Debate: To overhead crane or not on a big removal job?

Had a chat with an old timer named Dave at the supply yard last Tuesday after grabbing a new Silky saw. He said he never uses an overhead crane for removals over backyards, says it's all about rope work and knowing your angles. I get that, but I just did a 70-foot white oak in a tight spot in Portland last month and the crane made it feel almost easy. He argued that cranes make you lazy and you lose the feel for the tree's weight and movement. Now I'm second-guessing my whole approach, wondering if I'm relying too much on the machine. What do you all think, is the crane a cheat code or just a tool in the box? Has anyone else had a veteran talk you out of using equipment you thought was fine?

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the_morgan20d ago

First off, that Silky saw is a good choice for a hand tool. But let me correct something about what Dave said. Cranes don't make you lose the feel for the tree's weight at all. If anything, they teach you more about weight because you have to think about the balance point and the rigging much more carefully than a straight rope job. I've been running a crane for removals for about twelve years now, and I've never once felt like it made me lazy. It just changes where you put your focus. Instead of fighting the tree piece by piece, you get to plan the whole thing like a puzzle where every cut matters even more because one wrong lift can mess up your whole day. Dave sounds like he learned on the job back when cranes were rare and expensive, so he never had to trust one. That's his loss, not yours.