It's funny the topic dwt would come up at a time Sherrill's has cmi pulleys on sale at 20% discount off their regular price. This would be a good time to invest in some pulleys and give this rigging configuration
a good trial run.
equipment needed:
2 rescue pulleys with as large a sheave diameter as possible for the type of rope being used
2 carabiners-steel screw lock will work
Rigging sling for rigging point pulley-a whoopie sling will work. Set it up so the pulley can twist as the rope rotates or you'll ruin a pulley.
rigging slings for load attachment, any slings Sherrill sells
extra-long work line
The dwt in the tree industry is a rigging configuration that creates a 2:1 mechanical advantage by employing the use of an extra pulley in raising or lowering limbs and wood. The power comes from the extra floating pulley which divides the line in half. Essentially, there ends up being 2 legs of line to hold the load.
With the dwt you 1)reduce all loads in the rigging gear. 2)incorporate more line in the rigging system which is always welcome. 3)reduce the speed of lowering which in turn reduces rigging point stresses during that time. 4) your ground people don't need to worry as much about burning their hands to control load decent. 5) you'll get a kick out of seeing the look on the ground peoples faces when they use it for the 1st time, especially the experienced guys.
The system is not infallible and has a few problems of it's own. The parts of the rope with the floating pulley tends to twist on itself adding friction to the system. The only real remedy is to take the system apart, remove the twists, and set the system back up. Do I find it worth the trouble? Yes I do. There are more benefits to using this system than pitfalls.
Here's a link given to me by Tom Dunlap which shows the double whip tackle(dwt):
http://www.alberta-ck318.freeserve.co.uk/tackles.htm
Have fun with this one.
Joe