The tree falls and the tree cutter almost does too

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
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Tree climbers are fucking nuts...I spent several months as the crane operator for a tree service in the SF North Bay...a couple of those guys had more balls than brains.
 

bctbct

Diamond Member
Dec 22, 2005
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Looks to me like he had a lanyard tied off above the cut line. Lucky sob
 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
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One of the assistant coaches of a soccer team I was on when I was a kid was a tree cutter, and he died by falling out of a tree.
 

911paramedic

Diamond Member
Jan 7, 2002
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Originally posted by: OdiN
How did that happen?

As a former "WTF am I doing up here" guy, you often tie the limbs you are cutting to other trees, or parts of that tree, to keep them from falling on top of houses, etc. He obviously tied the top of that a bit too high and nearly got killed for it.

Usually, you use a couple of tie off points to avoid what you saw in that video.
 

SaltBoy

Diamond Member
Aug 13, 2001
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If a tree falls and the tree cutter almost does too when nobody is around, do they make a noise?
 

Rubycon

Madame President
Aug 10, 2005
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What if the turbine fails when he's over those 345kV? feeders?

helicopter trimming

IIRC, the blackout on 13 Aug, 2003 was caused by a lack of tree limb clearance near 345kV feeders. (The initial fault was created when a heavily loaded circuit caused wires to sag sufficiently enough to contact a tree limb. This sag was quite normal and if the limbs were maintained a fault would not have occurred. ) Once a phase faulted and the circuit opened neighboring circuits took too much load, heating up their wires and sagging them into trees tripping them out. With so many MW offline the system just started failing from Ohio into Canada and down into NY plunging more than 60 million folks into the dark. So I'm willing to bet they're going to make sure those limbs are kept away from those wires.
 

tyler811

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2002
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Originally posted by: Rubycon
What if the turbine fails when he's over those 345kV? feeders?

helicopter trimming

IIRC, the blackout on 13 Aug, 2003 was caused by a lack of tree limb clearance near 345kV feeders. (The initial fault was created when a heavily loaded circuit caused wires to sag sufficiently enough to contact a tree limb. This sag was quite normal and if the limbs were maintained a fault would not have occurred. ) Once a phase faulted and the circuit opened neighboring circuits took too much load, heating up their wires and sagging them into trees tripping them out. With so many MW offline the system just started failing from Ohio into Canada and down into NY plunging more than 60 million folks into the dark. So I'm willing to bet they're going to make sure those limbs are kept away from those wires.

I remember that, people getting into fist fights in gasoline lines. Women pounding the shit each other for a bottle of water and that was just in my house.

Actually this did happen in Metro Detroit so if we ever get hit by nuc I want to be one of the first to go. Screw that fighting over crap in the post nuclear era. I will be dead in my heavenly bliss of lying on the ocean beach being served by hundreds of naked Kiera Knightlys. :thumbsup:
 

BoomerD

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Feb 26, 2006
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When I worked on the San Mateo Bridge, we often had a front-row seat to watch the helicopter crew powerwash the insulators on the big high-voltage lines that ran parallel to the bridge. (didn't find any videos of that)
 

Rubycon

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Aug 10, 2005
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Originally posted by: BoomerD
When I worked on the San Mateo Bridge, we often had a front-row seat to watch the helicopter crew powerwash the insulators on the big high-voltage lines that ran parallel to the bridge. (didn't find any videos of that)

Do they need to clean them because of accumulated soot from fires? Carbon buildup on an insulator severely reduces its insulating ability. Pressure washing sounds like offline stuff but I guess it could be done hot if the rig was designed that way and everything was done from their air like this guy. :Q

Perhaps it was a rig like this one?

Text

That video is breathtaking. If you listen closely you can hear as the metal rod slides it makes the normal noise with a 60Hz pulsing overtone superimposed into it. There's quite a bit of electromagnetic radiation in vicinity of those lines! The current isn't much on a dry day but the potential is still a hefty 433kV (750/1.73) on those lines and will arc quite a ways as you see. Now if the whirlybird dropped a conductive line to the ground while that worker's bonding wire was still attached there would be quite the show! Probably a sound simliar to this.



 

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
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I think they WERE washing the insulators. IIRC, it's an annual job. Very similar looking rig to the one in your second link.

I've seen the vid in your first link before...those guys have balls as big as church bells!

I worked for a electrical utility company for 7 years as their crane operator. We often had to work in substations while they were fully energized...just something...eerie about working that close to 12KV or higher while it's still hot...that shit will give you an instant Don King hairdoo...;)
 

Rubycon

Madame President
Aug 10, 2005
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Originally posted by: BoomerD
I think they WERE washing the insulators. IIRC, it's an annual job. Very similar looking rig to the one in your second link.

I've seen the vid in your first link before...those guys have balls as big as church bells!

I worked for a electrical utility company for 7 years as their crane operator. We often had to work in substations while they were fully energized...just something...eerie about working that close to 12KV or higher while it's still hot...that shit will give you an instant Don King hairdoo...;)

These guys have unobtainoballs! :Q No helicopter required! The "catch and release" of the bond is emphasized. It seems to me if this was broken while the worker was still touching the line and lost contact it would be very uncomfortable.
 

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
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wow...525 Kva? that's crazy...that stuff will make your babies be born nekkid! Never mind a Don King hairdoo, you'd just be Poof the magic fireball...
 

Rubycon

Madame President
Aug 10, 2005
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Originally posted by: BoomerD
wow...525 Kva? that's crazy...that stuff will make your babies be born nekkid! Never mind a Don King hairdoo, you'd just be Poof the magic fireball...

How about a brief fault at 500kV? Crazy Russians.