O.C.G.D. Thread, part two

[lxskllr]

I actually haven’t used it yet, so not sure how it cuts but it’s been recommended to me. My latest Gomtaro blade is junk. Cuts really well but flexes and bends on the push stroke if you’re not careful. I wish I kept the old blade, it was much more solid and I’d like measure the blade thickness compared to this one.
I got an old Samurai Ichiban too that is a great low cost saw with impulse hardened teeth.

I love my zubat. That thing really tears through the wood. I suspect the tsurugi will have a little more flex, and I also expect it'll be more precise for pruning cuts, especially with the thin straight blade. That's less useful to me, but should be great for arborist work, especially when making tight cuts. While not ideal for my purposes, at $10 for silky quality, I think it'll do just fine.

I have a folding gerber that has a blade that's supposed to be sharpened with a chainsaw file. I've had it >20yr. It cut great when new, but I didn't know what I was doing when I sharpened it, and now it cuts weird. Not exactly bad, but not as good as new, and definitely weird. That's from back when gerber still made US stuff, and blades are NLA, so I can't buy another one and do a better job of sharpening it. I can't remember what the blade's supposed to look like :^/

 

[Jonny]

Ha! It was way better than any Christmas or Birthday when I got home to big pile of climbing and rigging gadgets and a few nice saws I was a total EBay sniper lol

@lxskllr i think you’ll sing a different tune once you see and use the Tsurugi blades, though your Zubat might still be a little faster because of the curve. Medium teeth are still crazy aggressive, I think the large tooth blade is 8 teeth per 30mm and the medium is 10 per 30mm. At a glance I can’t tell them apart. I’m excited for some weekend work so I can try it out.
Share a pic if you can fashion a useable handle please. I might have some thin poly sheet that could probably work well for a scabbard too, shoot me a message if you want to try making one. Should be pretty simple for straight blades.

 

[Raj]

After a search, I found a company that had a 3 ton, in stock, and seems like it was old pricing. Came to $600 CAD, next supplier was $800!!

The new rope on my maasdam elongates so much it gets thin and jumps out. Tried a new maasdam, same thing.

I have some big pulls on bad trees I need to get done.

 

[lxskllr]

How much pull were you putting on the maasdam? I get slippage, but it's getting pretty close to capacity when it does. That looks like a nice unit. but $600-$800 is pretty spendy.

 

[Raj]

I had some old nylon 3 strand that really worked really, really well in the maasdam.

The new polyester seems like it slips at about 3/4 of full load.

 

[Burnham]

For that money, you could have a 8k Warn...just sayin' .

 

[FireFighterZero]

Why do they have such a weird name? Whats it all mean Basil?

 

[Raj]

For that money, you could have a 8k Warn...just sayin' .

Not in my area. The Canadian dollar is a bit weak. Not many suppliers keep a good inventory, and are charging more. And besides, plenty of my work are not accessable by truck, small backyards, etc etc.

Jim, manufacurer names.

 

[Jonny]

I forget the manufacturer, maybe Atlantic Braids or All Gear, but I got some 12 strand that’s very much like True Blue, and it works great on the Massdam. Great light-ish rigging line too, take’s a whooping.

 

[Raj]

I was going to get some, good reminder.

 

[Jonny]

Mo stuff
Cool little aluminum bollard lowering device and came with it’s own storage box. Been using the same homemade steel one for years and finally got tired of toting it around, pretty heavy. This little FTC micro is crazy light, can’t wait to work it!
Also some 3/8” and 5/8” Stable Braid, some UltraTech cord, some rings, and some splicing stuff.

 

[Bermy]

Ooohhh I like the looks of that bollard!

 

[Burnham]

Agreed.

 

[ruel]

That bollard is some cunning! Are those the rings for your MCRS build?

 

[cory]

Lol, 'cunning' is a very Maine word

 

[Jonny]

Just one of the large rings will go on the back of the MCRS, and maybe one or two on the bridge, might use a swivel or Rook though, gotta finish building it still. Most of the rings are gonna get spliced into friction savers and on a prusik. Gotta learn and practice double braid, and if that goes well I’ll do 16 strand next.

The lowering device seems very well made. If you factor in the cost of a store bought dead eye or whoopie sling, it’s not much more $ than a large porty, and I’ve always preferred a bollard strapped to the trunk over a portawrap. Nice big hole above the barrel for attaching the homemade RopeJack too

 

[Tree09]

Need pics of the homemadeness going on....

 

[Jonny]

I’m not very original. My old foreman and mentor had one of these, and I just stole the idea, then when I saw the Stein lowering device with the winch I kinda stole that idea too. It’s just a boat trailer winch bolted on with a carabiner to hook onto a prusik for hard tensioning and light lifting. The winch handle wouldn’t turn with the bollard in the way, so welded a nut to it and use a 15” ratchet and socket to crank on it. Honestly the winch doesn’t get much use, and monkeying with prusiks while trying to get a piece down is time consuming. Still handy, and can be worked by a single person on the ground.

Had a friend that does this stuff professionally build it. Had to machine some steel out of the I beam to make it fit, and beveled the edge of the barrel to get a full penetration weld that I think he called a “ root pass”... metal stuff is not my forte. Then a few mig passes.
I’m very happy with it and I wish I had a second one I could send off to get break tested. I love seeing innovative design tree gear, but I always have a tiny bit of doubt on stuff that’s never been load rated or cycled to failure. It’d take something massive to break it, but if it did break.... *shudder*.

 

[Tree09]

Nice man!!

 

[treesmith]

Do any of you use a visor with the GRCS? I used mine once or twice before getting a visor, and it beat/tore the pads all up. I always use the visor. And when using my red bollards, I always notch them into the tree to eliminate any vertical movement.

 

[flushcut]

I have a visor but I haven't felt the wood was big enough to warrent its use so far. One day.
I really like using the mini with BMG to stand stuff up. Faster or slower and can go from lifting to lowering instantly depending on how much run you have in the system. Or ride the mini like a cowboy with the lowering in hand. I can't say I prefer this method but it works.

 

[SeanKroll]

Just chunked onto my grcs bollard for the first time. I hung it, solo. Fiddled to find a good spot for good contact, then tightened it, solo. Had no movement.
I’m curious about the visor.

 

[Jonny]

After loading it the first time after mounting, you can snug it up another click or three.

 

[Tree09]

I don't have a visor on my homemade one, never has been an issue. And I've dropped some pretty heavy stuff on it too. I would be more inclined to add a choke below it before cutting one in i think....

 

[Mick!]

What are you guys referring to when you use the word ‘visor’