Tried the bucket truck trick on a 40 foot maple, ended up dangling like a piñata

So last week I had this big maple near a fence line. I figured instead of climbing it like normal, I'd use the boom to reach the top and tie off from there. Worked GREAT for about 20 minutes. Then the hydraulic line blew and the bucket stopped responding. I was stuck up there, swaying in the wind, with my chainsaw still running in the holder. My ground guy had to call a buddy with a crane to come get me. Two hours and 350 bucks later I finally touched dirt. Lesson learned: check those hoses before you commit your whole afternoon to floating. Has anyone else had a bucket fail mid-job? How did you get down without calling in an airlift?

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williams.robert16d ago

That dangling like a piñata part got me, cause that's exactly what it feels like when the boom quits and you're just hanging there waiting on gravity to make up its mind. I'd have been tempted to just cut the branch I was tied to and ride it down like a dumb action hero, but 350 bucks for the crane sounds cheaper than a hospital visit.