pulley saver question

[brendonv]

There is a video on youtube showing a silver spacer in that pulley, and it doesn't have the gap yours shows.

 

[bstewert]

I mentioned that silver spacer to Luke, and he could only speculate it might have been a prototype. So we are both in the dark on that one.

 

[top_notch]

Off hand, I'd say that 80% of the top tie- ins I work from are set by hand.
So no big deal.












But then, I'm an old-schooler!

I hear ya, but I'm all about shooting a line up if at all possible, but sometimes it just doesn't work that way. I've never used any pulley or friction saver, but it would be nice to try something out in the near future.

 

[pete mctree]

from the supplied information I got with the pulley;

spacer for pul 120 (large pulley) - part no. pul120-00SPARD

 

[Marc-Antoine]

Does this have to be installed in the tree by hand, or can it be done from the ground?

Yes, you can install it from the ground. It's the same way with the Rope Guide.
There's a thread about the last on the french arborist's forum, see posts n°9 and 10 (better pic):

http://www.allo-olivier.com/Forums/viewtopic.php?id=6634

Down side, it's a little complicated and very heavy to pull like that. In your system, I think the throw line will cut the hose's plastic with the friction.
So, for an easier way (and lighter), you can put a second throw line in the pulley instead of the rope. After you set the system in place, pull the rope throw the pulley with the second throw line and it's ready to climb.

 

[bstewert]

Tried it out today, about 50' up. Any guesses if it was retrievable from the ground?

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Maybe with a little finesse?

 

[Treepreacher51]

Sure it was, and that throw line prolly made for a nice and easy trip back down.

 

[bstewert]

Hopelessly stuck. The Pinto pulled out of the eye OK, but then the eye got so stuck in the crotch I had to climb back up to get it.

 

[Bounce]

Thank god I'm not the only one. Could you just cut the hose off the eye so it isn't so bulky?

 

[bstewert]

Tried that, but it didn't work with this particular hose. The shorter it got, the more it tended to fold, then the pulley wouldn't pull through.

 

[Burnham]

What's wrong with a ring?

 

[SkwerI]

I just don't get it. If you're tied into a 10"-12" fork like what is shown in the picture above (post #31) then you're typically below half the canopy of the tree and can't reach enough of the tree to be worthwhile anyway. In all my years climbing I tied into about 3"-4" limbs about 90% of the time and never used a 'friction saver' except on pines due to the sap. I went through a phase where I wanted to be Mr. Arborist and do everything by the book and using a friction saver on every tree lasted about 3 weeks before it ended up in the bottom of the gear bag to disappear forever.

 

[MasterBlaster]

No friction saver here, ever.

 

[brendonv]

When I was gear happy I tried using a FC. First time got it stuck in a crotch and had to go fetch it.

Now a days I have a home made one out of 3 strand with steel rings. I use it most for tying above the crane ball, and very rarely I'll use it on a normal climb. Most of the times I find I like the extra friction from a natural crotch.

I'm over doohickeys and doodads, fuel the saws and truck and let's get to work!

 

[stig]

Beg to differ.
I'm about as old school as a climber can be ( though I have evolved past the Blake's hitch and swear by a Hitchclimber today!) but I'll use a friction saver on anything but beech trees.
They have such smooth bark that it is almost frictionless anyway.

 

[bstewert]

Wow, Skwerl, you never use a friction saver? I wonder what would happen to my rope on the birches here, where the crotches look like the back of an iguana. The white oaks have tight crotches that will snag the spliced eye of your rope for sure. And the firs can be so gooey, your hitch will not work at all.

Brendon, I see your point about gadgets, and I am about ready to chuck this one. Hamel made it look so easy in the video, so I was just trying to see if I could make it work. It would be way easier to just hang a pulley off a static line. Another thing, unless you have a convenient branch to keep that throw line away from the main line, it's kinda asking for trouble.

I still like the concept, but maybe it's only useful on a spar.