I bought a Bend Right ring a few weeks back and am getting ready to splice up a sling for it. I have made/used loopies, whoopies and regular eye slings, but have never made/used an Ultra sling. For those of you that have experience with both, which do you prefer…and why? The Ultra has a certain appeal, but what concerns me is that the wear points are constant. With a whoopie, every adjustment moves the stress point at least a little. And an Ultra will either be snug or it won’t. The whoopie allows you to at least get most of the slack out prior to loading. Thoughts?
Ultra vs whoopie sling
- Thread starter treesmith
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ruel
TreeHouser
Ultra
ruel
TreeHouser
If The snugness is important I go for a dead eye ring. If it's not(it's usually not important if Your rigging point is 4-6 inches low) ultras are so fast.
Jonny
Treehouser
I hate whoopie slings unless I’m standing on the ground to adjust it. Then I just moderately dislike them.
Make an Ultra, it’s so easy, and if you decide you don’t like it, you can easily take it apart and make a whoopie or dead eye.
Make an Ultra, it’s so easy, and if you decide you don’t like it, you can easily take it apart and make a whoopie or dead eye.
flushcut
TreeHouser
I’m a loopie, dead eye kind of guy.
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- #6
And would you use the Ultra for heavy rigging? My heavy is generally 1000-1500#. Biggest chunk I ever rigged we (Carl and I) estimated at 2250# I think it was. White oak…8-1/2’ long…~28” diameter, best I recall. I’m wondering if the Ultras are good for the heavy stuff as well?
flushcut
TreeHouser
1” ultras might get you there. Single line? Double line? Or Double whip? That’s a big chunky chunk fo sho!
Jonny
Treehouser
Make it out of a quality 3/4” hollow 12 and yes definitely probably. Catching 1000 lb shock loads sure. Catching 2250 shock loads from a 10 foot drop on a not-so-stretchy rope and not letting it run a wee bit…. spooky.
Static loads of 2250 all day if you want though.
You got the 12 strand to build it already? I got some 3/4”, I’ll send you a piece to make a 12’ ultra if you want. I’m never gonna use all this.
Static loads of 2250 all day if you want though.
You got the 12 strand to build it already? I got some 3/4”, I’ll send you a piece to make a 12’ ultra if you want. I’m never gonna use all this.
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- #9
I’ve got a piece, but thanks. That big chunk was rigged on 5/8” PolyDyne, using an ISC 3/4” block (not the giant one), on a brand new 3/4” TenexTec whoopie I made up. Carl took 4 wraps on the bollard and it barely ran. (Didn’t have a lot of room to run).
The Ultra should be strong enough, theoretically, as it’s doubles its entire length. Like I said, the fact that the load points are always the same is what worried me.
The Ultra should be strong enough, theoretically, as it’s doubles its entire length. Like I said, the fact that the load points are always the same is what worried me.
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- #10
Here’s a pic of that tree. Not the piece I’m rigging here, but the next one, the one where I’m positioned in the pic, was the big one. I rigged off the one I’m rigging in the pic, then swapped to the 5/8” (new) Polydyne to rig off the big one.
Jonny
Treehouser
Polydyne is nice for energy absorption. Not so nice if there’s a chance of bungee-smashing shit, but IME that’s kinda rare situations.
ruel
TreeHouser
I think tests have shown ultras are basically 2x line strength. No weaker than whoopee/ loopies IME .
lumberjack
Young man on the go
That was your job, wasn’t it?
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- #16
Treestuff lists working load limits of 4250# for the 3/4” Ultra…and 4480# for the 3/4” whoopie. I am curious as ti how they arrived at those figures, as the Ultra seems inherently stronger by design.
On another note…would that WLL be the weight of the piece being rigged, or is that the TOTAL recommended load…(a 4250# chunk could easily generate double that in forces).
On another note…would that WLL be the weight of the piece being rigged, or is that the TOTAL recommended load…(a 4250# chunk could easily generate double that in forces).
That is what the sling can hold in a static rigging setup. If you are using it for a block, it's saying that you can have 2k on the rigging line, so when it's run over a pulley it would see a 4k load because the 2 part line. I might need to splice up an ultra....
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- #18
That was my interpretation as well, Kyle, but I’m wondering what in the world folks use when they rig out 3k# pieces? I’ve heard folks claim as much as 3500# logs negative rigged. My biggest rigging stuff is 3/4” Tenex, though I do have a 1” Tenex eye sling I made for pulling stuff. If the 4250/4480 is max load, then a 2000# chunk would certainly be pushing it.
They list 3/4” Tenex as having a minimum break strength of 22k…in an ultra configuration, that should be theoretically doubled, though I’m sure some would be negated by the splicing. Should still easily have a break strength of 30k+.
I generally use 1/2” Stable Braid when negative rigging, up to 500#. Beyond that I swap to 9/16”, and at 1000#, I go to 5/8”.
They list 3/4” Tenex as having a minimum break strength of 22k…in an ultra configuration, that should be theoretically doubled, though I’m sure some would be negated by the splicing. Should still easily have a break strength of 30k+.
I generally use 1/2” Stable Braid when negative rigging, up to 500#. Beyond that I swap to 9/16”, and at 1000#, I go to 5/8”.
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flushcut
TreeHouser
There is no way I’d neg rig a 4000lb chunk without double lines and a guyed, perfectly healthy four foot DBH oak as the spar. The shock load would be no less than amazing.
Jonny
Treehouser
The sling is doubled except for the eye, right? Like the spliced eye or splice holding the ring in place is still just a single rope.
Somehow I wouldn’t anticipate the eye being the breaking point if tested to failure. No idea why,
ruel
TreeHouser
At that point, just say F your garden/ lawn. Cheaper to repair lawn than the risk multiplying from negative rigging huge picea
treebilly
Student of the Jedi. OH-7106A
I like the ultras because they’re so fast to set. Haven’t broken one yet. The rigging line should be the weak link in the system. The down fall of the ultra is the amount of cordage used. I think it takes 24’ to make a 10’ sling with 3/4. Could be wrong and can’t check my notes till I get home
