Best come-a-long or other pulling device for solo work?

[roahboah]

Folks,
This is my first full year felling/cutting/splitting my own since I was a kid, and even then, we just bought wood. I'm happy to be getting back into it and am already laying up next year's wood, which is great! Here's my question:

I'm beginning to see the necessity of a come-a-long or some other method of exerting leverage to get trees to fall where I want them. It hasn't been a big issue as of yet, but I'm beginning to work in an area on my property where things are a little more congested and I really want to avoid getting larger trees hung, etc. There's just me and the missus, so I work solo whether I want to or not.
I've never worked with pulling devices of any sort, so forgive my lack of recognition of technical terms that most of you use daily. What I'm looking for is what method you use today, if you'd recommend it, and if not, what method you might recommend for someone who's going to learn on the job!
I appreciate any info in advance, and thanks!
regards,
roah

 

[turnkey4099]

Folks,
This is my first full year felling/cutting/splitting my own since I was a kid, and even then, we just bought wood. I'm happy to be getting back into it and am already laying up next year's wood, which is great! Here's my question:

I'm beginning to see the necessity of a come-a-long or some other method of exerting leverage to get trees to fall where I want them. It hasn't been a big issue as of yet, but I'm beginning to work in an area on my property where things are a little more congested and I really want to avoid getting larger trees hung, etc. There's just me and the missus, so I work solo whether I want to or not.
I've never worked with pulling devices of any sort, so forgive my lack of recognition of technical terms that most of you use daily. What I'm looking for is what method you use today, if you'd recommend it, and if not, what method you might recommend for someone who's going to learn on the job!
I appreciate any info in advance, and thanks!
regards,
roah

There should be some very good professional replies to that. I will just comment that when using a cable (rope not recommended) to put a strain on, all control over the tree disappears as soon as the cable comes slack. Don't think that it will guide it all the way down - it only has some influence at the very beginning. My biggest failure was with a red fir tied off 20 ft up, back to a good deadman with four 5 gal buckets of water suspended in themiddle to try to maintain pull a bit longer. It fell 30 degrees off my planned fall even though I thought I had all the various weights, lean, etc figured in. No damage except to a good section of fence vice the ratty section I was aiming at.

Harry K

Harry K

Harry K

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Typically I use a throw bag tied to a string th set a strong rope up high in the tree. Then I use a come-a-long to put pressure on the rope. Lastly I cut.
If you're skilled, you can tension the line, make your cuts, then pull on the rope until it falls.
Harry's problem sounds like he pulled on the rope in the direction he wanted the tree to fall, instead of also taking into account the lean of the tree and pulling against that as well as the direction of fall.
http://store.baileys-online.com/cgi-bin/baileys/587?mv_session_id=AT74i3BL&product_sku=17420

 

[beowulf343]

Typically I use a throw bag tied to a string th set a strong rope up high in the tree. Then I use a come-a-long to put pressure on the rope. Lastly I cut.
If you're skilled, you can tension the line, make your cuts, then pull on the rope until it falls.

Similar to the method I use except I prefer a set of double blocks over a come-a-long.

 

[computeruser]

I do probably 50% of my tree work, and almost 100% of my paying tree work, by myself. I just use my Jeep most of the time, either as a stationary anchor point with the winch or a come-along, or as a pulling tool with the front tow hooks or rear receiver. My rope of choice is 1/2" StableBraid.

If I was in the market for a come-along, I would definitely look at the ones that use rope like THIS ONE. I think that the endless-length feature is VERY worthwhile in treework. Whatever you do, though, use GOOD rope. Not crap from the hardware store. You can find super deals on odd-length end-of-spool pieces of pro-grade rope on eBay for astonishingly good prices.

 

[antigrassguy]

List of new toys for you,1) weighted throw sack and 150' of slick line and a stow bag. 2) masdam port o' pull and 125', or so, of 3 strand rope. 3) whoopie sling
Use throw sack and slick line to set a tie in for 3 strand around main trunk, nice en high. Learn to tie running bowline for tying your 3 strand rope to tree. Anchor port o pull to whoopie sling and feed 3 strand in to start pull. The follow Mike Mass's method.
Computeruser, NICE. Are you running rope in your winch. Ill try to post pics of my CJ later. I might try to get pics of our Tulsa 18G convincer with 200' of 5/8" cable. Its a beast.

 

[computeruser]

Computeruser, NICE. Are you running rope in your winch. Ill try to post pics of my CJ later. I might try to get pics of our Ramsey convincer with 200' of 5/8" cable. Its a beast.

Nope, stock wire rope. If/when I replace the winch, I'll probably go synthetic. But the brake on this one generates a LOT of heat, which is not good for rope. Plus, the wire is still in good enough condition, so there's no sense replacing it yet.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

The winch is great. It has loads of power, but still has control because you can hear the winch load, and you know how hard you're pulling.
The truck pull, on the other hand, is stupid and dangerous, period.
A jeep or truck can easily break a 1/2" rope. It can uproot trees before the hinge works, and the power is too great for what you need to pull over a tree properly. There are too many things that can go wrong to list.

 

[computeruser]

The truck pull, on the other hand, is stupid and dangerous, period. A jeep or truck can easily break a 1/2" rope. It can uproot trees before the hinge works, and the power is too great for what you need to pull over a tree properly. There are too many things that can go wrong to list.

Good point.

It really ought to be used to pretension the line and little more. A vehicle makes a great anchor point, but actually pulling (and heaven forbid, pulling by dynamically loading a formerly slack line!) the tree is not a particularly good idea. If things are done right, the line is under reasonable tension during the cutting and wedging, and then you can just go give a pull on the line by hand and bring the tree over. Slamming it into 4-Low and getting on the gas...that's not a good idea.

 

[SRT-Tech]

i dont have pics right now, but i have a INGERSOL-RAND 4ton come-a-long. This is NOT the typical 4ton homedepot/Lowes/etc piece of stamped steel garbage, or an import piece of crap. It is a heavy beefy overbuilt tool, made by Americans, with American steel stock and parts. No tin or pot metal CRAP here.. About 30 feet of aircraft grade cable, with a built in snatch block so you can get more pulling power or set up a redirect anchor. I have pulled a 5 ton truck out (rolling) of a ditch, using the snatch block to increase the torque. Nice unit, set me back about $200 CDN, plus another $40 CDN for a swaged eye and eye length of cable to increase the distance i can pull.

I also have used it to tension an attenna cable during a repair, i have lifted a 500lb steel jobbox (full of tools) up a slick angled rock face, and have tensioned Kootenay Highlines with it. Oh yea, its great for pulling firewood logs to my truck or pulling a leaner tree over when working solo .

i'll try to get some pics soon.

 

[antigrassguy]

winchView attachment 40105 Tulsa 18G with 20,000lbs line pull, front bumper mount on F800 with a Rockwell 4 wheel drive conversion sitting on 44" tires. Truck is 23,000lbs. And it will drag it around. This is our bucket truck. Ramsey is on the trailer. Warn 9.5ti with synthetic rope is on CJ.

 

[treeseer]

Sometimes I'll put a rope in the tree then thru a pulley in another tree in line where I want it to fall. Then when I have the hinge made i pull it over myself.

I add one step to the Maasina method--after notch is cut and backcut lined up and started, that's when I have the helper put the pull on the rope.

 

[arboralliance]

Please Note!

Sometimes I'll put a rope in the tree then thru a pulley in another tree in line where I want it to fall. Then when I have the hinge made i pull it over myself.

I add one step to the Maasina method--after notch is cut and backcut lined up and started, that's when I have the helper put the pull on the rope.

TREESEER WRITES ABOUT HIS HELPER!

ROAH, IN YOUR INTRO LINE OR TITLE YOU MENTION WORKING ON YOUR OWN WHICH YOU SHOULD NEVER DO!

PLEASE CONSIDER...

 

[roahboah]

TREESEER WRITES ABOUT HIS HELPER!

ROAH, IN YOUR INTRO LINE OR TITLE YOU MENTION WORKING ON YOUR OWN WHICH YOU SHOULD NEVER DO!

PLEASE CONSIDER...

I know - it's not my preference, but circumstances dictate that I have to do the vast majority of work alone.
I wish that wasn't the case - not only is it safer, but things get done a lot quicker with two as well!!
thanks,
roah

 

[SRT-Tech]

not to flame the fires of working alone VS pairs, but I could introduce you to hundreds of loggers, woodcutters, firewood gatheres, or cabin builders that all work alone. most of them are in their 80's now and still in boxing shape.

 

[roahboah]

not to flame the fires of working alone VS pairs, but I could introduce you to hundreds of loggers, woodcutters, firewood gatheres, or cabin builders that all work alone. most of them are in their 80's now and still in boxing shape.

I figured there had to be lots of folks flying solo. Even though I'm still inexperienced, I really try my best not to do anything stupid while I'm out there.
Of course, figuring out what's stupid and what isn't is a big part of that!

 

[roahboah]

Typically I use a throw bag tied to a string th set a strong rope up high in the tree. Then I use a come-a-long to put pressure on the rope. Lastly I cut.
If you're skilled, you can tension the line, make your cuts, then pull on the rope until it falls.
Harry's problem sounds like he pulled on the rope in the direction he wanted the tree to fall, instead of also taking into account the lean of the tree and pulling against that as well as the direction of fall.
http://store.baileys-online.com/cgi-bin/baileys/587?mv_session_id=AT74i3BL&product_sku=17420

Mike, a quick question -
what method do you use to get the throw bag to the high point in the tree? Do you use a sling as well, or just throw it yourself?
thanks,
roah

 

[Sprig]

The winch is great. It has loads of power, but still has control because you can hear the winch load, and you know how hard you're pulling.
The truck pull, on the other hand, is stupid and dangerous, period.
A jeep or truck can easily break a 1/2" rope. It can uproot trees before the hinge works, and the power is too great for what you need to pull over a tree properly. There are too many things that can go wrong to list.

Yup, my thoughts too. Personally I think you really have to have your cards in line to do any pulling by yourself, too many variables and in my honest opinion not safe practice. That said, pretensioning can have its fall-backs too, splits, kicks, barberchairing, from over stressing, very dangerous stuff man. I think that if you're on your own I'd go for a decent block and tackle set up and with good rope, a little throwline and a weight etc.. That way you can 'feel' whats going on, run a line where its safe to pull from, all the fun stuff. Big Q here. You're in the woods alone, cutting trees, nothing around. Why muck with where it should go in the first place?

 

[roahboah]

Yup, my thoughts too. Personally I think you really have to have your cards in line to do any pulling by yourself, too many variables and in my honest opinion not safe practice. That said, pretensioning can have its fall-backs too, splits, kicks, barberchairing, from over stressing, very dangerous stuff man. I think that if you're on your own I'd go for a decent block and tackle set up and with good rope, a little throwline and a weight etc.. That way you can 'feel' whats going on, run a line where its safe to pull from, all the fun stuff. Big Q here. You're in the woods alone, cutting trees, nothing around. Why muck with where it should go in the first place?

My main aim is to be able to avoid getting anything hung, and if manipulating/encouraging the falling direction can help with that, then I want to learn how to do it. I hung a tree this past weekend and had to force myself to chill out for a minute. I was getting p.o.-ed and starting to hurry and make stupid decisions.
I definitely want to keep the rig as simple as it can be and still do the job I want it to do, and your list of stuff sounds good. I sometimes might want to go pretty high, but I don't know if I need a sling or not.
thanks,
roah

 

[John Ellison]

Another way to look at it is, solo is safer than working with a yahoo.
I think the guys that mentioned a Maasdam rope puller are right on. If you can get the line at least 2/3 of the way up the tree you have a lot of leverage. A block or two is nice and you can redirect the line right back to the area you are working in. Back it up and help tip it over with a couple of wedges.
Some people can tye a slip/pinch knot about 18" from the throwball, swing it back and forth underhanded and throw and hit targets waay up there. I am not one of them. A Big Shot works good for those of us that cant.