Well, Winter has come and frankly it's been hitting us here in Windsor and Lasalle for the better part of 3 months now. I remember working in snow in early November- just around the time we got back from climbing in the Gorge. We were doing a big maple removal in Colchester, and the wind and ice pellets and snow... We're at the half-way point with this years firewood. We're dealing with a small bit of cottonwood, before diving into some awesome mulberry and oak. Next yea

I was working just on the edge of Lasalle this week. It was cold- really cold. There was a fence at the back of the yard, and a not-too-high Jack Pine that was in decline, that also had to be removed. It was a climbing job- the tree was over some nice landscaping and a pergola, so up I went. This looks like the Alberta Muskeg in the Winter but it's not. It's right here, in good old Lasalle, Ontario. Boy, is it cold! When I got past level of the fence height, the wind hit m

This Maple had a fair amount of dead limbs, and a declining top. It was prudent to have a backup to the main tie-in-point in case of failure. Note the Figure 8 device attached to the rigging- good for self rigging light pieces when the groundman was busy. There, I've said it (well, wrote it) 3 times. Redundancy is key in many industries, and is absolutely key in safety-critical industries like tree work and forestry. There are different facets to redundancy- for example, t