PSA: I skipped the bucket truck and climbed a leaning red oak by saddle and rope, and I'd do it again

Alice Carter · 2026-10-28T13:30:05.103825+00:00

Everyone at my shop keeps saying you need a bucket truck for anything over 40 feet, and I just don't buy it. Last month a homeowner in Bellingham called about a red oak leaning over her shed, and the drive was too tight for our truck, so the crew wanted to pass on the job. I walked the lot, tied in at about 55 feet with my climb line and a friction saver, and worked the whole crown down in sections over two days. It was slower, sure, maybe 20 percent longer than a bucket run, but I never dropped a single piece on that shed and the homeowner tipped us an extra $150. The thing nobody mentions is how much better you see the wood from inside the tree, and I caught a bark inclusion up high that a lift operator would have missed from the ground. My lead climber says I'm stuck in the past, but I think we lean on machines when a good saddle and a sharp saw still get it done. Any of you still take the climbing job when the truck can't make it, or am I the last one doing it this way?

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PSA: I skipped the bucket truck and climbed a leaning red oak by saddle and rope, and I'd do it again | Arborists - Chatter Central