options. I am convinced that such things are well worth the investment.

But spider lifts and cranes (and the others) can also mask diminished skills and put people into situations where they are not yet ready to be. They are a double-edged sword, fantastic for those that know how to use them but dangerous for those that don’t. The good and the bad, but the bad can become worse, the ugly.

Back in the day, the dodgy things that we did were only seen by those on-site at the time. If it worked the practice might spread slowly within the company until something bad happened or until a more knowledgeable arborist was employed. If you were lucky, you would attend a climbing competition or get to go to a workshop or conference. But learning was mostly done on the job through trial and error. But now every two-bit tree climber with a phone can post their crimes on the internet for all to see. Within a few minutes one dodgy act can be seen by thousands of people, and once published the dodgy act lives on the internet like a plastic bag in the ocean: rising and falling but never going away. Learning happens quickly and bad learning doesn’t go away.

The use of cranes in tree work seems to be the current big thing. Social media and company webpages are filled with action shots and short video clips – I can see why one would post and why they get the views that they do. But all the time its Mr Manly Man with his climbing line set through the crane hook resting side by side with the lifting chains. Mr Man sees himself as a sophisticated arborist doing something incredibly cool. I see someone who has put their lifeline in the jaws of a guillotine – a temporary human, a blight on our industry. Or worse still… the trusty crane driver slews the crane boom to snap the section of tree free. Eek – at least tying into the hook will only kill the climber, whereas dynamic loading a crane brings on a whole new set of possibilities.

But none of that is the fault of the crane.

Thinking about spider lifts. The damage that can be inflicted on a tree is often less when inflicted from the outside going in, as opposed to when inflicted from the inside going out – in terms of tree pruning, not driving into one with a truck. Most modern work specifications especially for pruning mature trees will involve branch end reduction and retention of the internal canopy (crown thinning and crown cleaning being generally frowned upon). I tend to specify this type of work because I know that not all arborists can do it. By writing work specifications this way I can remove the unskilled from the equation, leaving the better companies to bid for the work. With a spider lift, anyone can access the outside of a canopy. They might not be able to access the entire canopy, but they can access bits that they might not have been able to. Awkward, they can now get there, even if they don’t know what to do once they are there.

But this is not the fault of the lift.

And then there is something that is most likely seated in jealously. Sticking with social media I find myself questioning why these ‘arborists’ are using a crane or a spider lift. Do they not know how to climb, are they unable to rig a tree down? What’s wrong with them? But actually… why not? If you have access crane or a spider lift, why would you not use them? Why would you choose to be broken at 30, when you have the tools to keep you going?

My concerns with spider lifts and cranes, and/or single-line, mechanical friction devices, chipper-winches, and any of the other tools designed to make an arborist’s job easier and allow them to work for longer are not based on the tool. I’m jealous because they were not readily available back in the day, and my concerns are based on lack of training and poor posting. So not the tools at all.

There are many fantastic tools out there designed to make an arborist’s life easier. Invest in them, and invest in training so you can get the best out of the tool and the arborist. Proper training from people that know – not children that post! And while no single tool will do everything, having it will at least give you the option to use it. The more options you have the better, safer, and more productive, you and your crew(s) will be. Invest in our future, become an old arborist and remain a fully functioning human

• Written for Ontario Arborist Magazine