# Best Rope for Pulling



## Russ Stihl 290

New to this site and have a question for the experts. I have been cutting trees, I would say higher up on the rookie level for while now. Dropped a few dozen over the years and grab plenty or firewood off the side of the road. My question is this. What size rope should I buy for pulling trees. Not for pulling trees over, I know enough not to do that, but for moving them when they are on the ground. I pull things quite a bit with my pickup and have broken a few ropes in my day. I have looked at Weepsur.com and they have some nice bull rope on there. 5/8 rated at 16,000lbs or 3/4 rated at 20,000lbs. What do you guys think?


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## isaacvent

I would say get a husky 3/4 line. We have had great success with husky ropes so far. We have a few (1/2 and 5/8) for rigging but the 3/4 line is used for pulling mostly.haven't broken any of them yet.


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## TheJollyLogger

isaacvent said:


> I would say get a husky 3/4 line. We have had great success with husky ropes so far. We have a few (1/2 and 5/8) for rigging but the 3/4 line is used for pulling mostly.haven't broken any of them yet.


Plus one on the 3/4 Husky. We took a retired one and let 2 powerstrokes play tug of war just for kicks. 8 smoking tires, and It held.


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## intreezzz

I have a 2"×25' double thickness flat strap with eyes on both ends that has done some serious pulling and seen a lot of abuse. Girth hitch one eye around the base of the downed tree and throw the other end around the ball of your pickup and take off. If you're like me you'll find out the weak link in this method is the truck.Putting it to use Saturday doing some cleanup on a plantation from last ice storm. Good luck


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## woodchuck357

I most often use wire rope (cable) or chain for dragging logs. Rope and straps wear to quickly from rubbing on the rocks and dirt. A half inch cable costs a little over a dollar a foot add a pair of hooks and a half dozen saddle clamps and you are set for a lot of dragging.


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## Russ Stihl 290

Thanks for the replies. I have a few tow straps with loops that I do use when the distance isn't too great. I think my 3 inch smittybuilt strap is rated for 15,000 lbs. I have spun the tires of my F350 with that (4 wheel drive on dry pavement) pulling logs off the side of the road. I don't think I could ever break that so hopefully the 3/4 rope serves me well. I need the rope for longer distance pulls. I have a hill on my property, sometimes I cut trees at the bottom then pull them to the top to cut up into firewood. I also want a nice solid rope for any other application I may run across. Like I said, it always seems I am pulling something with my truck and I want a rope I don't have to worry about. Like Intreezzz says, I want the weak link to be the truck, not the rope.


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## Matt81

isaacvent said:


> I would say get a husky 3/4 line. We have had great success with husky ropes so far. We have a few (1/2 and 5/8) for rigging but the 3/4 line is used for pulling mostly.haven't broken any of them yet.



+1

I don't have experience with the 3/4 but i bought 200' of the Husky 5/8 bull rope from Treestuff and it is a fantastic rope for the money. Very strong (18000 lbs) hard wearing but holds knots well. I would have no hesitation in recommending Husky rope.

Don't know how it would hold up with constant dragging though, maybe a wire cable as suggested would be a better option? I use the Husky for pulling and rigging and a wire cable for dragging myself.


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## TheJollyLogger

Log tongs keep the wear on the rope down.


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## cupar

intreezzz said:


> I have a 2"×25' double thickness flat strap with eyes on both ends that has done some serious pulling and seen a lot of abuse. Girth hitch one eye around the base of the downed tree and throw the other end around the ball of your pickup and take off. If you're like me you'll find out the weak link in this method is the truck.Putting it to use Saturday doing some cleanup on a plantation from last ice storm. Good luck



Never tug with the ball of a hitch, it's a great way to make a metal baseball projectile. Use a pintle hitch or shackles.


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## Matt81

cupar said:


> Never tug with the ball of a hitch, it's a great way to make a metal baseball projectile. Use a pintle hitch or shackles.



Yes don't do it. I have actually seen that exact thing happen. Very dangerous......


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## jerry quinn

cupar said:


> Never tug with the ball of a hitch, it's a great way to make a metal baseball projectile. Use a pintle hitch or shackles.


The ball actually breaks? I have never heard of that.


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## jerry quinn

Good thing this one held. Chains had their part in it also i would guess. Oh and the rock in the grill.


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## cupar

the screw style ones break, I have a welded three ball solid for 12000lbs and have used a sling that went over all 3 balls so the pressure was distributed but I'm always happier to use my shackles


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## BC WetCoast

When you're dragging logs, get a wire cable choker and then shackle your rope to it. The cable will take the wear on the ground and save the rope. Also it you can put a pulley up in a tree to lift the nose of the log off the ground a bit, it will be easier to drag.


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## cupar

BC WetCoast said:


> When you're dragging logs, get a wire cable choker and then shackle your rope to it. The cable will take the wear on the ground and save the rope. Also it you can put a pulley up in a tree to lift the nose of the log off the ground a bit, it will be easier to drag.



Anyone who drags brush can attest to this, I've put a pulley on the lift hook on a boom truck ran rope around the brush pile to the pulley to a pull truck, Also while dragging through snow, make a 8-12' length wrap it around the butt ends and sinch it up to your shoulder, much better then dragging it with the butts dragging on the ground.


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## rarefish383

I use 5/8 to skid logs up the side of the hill on my farm. I wrap a chain around the trunks of trees I plan to take down in the future, about ten feet high, and hang a snatch block on it. Or, I have several 20' lengths of 5/8 with bowline loops on the end that I throw over big crotches to hang the snatch blocks. This gets the ends up out of the dirt and lets them slide easily. I can skid a 24" log 20' long with my Ram 1500 2 wheel drive.


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## woodchuck357

cupar said:


> Never tug with the ball of a hitch, it's a great way to make a metal baseball projectile. Use a pintle hitch or shackles.


I guess it would depend on the size of the bolt part of the hitch ball. Mine are large enough so that they are stronger than the cable. I have seen some that are only 3/4 inch where it counts.
http://www.carid.com/curt-trailer-hitches/curt-balls-and-shanks-2155508.html


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## cupar

woodchuck357 said:


> I guess it would depend on the size of the bolt part of the hitch ball. Mine are large enough so that they are stronger than the cable. I have seen some that are only 3/4 inch where it counts.
> http://www.carid.com/curt-trailer-hitches/curt-balls-and-shanks-2155508.html



I've only seen them fail pulling trucks, and jeeps out of mud. I use 30k tow straps or stronger, I used to have a 09 F-350 on 35's. So my recovery gear is a little over kill on my 2014 ram 1500. If you pull logs in my area if one gets caught on a rock your truck will stop, your rope will break, or your ball will snap. We need to over compensate and pull the largest logs as possible because 2 trips would be blasphemy.


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## Stayalert

chain


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## hardpan

Working load vs tensile strength should be considered if a jerk or shock load will be applied. Working load is mostly between 1/5 and 1/10 of the tensile strength of fiber rope. Chain and wire rope also has similar reductions and don't forget the shock load to the other components, bolts, balls, clevis, hooks, etc. Bad things happen when something breaks during a hard pull. A smooth steady pull is best but often doesn't fit the real world. We tend to jerk a load to get it moving so the "snatch-em straps" are popular when we have a buddy jerk us out of the ditch we are stuck in. They are designed for a heavy working load. A quality 3/4" rope is good for most of us most of the time. Personally, I am too much of a tight wad to buy what I want, Amsteel Blue.


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## Matt81

hardpan said:


> Working load vs tensile strength should be considered if a jerk or shock load will be applied. Working load is mostly between 1/5 and 1/10 of the tensile strength of fiber rope. Chain and wire rope also has similar reductions and don't forget the shock load to the other components, bolts, balls, clevis, hooks, etc. Bad things happen when something breaks during a hard pull. A smooth steady pull is best but often doesn't fit the real world. We tend to jerk a load to get it moving so the "snatch-em straps" are popular when we have a buddy jerk us out of the ditch we are stuck in. They are designed for a heavy working load. A quality 3/4" rope is good for most of us most of the time. Personally, I am too much of a tight wad to buy what I want, Amsteel Blue.



I don't use it in the trees, but i have a small 20 foot piece of amsteel in 5/8" with spliced eyes as a tow strap, for a non-jerked load, for when we go off roading. It is fantastic stuff. Another quality Samson product.

I use the Husky 5/8" bull rope myself. Been great so far. Plus i don't have to be on bread and water as it's way way cheaper than amsteel.


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## cbrake

how do you attach bull rope to trees? Attach hooks, use knots, etc?


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## isaacvent

cbrake said:


> how do you attach bull rope to trees? Attach hooks, use knots, etc?


Almost exclusively a bowline or running bowline. Almost never a carbine unless it's a small tree maybe.


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## TheJollyLogger

Timber hitch is great for pulling logs ( hence the name I guess ) Easy to tie, holds great and very easy to break free.


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## Maineiac

intreezzz said:


> I have a 2"×25' double thickness flat strap with eyes on both ends that has done some serious pulling and seen a lot of abuse. Girth hitch one eye around the base of the downed tree and throw the other end around the ball of your pickup and take off. If you're like me you'll find out the weak link in this method is the truck.Putting it to use Saturday doing some cleanup on a plantation from last ice storm. Good luck


I second that. From the sounds of your needs, straps are a great way to go. A 15' tow strap with a 10,000 lb capacity will cost you 25 bucks or so. I don't know what kinda logs you are pulling around or how long your haul line needs to be, but I when I retire one of my 1/2" 16 strand climbing lines I cut it out to various lengths and use it pull some pretty sizable logs around. A rope will come in handy if you need to redirect your pull line thus making it my favorite means of pulling, even over choker chains. I usually tie off a hook on one end of my ropes to use it for choking and then tie a series of double bowlines at various intervals in the rope for quick rehooking at any desired length (goes right over a ball or onto a pintle hitch slick as ****) . I have a bag full of "red is dead ropes" that i retired from anything other than hauling on the ground cuz when one breaks, oh well, toss it out and use another. It really depends how much weight you are hauling. Unless you are doing heavy logging with your pickup truck (don't laugh I've had to do it), you may be surprised how well 1/2 climbing rope will take care of your needs. If you don't mind splurging gets some Amsteel Blue.


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## psu927

Russ Stihl 290 said:


> New to this site and have a question for the experts. I have been cutting trees, I would say higher up on the rookie level for while now. Dropped a few dozen over the years and grab plenty or firewood off the side of the road. My question is this. What size rope should I buy for pulling trees. Not for pulling trees over, I know enough not to do that, but for moving them when they are on the ground. I pull things quite a bit with my pickup and have broken a few ropes in my day. I have looked at Weepsur.com and they have some nice bull rope on there. 5/8 rated at 16,000lbs or 3/4 rated at 20,000lbs. What do you guys think?


 
Just curious, why not for pulling trees over?


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## singinwoodwackr

I've used 5/16" cable through a snatch block to pull medium sized logs up to the road or flat area with great success. I have a 100' an a 200' that we used to use on the family ranch (sold ranch  ) I'll either use a 14' 1/4" chocker (cable type from Baileys) or a chain (5/16") choker I made up that works great for small logs to 24" or so. I use 3/4" shackles to join stuff together. Chain will handle the abuse of dragging down a dirt road a lot better than any rope, cable or strap, period. 
If you can afford it go with Amsteel Blue, 5/16" or 3/8" will be fine for most small/medium logs (13,700/19,600#) For comparison, 5/16" cable is only rated around 9800# (standard winch cable) The line weighs only a couple #s, won't kill people when/if it snaps and is very easy to splice.


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## TaoTreeClimber

Am I the only one here that uses a choker chain and skidder cone? The yellow plastic cone looks goofy but it really helps out keeping the butt of the log your dragging from hanging up on stumps and rocks. The only draw back is that the cone I have will only hold about a 22" log.


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## singinwoodwackr

TaoTreeClimber said:


> Am I the only one here that uses a choker chain and skidder cone? The yellow plastic cone looks goofy but it really helps out keeping the butt of the log your dragging from hanging up on stumps and rocks. The only draw back is that the cone I have will only hold about a 22" log.


pics? sounds like a great idea


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## psu927

Still wanna know why you can't use this stuff to pull a tree over?


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## Maineiac

psu927 said:


> Still wanna know why you can't use this stuff to pull a tree over?


I don't think he is saying that he can't pull trees over with any of these ropes, he is just saying that the sole reason for needing the rope is for pulling trees on the ground, because he doesn't feel comfortable enough to be felling trees using ropes. He probably doesn't climb, therefore he is unable to set a rope in tree efficiently. That was my take on his original post.


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## TaoTreeClimber

Skidding Cone------>


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## psu927

Maineiac said:


> I don't think he is saying that he can't pull trees over with any of these ropes, he is just saying that the sole reason for needing the rope is for pulling trees on the ground, because he doesn't feel comfortable enough to be felling trees using ropes. He probably doesn't climb, therefore he is unable to set a rope in tree efficiently. That was my take on his original post.



Thanks. Re-reading it now I agree, that's what he was saying. I was like, I know I'm no pro but we do pull trees from time to time and I try to do things the right way, I was just making sure I wasn't missing anything.


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## cbrake

I'm thinking of getting a husky 3/4" bull rope, 3/4 rigging block and sling. We covered attaching rope to tree. How do you attach rope to a tractor? Also, I'm trying to get a log out that is a little too large for my 40hp, 2WD Ford 860 tractor (older, 3000lb machine). Pulls fine most of the way, but can't make it up one small hill due to losing traction. Would a cable puller like the following be practical to pull a log a short distance?
https://www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?item=1888 (WYETH-SCOTT MORE POWER PULLER)


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## TheJollyLogger

If you have a place to hook the puller, you have a place to set the block and put the tractor in a better position. That puller will do it, but it'll be tedious.


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## TheJollyLogger

Get a shackle to attach the rope to the tractor.


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## Maineiac

Learn how to set up a 3:1 mechanical advantage system. All you need are 2 pulleys (with big enough sheaves to sustain whatever rope you are using; 5/8 is plenty rugged enough for what you are doing) and a clevis to attach one of the pulleys mid line. To do this I just take a long bight of rope, approximately 50 inches, and tie a regular bowline where I want to attach the pulley. I find it works better than an alpine butterfly. If you learn the 3:1 system, or z-rig as some call it, you should be able to accomplish anything you are trying to do in regards to pulling trees around.


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## cbrake

well, got it out, but it was painful. Tried putting my block on the tree, and at the log (2:1), but could not get enough traction with tractor, so ended up having to ratchet it up the little rise. After that the tractor pulled it fine. I add already placed my treestuff order by the time I saw the 3:1 post -- I think eventually I'll get another block ...


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## cbrake

Maineiac said:


> Learn how to set up a 3:1 mechanical advantage system. All you need are 2 pulleys (with big enough sheaves to sustain whatever rope you are using; 5/8 is plenty rugged enough for what you are doing) and a clevis to attach one of the pulleys mid line. To do this I just take a long bight of rope, approximately 50 inches, and tie a regular bowline where I want to attach the pulley. I find it works better than an alpine butterfly. If you learn the 3:1 system, or z-rig as some call it, you should be able to accomplish anything you are trying to do in regards to pulling trees around.



Is this how you tie your bowline for the pulley attachment? http://www.animatedknots.com/bowlinebight/index.php

Can you attach the block to just one of the loops? With the rigging block I'm using, I don't think there would be room for two loops in it.


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## TheJollyLogger

You can do that.


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## Maineiac

cbrake said:


> Is this how you tie your bowline for the pulley attachment? http://www.animatedknots.com/bowlinebight/index.php
> 
> Can you attach the block to just one of the loops? With the rigging block I'm using, I don't think there would be room for two loops in it.


Yes, that knot is correct. I would recommend using a clevis shackle to attach your block to the bowline, instead of just going around one loop. You can pick up a 3 ton shackle for around ten bucks and its well worth it.


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## Norma679

I am an architecture. I am using Blue Ox 24-Strand Arborist Bull Rope for pulling large and strong tree work. It is having tensile strength around 20,000 pounds, 34x6x6 inches. It is easy on the hand. This rope is 150 feet long and weights around 35to 40 pounds.


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## singinwoodwackr

Norma679 said:


> I am an architecture. I am using Blue Ox 24-Strand Arborist Bull Rope for pulling large and strong tree work. It is having tensile strength around 20,000 pounds, 34x6x6 inches. It is easy on the hand. This rope is 150 feet long and weights around 35to 40 pounds.


What does the 34x6x6 inches mean?
What is the diameter?


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