Works just fine. Fiddle blocks have their advantages/disadvantages, same as everything else. If you were so inclined you could build yourself a set of these, they've worked pretty good for several millennia now. Not as nice as pulleys, but they work just the same. The massdam is simply a rope come along, i use a 3/4 ton cm chain come along for similar tasks. The question becomes what are you planning on using them for? I use fiddle blocks for pulling easy backyard trees over, but that's about it.
I figured I would do a little up date since pulleys have started to roll in. After looking my first post, I would say I did a 180 from what I was thinking I needed and realized what would help me practicality. It was the universe or you guys, that got me to these pulleys, to cmi and thier factory seconds page. I got 3 of those pulleys for the price I could have gotten a cheap rock exotica pulley. In my first post i was asking about 1.1 or 1.5 inch sheave pulleys, i got 2 , 3 and 4 inch sheaves. And Oh boi those needle bearings keep on rolling baby, at least ten seconds a flick where the bushings die out in less than a second. Now i do understand that for the heavy i dont need that and a lil friction would help. These are exactly what I need the top picture is the two ton block on its side for 3/4 rope and the other one is for 5/8th rope 4 inch sheeve and needle bearings. That combo is going to help me lower some big chunks and make me some green. The other picture they are designed for 1/2 inch rope, I figured I could make a quick 3 to 1 to give some help pulling over trees in the right direction or redirects. As I learned the other day, it's always nice to have a line on what you are choppin down when the wind picks up and the trees are a dancing and you have to drop them in a very specific spot, because they are leaning the wrong way and the wind is blowing the same wrong way.
Thank you all who have contributed to this thread, know that you have helped me get what I needed most and not some shiny heavy paper weights.
Thank you all who have contributed to this thread, know that you have helped me get what I needed most and not some shiny heavy paper weights.
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.... I have said this before , if only this place had been around earlier ! Scary world of the self taught climber , then Gerry published. Used to just ask the suppliers what was the most popular when throwing down my money , getting solid real world advice from established non competitors all over the world is an amazing resource reallly. As Butch said "Tree House Rocks !"
It took me a little bit to find the flaw(s), and dare I say that I have bought new items that weren't in as good condition. On one pulley it was like the Anodizing didnt stick or somethimg to 4 tiny spots around the edges, the size of a pen head. They were all in the finish but nothing that actually dug in or scratched the metal. After using them once they wouldnt be any worst off than if I bought firsts.
Your sooo right about how amazing forums are and how the information can be found to advance you years in knowledge. without working a day. Example the wind picked up and I needed to place a tag line in the dead branches that I was removing. The first one I did I kept trying to get the line tighter and it was still saggy no matter how hard I tried. Then I remember that I had seen on youtube and read on here about a truckers hitch to obtain a quick mechanical advantage, with a carabiner. When tightening the line I had to be careful I started to hear creaks out of the branches I had the line in. I would have never thought about something that had I not already watched.
I wish I knew of a place like this when I was starting out 25 years ago. Trial and error was how I learned a lot back then. Maybe the occasional bumping into another company and watching them work.
I don’t use a ton of pulleys but rigging blocks I prefer the ISC’s. I’m on my third set of the green 1/2”. I bought them when they first came out and I beat the hell out of them. This last set has lasted the longest but I’ve also backed off on my abuse. I’ll replace them with the same.
what friction hitch do you guys use for a progress capture? for some reason i have liked the vt on everything i have been using lately.
i love mechanical advantages! i have just learned i can make a complex 9to1 with three of my pulleys, and its so much simpler than a simple 6 to 1 if you dont have a set of threes. just need one more prusik cord/ friction hitch. the picture is kinda hard to see but the setup on the right is a 5to1 and the one on the left is the 9to1.
I love that green block. Own one as well. Tough little bugger and light. My go to for most of a tree or most take downs. Until we get into serious weights.
Yeah the small ones. I have a pair of the blue 3/4 blocks that I use for the bigger stuff now. It took me years to destroy a 3/4 isc. That was from a sling failure and the block made it to the road before the log. I also have two of those oversized yellow 3/4 isc blocks. Very rare I use those.
Just pulling big or redirect Misaligned. Rarely dumping wood in to it…. that can generate enough to break one of those.
but machinery can jack shit quick.
I’ve taken pretty big pieces with those blocks in double whip configuration. Chunks well beyond 1/2” single whip capacity. Those little 1/2”ISC’s do a good 90% of my rigging.
I highly recommend the FTC MicroCylinder.
I’ve always preferred a fixed bollard over a floating portawrap type lowering device, but I may be biased because I didn’t use a floating one until maybe 12 years into doing the work. You can definitely get by with either.
The MICRO-CYLINDRE 2.0 is a friction device used in tree care to hold and lower loads during felling and branch or log removal. It is a lighter and more compact version of the MINI-CYLINDRE 2.0.Made entirely of aluminum, it won’t heat up and won’t burn your ropes. It’s a clever addition to...
www.wesspur.com
Are you familiar with how the components should all be rated and where in your system the weakest component should be?
Obviously if anything breaks, someone made a poor decision, but if any part is to fail, it should be the rope. Slings that are holding blocks and lowering devices should be a little overbuilt compared to the rigging line. If the rigging line breaks, you’ll lose the piece, which could kill someone or smash a house and possibly have someone in the line of fire of getting whipped with a rope at a pretty high velocity.
If a sling breaks, you’ll have a portawrap launched very hard, upwards, possibly at the climber, or you’ll have a block launched at the ground. And you would also still lose the piece.
Usually (maybe not always?) with the most common ropes you see used in tree work, that means you’ll see 9/16” or 5/8” slings on blocks, rings, and lowering devices used with 1/2” rigging ropes, and 3/4” or bigger slings used with 5/8” rigging ropes.
Make sense?
If you actually need 3/4” rigging lines with 7/8” or 1” slings, you’re braver than me. I don’t trust most trees to hold up to whatever forces it’d take to break 5/8” double braids, but I’m cautious to a fault probably. I’ll always choose to take a smaller piece. My 5/8” rope is rarely used.
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