Sorry for the late reply, Ive been out this morning. The mid-tie, or near mid-tie makes the clove hitch more secure. A clove is a fast knot to tie and really strong, but probably not the best cinching knot out there. Its also better to put more line that side of the block than less, where possible. The bark was pretty loose in places, so again, putting the line a little higher not a bad idea.
Butch, yes my 201 was a first generation. I was probably a little hasty in squashing it, as I probably coulda got a couple hundred of somebody.
La because, the hook is a petzl biner with a flat plastic edge to keep it aligned for that purpose I believe. Theres a name for it that I cant remember. Somebody gave it to me recently.
Pete, the block and falling logs were aimed at 90 degrees from the lowering device, so while it probably looked close on the video nothing actually clashed. A couple times toward the end I noticed my climb line was snagged on my right spur and almost got hit, but still didnt. I used to do lots of that kind of work but very rarely nowdays.
Cory, for long logs like that its easy enough just to tip the cart from the back and then drag it out from under the log. You dont need to tip it sideways. I used Nicks usaver for the climbline DdRt until the logs got too wide. After that I just set it straight DdRT around the trunk. Thanks