# Micro pulley



## Thillmaine (Nov 6, 2006)

Anybody familiar with use of micro pulley? I used one a couple of times and remeber liking it. I just bought one but cant figure out where to attach the snap (which attaches to the pulley) to. Any advice? or comments on likeablility of the tool itself?


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## kkottemann (Nov 6, 2006)

If you are talking about the micro pulley which is used in conjunction with a flipline then you need a twisted clevis which attaches to the pulley like a shackel. There is a hole for this. THen What I do is use a caribiner to attach the clevis to my saddle.


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## (WLL) (Nov 6, 2006)

Thillmaine said:


> Anybody familiar with use of micro pulley? I used one a couple of times and remeber liking it. I just bought one but cant figure out where to attach the snap (which attaches to the pulley) to. Any advice? or comments on likeablility of the tool itself?


do u have pic there is a few diff pulleys


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## murphy4trees (Nov 6, 2006)

The micro pulley is a great tool for slack tending below an adbvanced friction hitch.... This allows many climbing techniques which are extremely effective at saving time and energy and would be nearly impossible otherwise... Too many to lsit here.... maybe I'll put it on paper one day...

Until then let me use this analogy... a professional climber usinf a friction hitch system without a micropulley is like a telemarketer using an old dial up telephone... 

It amazes me that so many people in our profession are happy using obsolete technology....


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## beowulf343 (Nov 7, 2006)

Thillmaine said:


> Anybody familiar with use of micro pulley? I used one a couple of times and remeber liking it. I just bought one but cant figure out where to attach the snap (which attaches to the pulley) to. Any advice? or comments on likeablility of the tool itself?


Try a dog leash snap (snap with a swivel) then a keychain carabiner attached to that then attached to the best point on either your saddle, split tail, snap, d-ring, etc. 
Personally, after the blakes hitch, I feel the micro pully is one of the best arborist inventions to come along.


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## rahtreelimbs (Nov 7, 2006)

This is a picture of a micro pulley with a VT hitch. This is pretty much State-of-art at this point in time!!!

It might be better if the 'biner was rotated 180 degrees so that the whole assembly could be removed as a unit for a redirect!


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## JTinaTree (Nov 7, 2006)

Thillmaine ,I also use it as with a VT It is nice to have with your Blakes hitch as well. I attach it to the same carabiner my hitch is on via a swivel snap. I also use a micro pully on my two in one steel core saftey lanyard to advance the prusik, when I am doing removals with my gaffs..


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## Kneejerk Bombas (Nov 7, 2006)

Here's an old video I posted on the subject: http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=25359&d=1122217169


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## rahtreelimbs (Nov 7, 2006)

One extra advantage of a micro pulley is the benefit of a "belay" from a groundman while "hooking" up a tall spar!!!


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## Kneejerk Bombas (Nov 7, 2006)

rahtreelimbs said:


> This is a picture of a micro pulley with a VT hitch. This is pretty much State-of-art at this point in time!!!
> 
> It might be better if the 'biner was rotated 180 degrees so that the whole assembly could be removed as a unit for a redirect!


I noticed the tails on the double fisherman's knots are too short. Four times rope diameter is a good rule of thumb.
We won't even get into your choice of cord or biner...:notrolls2:


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## rahtreelimbs (Nov 7, 2006)

Mike Maas said:


> I noticed the tails on the double fisherman's knots are too short. Four times rope diameter is a good rule of thumb.
> We won't even get into your choice of cord or biner...:notrolls2:




Good catch Mike!!!

That was a pic I pulled up on a search. Looks like Sta-set to me............whats wrong with that and the pulley???

It's late maybe I ain't seein' right!!!


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## Kneejerk Bombas (Nov 7, 2006)

I was picking nits. 
The carabiner is meant to be loaded along it's axis. When you bunch up big old knots, it changes the load direction. 
The pulley is fine.


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## OTG BOSTON (Nov 8, 2006)

kkottemann said:


> If you are talking about the micro pulley which is used in conjunction with a flipline then you need a twisted clevis which attaches to the pulley like a shackel. There is a hole for this. THen What I do is use a caribiner to attach the clevis to my saddle.



If you already have a clevis with a twist, ditch the pulley! The clevis will operate the same way as the pulley to tend your flipline friction hitch.

I use a petzl fixe for tending my climbing hitch (schwabisch prussic). The fixe is nice, no sharp edges.


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## kkottemann (Nov 8, 2006)

I was way off the particular piece of gear he is asking about. I was talking about a pully specifically designed for fliplines, not ascending and decending. My mistake.


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## woodchux (Nov 12, 2006)

Do any of you guys trust a micropulley as a TIP for your lifeline?


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## pigwot (Nov 12, 2006)

woodchux,
I was wondering the same thing. At Sherrill's booth at TCI Expo, they were using the 'micro mouse pulley'. The lower 'ear' was 'binered to the saddle and had the VT knot hanging off it on the standing end of the rope, while the upper 'ear' of the pulley was 'binered to the eye-spliced working end of the rope. Your life hangs on the small amount of aluminum in the frame between the two ears... nice thick, strong carabiners, with an apparent weak link between them...? Are my fears unfounded? What is the ABS of that micro pulley?


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## Kneejerk Bombas (Nov 12, 2006)

pigwot said:


> What is the ABS of that micro pulley?


Depends on what direction the load goes.
From one eye to sheave, from two eyes to sheave, from eye to eye...


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## pigwot (Nov 12, 2006)

I've attached a pic of their setup.


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## rahtreelimbs (Nov 12, 2006)

I am trying to see the upside of this setup. Obviously Sherrill thinks the pulley is rated for this use. I don't like how close the hitch is to the opposing splice!


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## woodchux (Nov 12, 2006)

is the pulley in the pic really doing anything more than tending the knot?


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## pigwot (Nov 13, 2006)

Yes. The lower carabiner is attached to the blue and white rope which is the crossbridge on the saddle. The force applied to the lower opening of the pulley frame is downward and directly opposite the force applied to the upper opening in the frame of the pulley by the upper carabiner which is attached to the end of the rope going over the branch or through the friction saver, etcetera. Just doesn't look safe to me...


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## MrRecurve (Nov 13, 2006)

The biggest benefit I can see with that pulley, if it was fixed cheek, would be on the warp speed bridge of my glide so that I could use two biners when I climb on my vt.


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## pigwot (Nov 13, 2006)

And that is what I understand it was designed for: a roller attachment point for the bridge on a glide-style saddle.


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## pigwot (Nov 13, 2006)

Here is the link for information from CMI who makes the mouse-eared micro pulley. Looks like it is 7000 lbs MBS.

http://www.cmi-gear.com/catalog/pulleys/pullspecs.asp?partnum=RP141


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## Kneejerk Bombas (Nov 14, 2006)

If you look at the cheek plates they are clearly not designed to be loaded in the way they are in the picture. It may well be strong enough, it just was't meant to be loaded like that.
Pulley load ratings are when loaded directly from the sheave to the attachment point, unless indicated otherwise. Their load rating isn't for any "willy-nilly" direction you can think to load them.







I guess they assume the angle indicated in the red, can be as wide as you want.
You can see the cheek plates spread apart as they near the sheave. If you laod it like this you'd want to be very careful about the carabiner selection. It will need to have a flat area so as not to tend to pull the cheek plates together.


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## pigwot (Nov 14, 2006)

Mike,
In the absence of a technical bulletin from CMI that describes the pictured use as a safe loading angle I'd agree with your assessment of the situation. I must be old school as I still hesitate to use aluminum products as my main means of support. Mainly use steel carabiners, though I do own a couple of nice aluminum ones.


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## Tom Dunlap (Nov 15, 2006)

Anytime more than one piece of rope is attached to a biner an HMS style biner should be used. A typical narrow top biner doesn't spread the load and shoves some of the gear over towards the gate. Not a safe climbing system.

My favorite cheap slack tender is a pincer dog leash snap. Take a look...


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## gumneck (Nov 21, 2006)

Tom Dunlap said:


> Anytime more than one piece of rope is attached to a biner an HMS style biner should be used. A typical narrow top biner doesn't spread the load and shoves some of the gear over towards the gate. Not a safe climbing system.
> 
> My favorite cheap slack tender is a pincer dog leash snap. Take a look...



I'm in the market for a new rope and thought I'd pickup a micro pulley for slack tender. Maybe I'll leave out the pulley and just use a snap instead. 

How effective is the use of a simple snap as a slack tender?


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## pigwot (Nov 21, 2006)

A snap that incorporates a swivel and has a large enough opening for the rope to pass through easily tends to do well.


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## gumneck (Nov 22, 2006)

Dont mean to be thick about this but will it tend a blakes or other friction knot well also?


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## blackwaterguide (Nov 23, 2006)

The micropulley I got (the red on petzl, I think) will not accept a single leash snap becauys it's too wide. I just use a biner or 2 dog snaps, it still advances the hitch, and can't be beat for coming back from a long limb walk. I'm of the same opinion as rahtree, I'm old-school but some of this equip is really indespensible, ridiculous not to make use of it.


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## Kneejerk Bombas (Nov 23, 2006)

gumneck said:


> Dont mean to be thick about this but will it tend a blakes or other friction knot well also?


It will tend a blakes, but the blakes locks off so hard, it loses it's effectiveness, and almost takes two hands to pull the tail through. 
But try it, and you'll get an idea of the advantages of being able to pull slack with one hand. Then you'll be asking yourself, "How can I make this thing advance easier?" 
The answer of course is to change your blakes to a prussic of some kind. Once you do, you'll never look back.
The hard part is to just do it. You need some 5/16 or 3/8 cord (anything that breaks at more than 2500 pounds), a carabiner, and a dog snap or small pulley. Learn to tie barrel knots to attach the cord to the biner, and to tie a prussic hitch. Look at the picture above.
Good luck.


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