a speedy way up the tree

Rugged made
Wesspur
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miko0618

miko0618

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yesterday we took a lunch so I came down. my tie in was about 65' and my block at about 55'. I was rigging limbs down at about 40'. on our way back I made a comment about the sucky climb I had to get back up there. my ground guy said "hook your rope to the truck and i'll pull your a## up there". he obviously was bustin my chops. so when we got there, I hooked up a pulley to the lowering device to run the lowering line through, ran the rope to the truck, clipped in and rode the rigging line while he pulled my a## up the tree. I advanced my hitch on my climbing line as I went up. It was dreamy! I will definitely be doing this again. as long as your block is below your line, it seems safe. cant fall and cant get smashed.
 
I know some do it, but its not really safe. What if he ends up pulling you to far and pulls you through the block. If you wanna catch a ride to the top, get a wraptor.
 
Your first mistake was coming down for lunch. If I am in a big tree, I am not coming down till its finished. Lunch in a tree can be a relaxing experience. Also, not the safest way to ascend back into the tree. Truck pulling ropes puts unknown stresses on them.
 
I've done it before on some big spars. I use a radio and have the rope tied to the front of the truck so it's easier for the driver to see me. Just go slow. I wouldn't make it a habit but its worked well on those rare occasions. Getting 75' in ~15 seconds is pretty sweet. Be careful out there
 
It does take the right situation. I really dont think my truck could pull hard enough to tear the block off the tree. And through the lowering device, its pulling down on the stem. As far as the raptor goes, who prices these things? Its in the same category as the rope wrench.
 
I have long hair, The other day in a little zip down my hair got pulled into my blakes hitch, THAT SUCKED.



Now the hair in front of my head is a little shorter. :bang:
 
I do it with the mini all the time shoot a line , run a bull rope with a block with a climbing line on the pulley pull up the block and tie it off , run another block on the base of the tree and attach the running end of his climbing to the the mini and away he goes , it's fast and safe , he uses a ascender and his lanyard that's not gonna be swallowed by any block .
 
Zale said:
Your first mistake was coming down for lunch. If I am in a big tree, I am not coming down till its finished. Lunch in a tree can be a relaxing experience. Also, not the safest way to ascend back into the tree. Truck pulling ropes puts unknown stresses on them.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. I keep telling the tech school that they should make the kids eat lunch in the tree even just once to get them over the idea. That burns up a heck of a lot of energy, and is what I used to do. Since the first time I've eaten lunch aloft I've figured out what works, and what doesn't. Even went so far as to eat a hamburer, hot dog, and potato salad in a tree once (though not recommended.)
 
the tree had to be worked bottom to top and then repeated for rigging purposes. I was at the bottom of the tree so I went to lunch. I basically walked up the tree horizontally. it wasn't like I tied in and he floored it. it was controlled. what made the job much more exhausting was I had to pull my tail and hold, loosen the blakes, slide it up and pull again. never letting it bite because the sap was like glue.
 
Not smart, with a mini, I could see it, not fast enough. With a truck, kid hits the gas instead of the break and your dead. It may not break the block, but it can try to pull you thru it.
 
Del_ said:
In the early 1990's we had a real close call doing exactly what the OP has described.

We had been using a rigging block and bull rope attached to a 4ft. diameter bald cypress at about 50ft. height to pull over about 50 smaller trees that leaned towards a fairly busy road. If we felled them into the swamp we didn't have to do cleanup. I had rope climbed the cypress early that morning to place the rigging block. We were using an older Chevy truck for the applied pull and there were no truck or driver failures that led to our mishap. It all happened in about six or seven seconds. I'll never forget his screams of terror as he realized what was happening.

To remove the block it was decided that one of our climbers would 'ride the bull rope' to the attached block, tie in for rope climbing, and lower the block out of the tree. The 5/8 inch bull rope was about 250ft. long. What happened was that when the climber was at about thirty ft. in height his hanging lanyard loop caught on a small natural stub bringing his ascent to a temporary halt as the truck continued to move forward stretching the bull rope with applied stored energy. The lanyard came off of the natural stub and the climber was sent into a 'reverse bungee' and ending up crashing into some lower canopy limbs. He dropped below the canopy limbs and hung unconscious for about sixty seconds while he was being lowered back to the ground by the backing up truck. He came to a few feet off of the ground and other than being shook up a bit was fine. We feared he was dead.

To get the block down I got on the bull rope and few minutes later and you can bet I was careful of where my lanyard and other gear was hanging!

We all went home safe and sound that day but over 20 years later you can bet that I learned a very valuable lesson that will stay with me for life.

If you've got three or four strong men on the ground I highly suggest to use them to pull a climber back up a tree Vs. a pickup truck. That way if there is any 'snag' the 'system' will not be exposed to the tremendous forces that can be generated by engine powered equipment.

Trust me, it's not a good experience seeing one of your employees hanging unconscious on a rope. I get choked up just writing about it even now.
Click to expand...

Yikes.
This practice is fairly common in east Texas, and I have heard a few horror stories too. There are just too many things that can go wrong. Mike, you're much better off getting an srt system.
 
so it shot him down when the lanyard let go? to be clear, i wasn't giving advice on how to get up a tree. i was just sharing my experience. how about a hand winch? 200 lbs on my 1200lb hand winch is like pulling nothing. it will hold 50' of strap.
 
i have never srt'd. i like the idea of the system that you walk up instead of stand, sit one.
 
Early on in my career I had to go up and get a pulley out of a tree. They hooked me to the bull line and pulled me up with the crew truck. The truck was only doing a few miles for hour and had no idea I was fearing for my life as I was pulled up through those branches. I was pushing and kicking to keep from getting pinned under every branch . If part of your body gets pinned you'll be torn a part. That's why the wraptor has a clutch that'll slip if you get pinned. That truck will never feel it. I can SRT a 100' and not be wore out, and make good time.
 

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