Rope question

[cory]

I have a 1/2'' x 120' Samson blue streak 16 strand climbing rope which I've always used rigging. Probably 50/50 pulley vs natural crotch. It has a 1.5' section in it somewhere near the middle that is very stiff, not pliable at all like the rest of the rope. I was just wondering what causes that. It doesn't seem to be caused by pitch as it isn't at all sticky or dirty there. Anyone here have a guess?

Thanks.

 

[Tucker943]

Did it milk both ways and meet in the middle?

 

[MasterBlaster]

Hmmm. I know when you glaze a rope from a heavy load that will happen, but it's usually a lot more then 1.5 feet.

 

[cory]

It doesn't seem like glazing, its not burned up on the outside at all.

No, there was no milking on either end.

I guess I should retire it cuz a mysterious stiff section in the middle can't be a good thing. Ive read in the past stiff sections in rope being mentioned but wondering what it is from.

 

[Tucker943]

I'd bet you cant go wrong by making a light duty pull line out of it.

 

[Bermy]

Something's not right, I was taught to look out for stiff sections in a rope, could have been overloaded momentarily, the core could have melted a bit...

 

[Raj]

Would be interesting if some of the core strands could be looked at.

 

[GemCutter]

Email Samson and explain the problem. I'm guessing they can figure it out.

A year ago, I emailed them with questions about minimum bend radii of small diameter amsteel blue and ultimately other questions on strength under various uses.

I got a lengthy call from an engineer to make sure they knew the complete variables I was interested in, followed by emails with very complete answers. He was happy to answer all of the follow up questions I had.

Excellent service for a customer that had only bought a couple of hundred dollars of their products.

 

[cory]

I'd bet you cant go wrong by making a light duty pull line out of it.

Absolutely. Just gotta stay diligent that it doesn't end up in a heavier duty app in a pinch.

Something's not right, I was taught to look out for stiff sections in a rope, could have been overloaded momentarily, the core could have melted a bit...

Agreed. Treestuff to the rescue with some new line. Not worth pushing it.

Would be interesting if some of the core strands could be looked at.

I may cut it open later.

Email Samson and explain the problem. I'm guessing they can figure it out.

A year ago, I emailed them with questions about minimum bend radii of small diameter amsteel blue and ultimately other questions on strength under various uses.

I got a lengthy call from an engineer to make sure they knew the complete variables I was interested in, followed by emails with very complete answers. He was happy to answer all of the follow up questions I had.

Excellent service for a customer that had only bought a couple of hundred dollars of their products.

Good to know. Thanks.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

Can you open it like burying a splice and look?

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[cory]

Nah it is HARD, impenetrable basically.

 

[PCTREE]

Could something have been spilled on it?? If the section is stiff that implies that it is not pliable hence brittle, NOT GOOD. Cut the section out and you could have 2 short ropes.

 

[treesmith]

I have an Arbor-Plex rope I just retired that got a BUNCH of pitch on it in a gooey pine a couple of years ago. While most of it wore clean, there was one spot about 6" or so, that never softened back up. Stiff as a board.

 

[flushcut]

I have a 1/2'' x 120' Samson blue streak 16 strand climbing rope which I've always used rigging. Probably 50/50 pulley vs natural crotch. It has a 1.5' section in it somewhere near the middle that is very stiff, not pliable at all like the rest of the rope. I was just wondering what causes that. It doesn't seem to be caused by pitch as it isn't at all sticky or dirty there. Anyone here have a guess?

Thanks.

Did a large section get lowered, porty got hot and rope not taken off quickly and "baked" the rope at the wraps? Either way cut it out and have two short ropes.

 

[HolmenTree]

I'm thinking the same too about the porty baking the rope.
I had a 9/16" Stable Braid with a short stiff section caused by a Bee Line prussic that slipped on the rope when pulling with my pickup. Baked it real quick.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Could have baked over a crotch as well.
I had a hank like that that was my climb line I had to leave in a hung tree situation. Top had hung up and I bailed to take an approach from the ground. Unfortunately, the FC got stuck and I had to leave the line while we folded the tree.... Top hit the rope and glazed it some.. It had one stiff part that just did not feel right. I retired it right then and there.
I still use it for a pull line to this day with out failure. Makes for a nice rubber band so to speak.
Retire the rope from high risk and use it as a pull line for tossing some lesser risk trees. If it does snap, well... then you'll be able to do some forensics. JMO and I work in the woods a lot.. So I have more options than some

 

[cory]

I dunno, but I guess I'm leaning toward Treesmith's idea- pitch that penetrated