i'd get a throwline to place high leverage pull, for easiest, most positive power. Very cheap. Very high utility, excellent augmentation to line. Can make things immediately easier, more safe by being more positive force without climbing. Goggles, Plugs, Brain Bucket if ya gots something to pro-tect.
Learn bowline, clove, stopper knots, perhaps butterfly, you can go very far without cutting line at max strength and flexability. Learn to store the line, make it last and trouble free.
Also might learn a 3/1 Z-rig. 2 men on a 3/1 pulling from a high leverage point can pull a lot of trees down easily, with no mechanical failure, and quicker than a come along, which can be pretty handy, but slow. Power is power, portable power can go more places. Learning tricks can be real cheap, or costly; i'd soak up what i could ..........
If gathering firewood, i'd make the easy drops, load truck over axle, and only pull with truck on sound, no slip ground that i walked out first. The extra weight will give more positive bite. A sling and pulley can really help pulling from an angle a truck can't go positively. Even if there is only one good truck run, with a pulley and sling (always have line extra long, look at it as and investment andd the ends geeting worn aand line getting shorter) you can redirect that pull to any anchor, then target tree. Helps rule out chancey decisions. Biggest mistake is pulling to hard and scared without truck unnecesarily. Generally, all ya got to do is tip it slightly your way, and let nature take it's course.
i think wire is a lil stiff and heavy to werk too, and has no rubber band like Brian said. And i'm astounded at how much strength, utitlity and wear wee get from these lines for the cost too, especially compared to 'hardware' prices/grades (of which i'd want a tight - no snagging, grit admittaance double braid at least 1/2"). The tree ropes are stronger, cheaper and more resilient to all the dragging we put them thru. Then slings, pulleys, karaabgs open up a whole new world..........; before friction devices.
Unless against wind, back lean, straight up or extreme side lean, with a high line of leverage (trace down back for most security, easy release etc.) you need very little truck pull, at the right time, generally when not cutting face...
A lot of this, can cost nothing, 120' of arborplex and throw line can be under $85(?), jump to 150' and be under 100? Throw line can be simple and wonderfull. Oh and don't cross your face cuts, make them meet perfectly like a craftsman!
