Rig Line was founded by climbers and riggers, and this is the work we are known for. When a tree is too tall, too close, or too tangled for a straight fell — and when other tree companies need a climber they can trust — this is who they call. We take on the high-hazard removals that demand real rope skill and calm decision-making.
- Fully licensed & insured
- Free written estimates
- 24/7 emergency response
- Serving all of Upstate South Carolina
The trees other crews walk away from
Some removals cannot be muscled with a bucket truck. A pine growing eighteen inches off a lake house. A hardwood leaning over a neighbor's roof with no room to drop anything. A dead giant surrounded by a deck, a pool, and a power drop. These jobs are won or lost on rigging — how the climber sets anchor points, chooses lowering systems, and controls the load on every single piece.
- Confined-space dismantles between homes, docks, and utilities
- Negative and dynamic rigging to lower heavy wood in tight zones
- Speed-line and zip rigging to carry limbs clear of obstacles
- Crane-assisted picks on the largest and most dangerous trees
- Contract climbing for other tree services needing a specialist
Rigging is a craft, not a gamble
Every piece we cut aloft is a load with weight, momentum, and consequences. Our climbers calculate that load, set the friction and lowering devices to match it, and communicate every move with the ground crew. That discipline is why we can take a tree apart over a glass sunroom and leave the sunroom untouched.
For tree companies across the Upstate, we hire out as a contract climbing crew — you keep the client, we bring the rope skill for the piece of the job that needs it.
How a rigged dismantle actually works
When there's no room to drop wood, the tree comes apart from the top down, one controlled piece at a time. The climber ascends, sets a rigging point above the piece to be cut, and the ground crew takes the load onto a lowering device — a friction brake that lets them ease each section down instead of letting it free-fall. Big horizontal limbs get "tip-tied" so they swing away from the target rather than toward it; heavy vertical wood gets negative-rigged below the cut so the rope catches it the instant it's free. It looks slow from the driveway, and that's the point: control, not speed, is what keeps your roof, deck, and dock intact.
When we bring in a crane
Some trees are too big, too dead, or too dangerous to take apart on rope alone, and that's when a crane earns its keep. Instead of the climber rigging each piece down, the crane holds the section while it's cut, then lifts it up and away — out over the house and set down gently in the drop zone. It removes the shock loading from the tree entirely, gets the climber out of compromised wood faster, and on the right job it's actually the cheaper option because it's so much quicker. We assess honestly whether a job warrants crane support and coordinate it as part of one seamless plan.
Our process
- 1
Plan the pick
We study the tree, the targets below, and the failure points, then design the rigging or crane plan before anyone leaves the ground.
- 2
Set anchors & devices
Rigging points, lowering devices, and life-support systems are installed and load-checked.
- 3
Controlled dismantle
The climber cuts, the ground crew controls the load — every piece lands or lowers exactly where planned.
- 4
Ground & clear
Sections are processed on the ground and the site is cleaned and restored.
What affects the price
We don't post fake flat rates — every job is different. Instead, here's what goes into your free written estimate, so you understand exactly what you're paying for:
- Complexity of the rigging plan and number of controlled picks
- Whether crane support is required
- Height, lean, and structural condition of the tree
- Density of targets below (homes, docks, pools, utilities)
- Contract-climbing day rate vs. full turnkey removal
Why choose Rig Line Tree Service for contract climbing & rigging
This is our founding specialty
We didn't add climbing as a sideline — we built the company on it. Technical rope work is the thing we're known for across the Upstate, not an afterthought behind a bucket truck.
Trusted by other tree companies
Established crews hire us as contract climbers for the pieces of a job that need a specialist. When the pros call in a climber, this is who they call.
Crane relationships in place
We coordinate crane-assisted picks when a tree warrants it, so the biggest and most dangerous removals still happen under full control.
Fully insured, high-stakes work
Rigging over homes, pools, and docks is unforgiving. We carry full liability and workers' comp coverage and plan every pick before anyone leaves the ground.
Where we provide contract climbing & rigging
We take on technical climbing and rigging jobs throughout Oconee County and the wider Upstate — the tight lakefront lots of Seneca and Sunset, the steep ground above Walhalla and Mountain Rest, and the historic canopies of Clemson. We also travel for the hard ones and hire out as contract climbers to other companies across the region.
FAQ
Contract Climbing & Rigging questions
It is hiring a specialist climber and rigging crew — either directly as a homeowner with a difficult tree, or as another tree company that needs expert rope work for part of a job. We bring the technical climbing so the tree comes apart safely.
Yes — that is our specialty. Using rigging to lower each section under control, we dismantle trees in spaces where nothing can safely hit the ground on its own.
When a tree is large enough or dangerous enough to warrant it, we coordinate crane-assisted removal, lifting whole sections clear of the structures below. On the right job a crane is faster and safer — and sometimes cheaper — than rigging every piece by rope.
Yes. Plenty of capable crews don't have a specialist climber on staff for the occasional high-hazard tree. We hire out for exactly those pieces — you keep your client, we bring the rope skill and the insurance to match.
Where there are targets below — a house, a dock, a pool, a power drop — yes. Felling gambles on where a whole tree lands; rigging controls where every single piece goes. That control is the entire reason the technique exists.