hey I use a figure 8 when there is no trees to wrap around and this puts a lot of twists in the rope will a porta wrap do the same or help, is it a huge improvement over the figure 8 what say you guys worth getting or same as figure 8?
Port A Wrap
- Thread starter Treecutr
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
Definitely worth buying the porty, better smoother control, you wont look back.
Mount the porty to the tree around waist height and stand right back out of the drop zone while lowering, just start with small sections first until you can judge how many wraps it will take to smoothly lower your branch to the ground.
Some years back I had a great idea to use a figure 8 to catch a log coming off a spar. It was only about 5' long, but it was also about 4' in diameter. At the time, I didn't own a block & sling, and I didn't own a port-a-wrap. It was over a 30" tall stone wall that was very old, the mortar was crumbling, so I had to catch every chunk.
The rope broke where it entered the figure 8. Yes, I had to fix the wall. Fortunately, I am not too bad at that kind of work, either.
I don't recommend a figure 8 for heavy loads. The rope makes too sharp a bend around the bar, and the rope tears apart. By the way, my figure 8 was unblemished by the incident.
well guess that was a heavy one huh? does the porta wrap put less twists in the rope?
I have never seen any twists concentrated at our port-a-wrap, and I don't recall ever hearing about anyone else having that problem, either.
I don't use my figure 8 for rappelling out of the tree, I'm not in that big of a hurry to get back to the ground. So I have never seen the twisting that others often refer to while using the F8.
I suspect that an f8 does not put any twists into a braided rope. I believe that it might be concentrating the twists down the rope until they become a problem. Since I store my ropes in bags or buckets, they remain pretty free of twists and kinks.
I don't use my figure 8 for rappelling out of the tree, I'm not in that big of a hurry to get back to the ground. So I have never seen the twisting that others often refer to while using the F8.
I suspect that an f8 does not put any twists into a braided rope. I believe that it might be concentrating the twists down the rope until they become a problem. Since I store my ropes in bags or buckets, they remain pretty free of twists and kinks.
D Mc
ArboristSite Operative
The portawrap is a huge improvement over the f8. With its larger diameter it will be easier to control and produce less rope twist. The f8 is only suited for very small lowering activities and it is not much better than a munter hitch on a carabiner.
Twist is a function of the direction of the wraps and their entry and exit angles. Larger diameters, like a strap on bollard, will reduce the tendency to twist, but still not totally remove it. If your lowering line is long, and it never straightens out during the lowering process, it is best to reverse wraps with each piece lowered to neutralize this tendency.
This hockling will occur with double braids but is absolutely awful with 3 strand.
Dave
good info
Three strand is a whole different game than braided, and it doesn't matter how you wrap it on any tool. It will either try to unwind when loaded, or twist back up when unloaded. You end up concentrating the twists at one end, and hockling occurs.
As the rope is loaded with weight, it will unwind itself as it feeds into a friction device. This is because the strand twists are balanced against the counter-twists between the strands. When loaded with additional weight, the rope stretches, and different forces are applied to the individual strands than prior to loading, and the rope unwinds a bit. Pick up a heavy log with a single rope of 3 strand, and you will see it begin to spin in the air as the rope unwinds.
I do not believe there is any inherent twist in most braided ropes, and as such they don't tend to twist up. If you rope handling activities, such as coiling and uncoiling are causing the introduction of twists in the rope, you can bet that both a figure 8 or a portawrap will squeeze the twists down to the unloaded end of the rope.
Most people that use a port-a-wrap don't use all their rope to the end, so any twists introduced while wrapping the POW are canceled when it is un-wrapped. Not only that, but we have never needed more than 3 wraps, which doesn't seem like enough twists to be a problem.
Even wire rope unwinds some when suspending a heavy load on a single line, although I have never seen it hockle. The effect seems to be cancelled when using multiple blocks.
As the rope is loaded with weight, it will unwind itself as it feeds into a friction device. This is because the strand twists are balanced against the counter-twists between the strands. When loaded with additional weight, the rope stretches, and different forces are applied to the individual strands than prior to loading, and the rope unwinds a bit. Pick up a heavy log with a single rope of 3 strand, and you will see it begin to spin in the air as the rope unwinds.
I do not believe there is any inherent twist in most braided ropes, and as such they don't tend to twist up. If you rope handling activities, such as coiling and uncoiling are causing the introduction of twists in the rope, you can bet that both a figure 8 or a portawrap will squeeze the twists down to the unloaded end of the rope.
Most people that use a port-a-wrap don't use all their rope to the end, so any twists introduced while wrapping the POW are canceled when it is un-wrapped. Not only that, but we have never needed more than 3 wraps, which doesn't seem like enough twists to be a problem.
Even wire rope unwinds some when suspending a heavy load on a single line, although I have never seen it hockle. The effect seems to be cancelled when using multiple blocks.
Last edited:
is this the best one to get?http://www.sherrilltree.com/Profess...evices/New-Portawrap-IV-Large-Stainless-Steel
Thats a mistake I think. Thats the price for the large steel one - which I recommend getting. The stainless jobber is $199 in the new sherrill cat. I'm looking at right now. I think the stainless is just another new way for them to bilk us outta more ducketts.
ropensaddle
Feel Lucky
I have the big steel one and a loopie on it. I use it up in the tree and on the ground I like its large caliber bend seems to be better on my ropes. I use three strand when doing natural crotch stuff for its speed and nothing is better naturally rigged imo. I use stabil braid 3/4 for the heavy stuff but getting a groundie to learn is a never ending process until they make us a remote controlled robot lmfao
There was an ad at the top of this site yesterday showing "Free Upgrade to Stainless Steel" for the Porta-Wrap IV from Sherrill... The price is $20 under last year's price for the Porta-Wrap III.
I might have to drive to Greensboro this afternoon and get another one!
That would be the cat's meow if done in stainless. The nickle plate is just as good. Mine is 5 years old, it looks like it just came off the shelf.
I don't recommend painted versions.
Looking for advice
I am fairly new to lowering and have been using a porta-wrap occasionally for around 2 year. The other day while taking down the log wood on a decent size tree the climber got 2 pretty good jolts. As we got closer to the ground I can only let it run for so long and was stopping the pieces just a few feet or inches from the ground (as gradual as possible). The first time the log smacked the tree with 2 wraps on a 3/4 bull rope and pinched the rope. The second time we had 3 wraps on and the porta-wrap and the block of wood smacked the trunk just feet above the ground giving the climber one hell of a jolt. In both situations I feel like we had the correct number of wraps. Do you guys have any advise for situations when you don't have much room to let it run?
I am fairly new to lowering and have been using a porta-wrap occasionally for around 2 year. The other day while taking down the log wood on a decent size tree the climber got 2 pretty good jolts. As we got closer to the ground I can only let it run for so long and was stopping the pieces just a few feet or inches from the ground (as gradual as possible). The first time the log smacked the tree with 2 wraps on a 3/4 bull rope and pinched the rope. The second time we had 3 wraps on and the porta-wrap and the block of wood smacked the trunk just feet above the ground giving the climber one hell of a jolt. In both situations I feel like we had the correct number of wraps. Do you guys have any advise for situations when you don't have much room to let it run?
ropensaddle
Feel Lucky
Well my advise is not to you in limited run heavy wood I always cut and throw the chunks.
tree md
Addicted to ArboristSite
Usually by the time I get down that far I can just drop the spar or "throw the pole" as we call it. I'll roll a log out in the drop zone to distribute the weight and force so it doesn't tear the ground up as bad. If it has to be kept immaculate I'll either find a rig point to lower the spar and keep it from crashing or cut smaller pieces and lower them or chuck them into a brush pile. I have heard of some even using foam pads to avoid ground damage.
Thanks for the advice, keep it coming. It's basically stuff we do as well. I think I might set up a video camera next time we are in a similar situation so I can see what I do and what I could change. We knew we were pushing it and it was a go place to try taking bigger pieces.
treemandan
Tree Freak
Is the load rating higher for stainless?
Here is a another situation where the porty shines:
One end is hooked to a big loader and the other a big log, in the middle is Mr. McPorty. It makes it easy to adjust the lentgh of the pull line as needed.
treemandan
Tree Freak
Well sometimes you can't and you have to take the jolt. A rigid mount bollard relieves some of the pain and the right fingers on the rope help a lot too.
Similar threads
