Do you think that speed lining is an efficient way to delimb a tree?

[Froggy]

I think speed lining is a wonderful thing when there is a good drop zone and plenty of hieght from the tree you're rigging off to the tree where the pice is directed to. If you try to speed line in the wrong situation it will waste time and become a cluster @#^^ equaling a big waste of time. BB

 

[MasterBlaster]

I speedline maybe twice a year.

Only when I can't let something down the trunk.

I DO like when I get to do it!

 

[begleytree]

I agree, great fun, don't use it much. Mostly use it on trees on the edge of yard and woods where the owner says I can leave everything in the woods. Send it speeding back and forget it, no cleanup.
-Ralph

 

[rbtree]

Love it. We speed line whenever appropriate, which might be several times a month..or we might not do it for a couple months.

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

Same, sometimes speedline down the contrl leg of a rig before cutting a few limbs, sometimes off of the limb we are rigging.

Then sometimes down the loaded leg as it lay on the ground, before tension is released. Especially if the rigged limb was like 20' long and the hitch point to it laying on the groundgives nice slant from over obstacles.

So, more for small quick zips, on pre-existing rigs, gaining more utility without the setup of a seperate speedline rig.

 

[Froggy]

Reply

Anyone got any full pictures of their speed line set up? I'd show some, but I have no clue how to get them on here once I've scaned them on the computer.

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

Try saving a pic to your desktop, then )below the window you write in)use the "Attatch File" (max size 4096000 bytes) Browse button to select off of your desktop; or send to me

 

[Gord]

I have used a speed line a few times as a means to get brush to clear/disentangle itself from another tree. Uncontrolled zipping- hook up piece, get ground man to take a half or full wrap, cut piece and as soon as it clears the tangle danger, let it drop to the ground. Works like a charm in the right situation...light stuff only of course.

Also the standard speedline with VT to tighten, with trad rigging in tree, lower piece to speed line, hook up and tighten and lower with rigging line with the speed line taking care of horizontal movement. Did a maple a while ago at the corner of four yards, one yard had some pit bulls in them...nothing went down there I tell you, ziplined it all into the one yard.

 

[Nathan Wreyford]

I posted this a while back.

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13478&highlight=speed+line

More in the category of what NOT to do. These chuncks were loaded onto the SL (30K, static) with a sling 22K, and biner 22k.

In the ASPR, it says the only thing more important than knowing how to use a speedline is knowing WHEN to use a SL.

 

[rbtree]

Re: Reply

Originally posted by Froggy
Anyone got any full pictures of their speed line set up? I'd show some, but I have no clue how to get them on here once I've scaned them on the computer.

I posted these a while back:

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6093&perpage=40&pagenumber=2

But we use several different speedline configurations.....I'll go into detail when I find the time...and find more pics.

 

[murphy4trees]

First time I ever use a speedline was on a monster tulip... 3k removal...
touching the lines on the baclk side.. front side had a rose garden, boxwoods and a couple of dogwoods right under the tree, then a wide open yard.. I stopped at the gear shop and the guy showed me how to use a rescue pulley for speedlining...

Pulleys were rated at 4000 lbs.. So I figured as long as this piece weighs less than a pick up truck it should be OK.. I was taking monster branches.. fortunately there was plenty of heigt and I was using high-v for the speedline, which gave it a lot of stretch..

I didn't know anything about safe working loads at the time, and wasn't thinking about force multipliers etc.. at the time... I got lucky...
Tree was on the ground in hours.. once the limbs and top were out it was a pretty easy notch and drop to thread through the understory... clean up was done by noon the next day and the log loader took everything for the wood.... he probably made out there..
That made me a believer... though most jobs around here aren't worth the trouble... But a great problem solver when needed

 

[murphy4trees]

I'd like to hear what others are limitting their loads to when speed lining...
I don't have a problem with taking a fairly heavy piece as long as the line has enough slack to keep it from staying too straight when loaded... not sure how to exactly say it...

 

[rbtree]

Originally posted by murphy4trees
[BPulleys were rated at 4000 lbs.. I was using high-v for the speedline, which gave it a lot of stretch..

[/B]

Just a reminder to all that lifelines are not very stretchy, instead they are more static than a so called static kernmantle rappel, rescue, caving line. Hi V seems similar to Samson 16 strand, but may have a bit more stretch, which, on the Samson is only 1.1% at body weight, I think, and maybe less than 6-8% at 30% of tensile.

The only lines with less stretch are the high tech aramid fiber kevlar, spectra, dyneema, vectran,etc., lines.

That said, I've used 31,000 lb tensile 1/2 inch near zero stretch Plasma line, and the difference is noticable...as in lack of stretch..great when you need all the height you can get.

 

[murphy4trees]

Either one, rope or tree is going to be affected by a potentially huge force multiplier, the straighter the line is when loaded...

 

[rbtree]

If you're going to zip a load over, say, 300 lb, and have the line significantly tensioned, the load should be lowered first then eased onto the speedline, or have it tensioned during the process. And, depending on the line angle, and how tight it is, the anchor loads can easily be over 3 times the load weight..and up to seven times, as others have calculated.
thus the need for all components of the rig to be strong, as well as the tree, which should be backguyed when heavy loads are being rigged out.

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

By taking Dave Spenscer's DWT calcualtor/worksheet and dropping the secondary angle; you have a more simplified version that it is easier to see the speedling loads etc. that were always there. The same math works for sweating in/tiedowns (only there you are using these forces to your advantage.

This is an Excel spreadsheet, so with Excel (or some others possibly) you can play witht he angles of bend and loads etc. and the sheet claculates the rest for you.

Younger Nick pro-vided the link for the .Excel SpreadSheet Viewer (reads only, no calculations) at MS for those wanting to view without Excel.

The Spreadsheet itself (with illustrations) is packed in the Zip file; mimicking also Nickrosisisis's way of getting the file type past the filter.

Originally posted by TreeCo
Hey Murph, I'm not near as worried about the rope strength as I am about the strength of the tree I'm in. Dan

The loads can get very,very high: The way that high leveraged force pulls across the support is also a leveraging factor (leveraging angle of pull) that must be multiplied by the the leveraged line tension, then multiplied by the distance to parent connection/ground IMLHO! Then this force, happens with impact.... So that, slackening the line not only softens the loading with bend in line, but that lessend force also pulls more down the stronger angle of the spar to boot.

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

Sometimes when someone posts something real good i stash it; try to keep their name attatched to it though!

This i've had for a while, has no such name; but is great all the same...

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

Another speedline variation, with a lighter lim over the roof, is to start out withthel line bent and use the ~2:1 inital pull to draw the limb around off the house on the hinge. then cut free to let it ride the 'gravity bender'/speedline to completion.

Seeing as the high end has to be anchored; i usually would just set the next rig, then on the control leg to ground; set this speedline technique, zip it, then cut rigged limb; for removal of both. The first limb(s) that ride the speedline before the final rig, can even be coming off of the limb to be rigged.

 

[OutOnaLimb]

Like everything in our line of work a speed line is situational dependant. Even if you dont use that technique on a day to day basis it is good to have in your little bag of tricks. If you can speed line branches directly to the chipper it makes the job a lot more easy for the groundies and makes for a lot less clean up.

Kenn