A Good Rope for Pulling Over Trees

[Old Monkey]

I need to pull over a large ponderosa pine and need a longer line than I have. All of my rigging ropes are around 150' which works fine. I've got to go through a block to redirect the pull so tying two together may not work. I probably should have a 300' rope for the odd job like this but do not want to break the bank and buy the Amsteel Blues although it would be cool. Any ideas?

 

[stehansen]

How hard will you be pulling?

 

[Old Monkey]

Moderately hard. Its hard for me to judge the force needed but I think my GRCS could pull hard enough to get this tree to go where I want it. Its going to be a truck pull though.

 

[Old Monkey]

I should point out that I hate trying to deal with 300' of three strand.

 

[Al Smith]

Try 600 foot sometime and see how you like that .

 

[SkwerI]

I think I would simply figure out how to do it with tying two ropes together. It shouldn't be too difficult to set it up to where you won't have to pull the knot through the block.

As far as a 'good' rope, any rope with 6000 lb or better rating should be plenty. If I were buying a new rope, I'd buy one best suited for my long term intended purpose, not one solely intended for pulling over a tree.

 

[stehansen]

What would be wrong with a piece of 5/8" double braid?

 

[blue]

I'd just use an old bull rope. Last week I was with BigA pulling an Oak outta a lake using a 5ton Tirfor winch.At time we reckon we were very close to putting 5t through an old line of Andy's, no breakage, knots came out easy after, you'd be amazed what punishment a piece of rope will endure.
Admitidley we'd never use it for lowering again but as a pull line it's fine

 

[Al Smith]

Disregarding my smart alec comment about the hundred fathom hank,B has the idea .It isn't like you have to pull that much to get it to tip .

 

[klimbinfool]

#1 what size are your rigging lines? #2 whats the distance from Redirect to anchored point in tree?. How big is the tree? If you have enough to pass through the pully with the first rope, why not tie together. Sure it's better to use a single line for strength, but I've pulled pleanty of trees that way when I didnt have long enough lines.

There are pleanty of factors involved when joining to lines togeter and going to make a pull. Weight, lean, line angle, strength of rope, what kind of rope face cut, hinge, etc... but we dont know the situation. Just use some good common sense. I preferably like to use double braids when pulling heavy loads, but thats me.

 

[Thor's Hammer]

Ha. Try handling 1200 ft of inch steel cable, or as in this pic 3000 ft of 10mm..

 

[Old Monkey]

I'll pass on that Ed. I've seen folks reel that back in between two nailed together boards just to keep enough tension to get it to spool on nicely.

Unfortunately, I think that it is somewhere around 150' to the redirect tree. I would love to just to tie two of my ropes together and call it good. The job is a ways up into the mountains from here and I need to have everything on hand to make it happen. My 2 blocks top out on 5/8ths. I have a 5/8" 150' stable braid, 5/8" double esterlon(sp) 150' and a 1/2" stable braid that got seriously frayed and will soon be cut to 120' or so. The double esterlon was a mistake and never gets used. I wouldn't mind a longer 1/2" if it could take being used for pull offs. That Amsteel is very tempting but this tree job would just pay for it and one guy for the half day this is going to take.

 

[Al Smith]

At one time I had about 250 feet of 5/8" high flex crane cable on a reel that I pulled some trees using the old D4 Cat .Kind of a pain to use but I never broke it .

It's gone though.Years of neglect and improper storage did it in .As it is now ,two reels of 600 each of 1" three strand nylon plus some shorter ones, properly stored .

If you look in the far back portion of my avatar one of those reels are present in the pic .

 

[NickfromWI]

Darin- I have 200' of 9/16 Double Esterlon that I could sell you for a great deal. If 200' will do it, let me know and I'll ship it out.

I think dyneema, vectran, technora, etc makes the best pull/lifting line...if cost isn't an issue. It's great to feel the direct effect of your work. Some people say they like to take advantage of the elasticity of nylon/polyester ropes- tensioning the rope after the notch, then relying on the bungeeness to pull the tree over.

It seems someone who likes to set it up before the backcut would want the stretch and people who have someone pulling while the back cut s being made would prefer a no stretch line.

love
nick

 

[Old Monkey]

PM me your price Nick. Two hundred may do the trick and then be of more use to me later on.

 

[SkwerI]

Set one rope in the tree. Attach the other rope to the truck and through the block and run it as far as you can towards the tree. Tie the ropes together there.

-or-

Determine how close you can get the truck to the redirect block. Use one short rope to go from the truck to just before the redirect block. Attach the second (150') rope there. Run the 150' rope through the block and towards the tree. Attach third rope to the end of the 150' rope. Route third rope over the top of the tree and down the back side of the trunk, pull all your slack and tie it off above your notch placement.

 

[Al Smith]

That elasticity is a point I never pondered .That much three strand could exibit a lot of stretch . To get it tensioned could present a problem barber chairing the tree on the back cut . . Take some chains and binders with you OM .

 

[darkstar]

Just think if you were Burnham all youd need is a bag o wedges.

 

[Old Monkey]

I'd like to have Burnham on this tree with me. I'd be real interested to get his take on it.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Got any pics of it yet Darin?

 

[Bodean]

A good three strand, lays nice.

Easily spliceable and plenty strong if you marry it with a good user.

 

[Old Monkey]

You sick Californians will marry anything!

 

[No_Bivy]

hey Nick....something funky happened with your splice.....I get some pics

OM...htp is awesome for pulling

 

[rbtree]

Yo Darin,

I still have 300 of 600 feet of 1/2 inch PSRope Spectra that I'll never need. 24,000 lb tensile. Only good for pulling, though. same as Amsteel, one step down from Am Blue.

But 1.50 a foot is way more than you'd want to spend. Nick's rope would have other uses.

Calculate at what distance a knot would hang up and tie two of your lines together in a way that it won't bother ya. Might work. I've done it a few times.

 

[stehansen]

You sick Californians will marry anything!