Rope pulling training?

[clearance]

Like I said, con job, and you have been getting conned for years and argue about it.

Conned means ripped off, scammed, swindled, etc. In this case it would mean trees falling where I do not want them to. So, I have not been conned, I just use skills that you are ignorant of. Stick to what you know.

 

[oldirty]

as soon as it started going over did you stop cutting?

i lost a top one time by not finishing the cut. she just broke on me because i got caught up in watching it go. got lucky on that one's landing spot. 1/2 a twist more and i wouldve owned a shed.

 

[osb_mail]

come a long

I have a rope come along it might take 5 minutes tops to rig to another stump or tree . OK maybe ten if I had to go to the truck to get it . I can t see myself have anyone pull a tree by hand unless it is something real small or no anchor around .

 

[Rftreeman]

sounds like you are once again putting blame on someone else or the groundie, if you where in charge then it is 100% your fault, you did not set up the fall like it should have been done, stop taking those cheap shortcuts and do it right from here on out before you or someone else gets hurt.

 

[clearance]

I have a rope come along it might take 5 minutes tops to rig to another stump or tree . OK maybe ten if I had to go to the truck to get it . I can t see myself have anyone pull a tree by hand unless it is something real small or no anchor around .

Wow, sheltered world you live in. Been there thousands of times, maybe a few hundred for truck pulls, few dozen for Tirfor pulls. When the rope is set high in a tree, you have tremendous power on it. If the tree has decent holding wood, you can do a lot by hand, even if it has somewhat of a sidelean. On trees with a substantial side lean, or those with not much of one but weak holding wood (cottonwoods, maples, etc) you need power and most of all speed, thats where a truck shines. Tirfors are only for pulling trees directly over backwards, unless they only have a small side lean and good holding wood, like Douglas fir.

If you not comfortable, climb up there and piece it down. I would rather yard big snotty trees hanging over the three phase down with a bull rope ran though redirect snatch blocks to a boom truck. Whatever floats your boat, I guess.

 

[Bigus Termitius]

This is not safe in my opinion. You should never wrap any part of the rope around any part of your body even as an anchor when dealing with tree work. Have seen people get a whale of a rope burn and whiplash from the tree going the wrong way and the groundie spinning like a top trying to get away. Keep the rope in front of you hold it with both hands. keep all the extra rope in front of you also. If something goes wrong drop the rope and step back. Much safer IMHO.

I knew someone would give me a good critique.

I know what you're saying, and for the most part you're absolutely right.

I make it a practice not to bit off more than I can chew. The rope I use only just does come around my seat and wraps long ways along the pull rope in my hands a couple times, looks like a short fat twizler, it's the very end. I would never double wrap my body, wrap my hands, or leave excess rope in a position where I might get in trouble with it. My grip is the only thing helping to hold it all together. If I feel things not going my way all I have to do is let go and it's gone.

It's not a matter of ability to grip the rope, I just rather use my weight and legs to motivate in the critical moments. I'm not trying to pull a tree over with my upper body. I have more control, strength, and ability to apply tension with this method.

Anything questionable or too large, we just break out the pulley.

 

[ropensaddle]

Wow, sheltered world you live in. Been there thousands of times, maybe a few hundred for truck pulls, few dozen for Tirfor pulls. When the rope is set high in a tree, you have tremendous power on it. If the tree has decent holding wood, you can do a lot by hand, even if it has somewhat of a sidelean. On trees with a substantial side lean, or those with not much of one but weak holding wood (cottonwoods, maples, etc) you need power and most of all speed, thats where a truck shines. Tirfors are only for pulling trees directly over backwards, unless they only have a small side lean and good holding wood, like Douglas fir.

If you not comfortable, climb up there and piece it down. I would rather yard big snotty trees hanging over the three phase down with a bull rope ran though redirect snatch blocks to a boom truck. Whatever floats your boat, I guess.

Clearance you are part correct a high point gives advantage
but; only if you are not so high that the angle of your pull goes
down. In other words too short of rope or not tying additional
rope to level your pull. However it is opposite with a large winch,
twenty feet is where I want my hookup as: a secure pull there and
usually no more needed. At that point it is easy for the winch to keep
the cable taunt as she starts to move, and ensure she comes the
way planned.

 

[ropensaddle]

Ekka correct me if I am wrong; the side rope you are speaking of
is in addition to your method, or rope you are pulling with?
I have done that numerous times on questionable leaner's
and called it snubbing!

 

[ropensaddle]

Treeman we have all been there, ya got to think for everyone.
I wish I had a dollar for every time my ground men thought I took
the long road,I could build me a new house.
I have got to a point I make sure of the pull before I cut anything.

 

[underwor]

I almost always tie the end of the rope to something solid, usually another tree. This eliminates one direction that it will go. Then I go up the rope a ways and pull to the side in the direction that I most want it to go. If the rope has all the slack out that I can get before putting in the back cut, this multiplies my 200# by a factor of about 10, according to the local math instructor. I know it also works good when I get the truck stuck and I am by myself. The longer the rope, the more mechanical advantage you have.

PS. Once you move to ND this does not work as well to pull yourself out of ditches -- few trees or fence posts!!!

 

[Ekka]

I just use skills that you are ignorant of.

That would also include those spiking prune skills to wouldn't it? Along with the one handing and flip line only yeeeha we're way out in front here skills eh?

Line clearance has very low targets compared to residential, when you get out of ya diapers give it a go.

Ropensaddle, yes, additional side rope, snubbing you call it.

I wonder how many people have damaged their rotator cuff in their shoulder applying the con job? It's one of the best ways to do it. See what happens is the tree starts to come and you are losing tension pulling. Then the tree appears to take a detour for the weighted/lean side, now with some slack in the rope you try to alter the direction of fall and give it a mighty yank (or Canadian), the ferocity of the yank is directly proportional to what the tree might hit if it continues on it's path. But a few ton of tree going down at 9.8ms2 and you tugging on rope means a severe jarring will occur.

And the worst part is your arm and shoulder are in the worst possible position to take it. I bet right now there's a few reading this who know from experience what I am talking about. This is the second con job, well over looked by our Canadian line trimmer.

Dont kid yourself, once the tree is going and the pull line slack that's it, many a cutter will put pressure on here and demand you PULL IT but dont, it aint worth it.

 

[gavin]

there's no way a guy on a rope can steer a tree down. since it didn't go over backwards, it should be safe to say he's off the hook. from the way its described, sounds like the falling cuts were off.

 

[Ekka]

Gavin, you win the prize ... thank you.

 

[Bigus Termitius]

There WERE other mitigating factors here... but nothing that a truck couldn't have taken care of.

1) Not much hinge wood.
2) Back lean
3) Side lean - this concerned me the most.
4) Another pine to get around.

A truck would have pulled it right in there.

I'm not gonna argue that this wasn't my fault... because as they say "The buck stops here" and anything that happens on my watch is my fault whether I was using the saw, or pulling the rope, or doing nothing.

As for my guy... he doesn't care, and he did get paid for the day. In all honesty I should really just get rid of him. I don't know why I haven't already??? guy hit me 2 times last year (once in the head with a piece of brush which wasn't allowed to run, and shock loaded another piece.. I thought I broke a rib.). This year he gave me other troubles... the house yesterday, and then almost hit me a few months ago on another job with a top.

Sounds like your guy is just trying to keep you sharp.....

What is not much hinge wood?

What was the ambient temperature? White pine gets especially brittle in the cold.

 

[Rftreeman]

That would also include those spiking prune skills to wouldn't it? Along with the one handing and flip line only yeeeha we're way out in front here skills eh?

Line clearance has very low targets compared to residential, when you get out of ya diapers give it a go.

let me defend the line clearance people who might be reading this, just because that is what they (or I used to) do doesn't mean they are not trained in the skill of spike free climbing, I can tell you that we sent a many guys to the training for advanced arborist climbing many times, I myself never learned because I'm 300# so all my climbing now is removals but like I said, just because someone does line clearance doesn't make them an idiot to the other ways of climbing but when you add the power company down your ass to get it done in a hurry then that takes all the slower ways out of play. but have you ever really seen a tree that died as a result of spiking, I haven't.

I know I'll probably get a few guys tell me they could foot lock it faster.

 

[clearance]

Line clearance has very low targets compared to residential,

And that folks, says it all, very low value targets. Yeah, the powerline ain't really worth that much, its just aluminium wire wrapped around a lonely steelcore. But then, I guess your life ain't worth much when you contact a high voltage powerline. And thats the thing a lot of other res. guys don't get, what other "target' kills you when you hit it? A house, a car, a boat, what?

Now Ekka, I blamed the guy here and his cuts, said it from the start. I never said that guys pulling the rope can change the direction, all I said was, that the rope should be pulled from the off lean side. Thats all.

 

[Rftreeman]

well said clearance.

 

[Industry]

But then, I guess your life ain't worth much when you contact a high voltage powerline. And thats the thing a lot of other res. guys don't get, what other "target' kills you when you hit it? A house, a car, a boat, what?

I'll drink to that!

 

[oldirty]

I almost always tie the end of the rope to something solid, usually another tree. This eliminates one direction that it will go. Then I go up the rope a ways and pull to the side in the direction that I most want it to go. If the rope has all the slack out that I can get before putting in the back cut, this multiplies my 200# by a factor of about 10, according to the local math instructor. I know it also works good when I get the truck stuck and I am by myself. The longer the rope, the more mechanical advantage you have.

PS. Once you move to ND this does not work as well to pull yourself out of ditches -- few trees or fence posts!!!

thanks for the info man. much appreciated

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

thanks for the info man. much appreciated

Yeah that is a nice method, you can use a french prussick to attatch or put a carabiner on the line before tensioning. I like to use a marlin-spike hitch in this.