climbing

[Mike M]

Is there a safety harness for ladder climbing? Also, wondering if anyone uses harnesses like the arbor guys use.

I get nervous on ladders. I actually googled "how to use a ladder." I want to make certain I am using the best angles and safety, so I feel confident to go higher. Currently my down lights are about 6'. Kidding. But twenty feet seems to be a "ceiling" for me, but I'm better now than I was a year ago.

I thought about making my helper do the mounting, but he is just as bad as me!

[INTEGRA Works]

Mike, call one of the Arborist supply companies in your area and ask them how you can get some climbing and rigging training. Ask for a ladder safety course too. (here we have to have these by law and keep them up to date)

I have full ALP (ascent, lowering, positioning) fall arrest harnesses and a complete static climbing rig, as well as some pretty trick Ladder tie offs and ideas for an articulating ladder base for uneven ground.

You have to be safe or you wont do a good job, or worse, suffer a fall. (I have fallen twice... never again!)

Be safe.

Is there a safety harness for ladder climbing? Also, wondering if anyone uses harnesses like the arbor guys use.

I get nervous on ladders. I actually googled "how to use a ladder." I want to make certain I am using the best angles and safety, so I feel confident to go higher. Currently my down lights are about 6'. Kidding. But twenty feet seems to be a "ceiling" for me, but I'm better now than I was a year ago.

I thought about making my helper do the mounting, but he is just as bad as me!

[INTEGRA Works]

Google Fall Arrest...

[Mike M]

Okay.

Was at a consultation today, big live oak, branching over a dock, would be an awesome down-light opportunity, easy for a harness job. I've been wanting to purchase a harness kit for years now, and live oaks are the perfect tree for it, and they are everywhere down here.

I remember finding an arborist supply company in southeastern pa that sold a kit for 350, complete with a little instruction book. Recreation tree climbing seems really cool, too. With my fear of heights, I'll start off small. Maybe some shrub-climbing first.

[INTEGRA Works]

Mike, this is where I got my ladder climbing and rigging training.

http://www.arborcanada.com/

They are a very cool organization and if you were to contact them I bet they would have a reference to an organization near you.

Their industry links helped me save a bundle on my climbing rig!

[Mike M]

Thanks, James. There is a training grove about 3.5 hours from me in GA. I should take my 10-year-old with me.

What is a ladder tie-off? Is it a safety thing, like a way to keep a ladder against a tree?

Also, I've seen adjustable accessories for automatic ladder-leveling. They may not work in Canada where everything is metric. :)

[SteveP]

I was leading a seminar a while back and this topic came up. An arborist in the audience stood up and said, "Hire an arborist!".

While this may seem cost prohibitive, he had a good point to make. Tree climbing is dangerous, the equipment expensive and the skill and knowledge involved significant. An arborist also know tree trimming and understands tree growth - both helpful in lighting design. Arborists also have the type of insurance that covers climbing (and falling) injuries.

Most tree lighting installs are fairly simple and a simple ladder (and care) will do the task. Bigger projects in big or problematic trees are more challenging. We shouldn't downplay the risk of injury in these situations. Bringing in an arborist for half a day may be well worth the expense - and the homeowner might be willing to pay for (and to appreciate) an arborist doing that part of the job.

Partnering with an arborist also has the upside of expanding sales opportunities. An arborist might bring you work if you do the same for him.

[INTEGRA Works]

Steve makes some good points there. However, keep in mind that if you do hire an arborist or tree climber to intstall your lights, you are going to have to hire them again to service them, over and over it goes. This gets pretty expensive.

We really tried to do the whole static line climbing rig thing, but it is very time consuming for the install and the real drawback is aiming. How the heck are you going to go back in the dark and manage to get your static line back in that tree in the dark?

If you do use a climbing rig, then you can pretty much expect to no be able to get back to that location later on a ladder.

So, for us here, installing 400 - 500 treelights in an avg year, plus maintaining thousands of others, the ladder set up is still the way to go. I am working on a cool new base that would fit onto an extension ladder and help to steady the foot when on uneven terrain.

If anyone has any info of an existing accessory like this please pass it along, I would love to see it.

Regards.

[Mike M]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004RKCT

Werner makes the automatic ladder leveler. Models/prices varied when I googled it.

Saw it at Lowe's.

[Mike M]

Do they make some kind of tray or holder system that snaps to the side of a ladder? Now that, I could use.

[Mike M]

Today I was up a live oak, and couldn't safely get out to the branch which I wanted to mount a tree light on, using my ladder.

All I need is the climbing gear to hoist myself to the long meandering live oak branches. It is an awesome species of a tree, and they are everywhere down here. Lots of lighting possibilities, I think the technical tree-climbing gear is perfect for the application.

It will definitely separate me from the average landscaper doing add-on lighting and just using a bunch of par's and up-lights, and, after reaching out at strange angles today from my extension ladder, I think it may actually be much safer.

[Mike M]

I got over my fear with the stupid ladder, and can do the 24' extension opened up. I really see little use for going much higher. I have achieved very nice downlighting effects at 20', plus, there is the issue of easy serviceability.

[INTEGRA Works]

I got over my fear with the stupid ladder, and can do the 24' extension opened up. I really see little use for going much higher. I have achieved very nice downlighting effects at 20', plus, there is the issue of easy serviceability.

I once (or maybe thrice) heard a saying: "The Higher the Light the Closer to God."

20' is ok Mike, but the magic really starts to come alive above 30'. Some of the nicest 'moonlighting' I have ever done was on top of my 40' extension ladder. Not that I like going there now to service it though. Now that I am in my 40's I am pretty much determined to use my 32' for downlighting. If it is necessary for me to go higher then I will either rent a Genie Lift, or hire a tree climber.

Enjoy.