Sandy Rose trying out the tree climbing bicycle
The images are courtesy of Michael Lawrence of Bankfoot whose grandfather, Sandy Rose, was Forester and Head Forester at Ledmore Forest Nursery from 1950 (when land was acquired) until his retirement in 1969.
The actual year is uncertain but judged to be around 1960. This image clearly shows the twin spring steel bands of the tree bicycle supporting the operator by levering the leg strut pads hard against the tree stem. Very unfortunately Sandy is not wearing the waist belt and safety strop that should be in place around the tree also. A simple slip of the bands or a jolt would have serious repercussions in this set up.
The bicycle worked only on clean tree stems and operators had to cut off the branches flush with the stem as they climbed until they arrived at large green branches that would support their weight. At this point the bicycle was parked, the feet unclipped from the foot plates and climbing proceeded with safety strops and climbing ropes.
The main point of climbing the trees was to collect the cone crop to secure seed for sowing in forest nurseries or in special forest research plots.
The PDF below shows a very good image of the tree bicycle structure and steel band clamps.
Any comments on experiences using this equipment would be very welcome.