Benjo75
Treehouser
Does anyone here use aerial friction? I have an AFB and haven't seen where anyone else uses them much. Here's my review.
Pros... I don't have to set up the big tree brake just to take down a few limbs. Half the strain on the rigging point. It's amazing how much less stress it puts on the rigging point. It makes the groundman look like superman.
Cons.... It's harder than I thought it would be to pull the line back up. I usually have to grab the opposite end and flip it upward if I'm more than a few feet below it. The groundman can't hardly pull the rope back up to me. Especially if it's way up a tree and there's a lot of rope hanging. My main con is it has almost ruined a good catch rope by impregnating it with aluminum. The corners wore down about half way through the first hard day of use. Wonder where all the material went? It got ground into the rope. I have been using that rope for a few weeks since last using the brake and my hands still turn silver pretty quick.
Overall I really like it. I don't use it everyday. Mainly if I just need to catch a few limbs and it would take longer to set up the GRCS. Or if I'm in a pine where I can set it in the top and get 1 wrap and start at the lower limbs and work my way back up. I don't use it a lot on spread Oaks where I need a variance of wraps and or redirects. It's great if I'm short a man. He can catch the limb then I can run the rope while he pulls the tips. How many times have we sat patiently in a tree watching one groundman fighting with the brake, pulling the tips and the but leaning continually the wrong way. Overall I would definitely buy it again. I also don't use it as much as I thought I would. But I also have a lot of other tools I couldn't operate without but don't use every day. It works great in it's place and when it's needed. Like when you're a man short.
Pros... I don't have to set up the big tree brake just to take down a few limbs. Half the strain on the rigging point. It's amazing how much less stress it puts on the rigging point. It makes the groundman look like superman.
Cons.... It's harder than I thought it would be to pull the line back up. I usually have to grab the opposite end and flip it upward if I'm more than a few feet below it. The groundman can't hardly pull the rope back up to me. Especially if it's way up a tree and there's a lot of rope hanging. My main con is it has almost ruined a good catch rope by impregnating it with aluminum. The corners wore down about half way through the first hard day of use. Wonder where all the material went? It got ground into the rope. I have been using that rope for a few weeks since last using the brake and my hands still turn silver pretty quick.
Overall I really like it. I don't use it everyday. Mainly if I just need to catch a few limbs and it would take longer to set up the GRCS. Or if I'm in a pine where I can set it in the top and get 1 wrap and start at the lower limbs and work my way back up. I don't use it a lot on spread Oaks where I need a variance of wraps and or redirects. It's great if I'm short a man. He can catch the limb then I can run the rope while he pulls the tips. How many times have we sat patiently in a tree watching one groundman fighting with the brake, pulling the tips and the but leaning continually the wrong way. Overall I would definitely buy it again. I also don't use it as much as I thought I would. But I also have a lot of other tools I couldn't operate without but don't use every day. It works great in it's place and when it's needed. Like when you're a man short.