Rigging a spar

[Rowden the cowboy]

how long does it take you between cuts to re rigg everything reg?

 

Not only that but how much is it costing you in gear? Two blocks, two lowering ropes, one pull rope and a friction bollard? Its all a little bit extravagant and for the time it must take you to rig each cut you could just ring it down in smaller pieces and just put a pull rope on them to make sure they didn't roll down the hill: just as safe, more ergonomic and efficient for the ground crew, and you wouldn't be taking £1000+ worth of gear into the tree with you. Then that way you could have one groundy on the pull rope and the other two could actually do some clearing up instead of lowering stupidly big bits of wood.

[Ian Leach]

Not only that but how much is it costing you in gear? Two blocks, two lowering ropes, one pull rope and a friction bollard? Its all a little bit extravagant and for the time it must take you to rig each cut you could just ring it down in smaller pieces and just put a pull rope on them to make sure they didn't roll down the hill: just as safe, more ergonomic and efficient for the ground crew, and you wouldn't be taking £1000+ worth of gear into the tree with you. Then that way you could have one groundy on the pull rope and the other two could actually do some clearing up instead of lowering stupidly big bits of wood.

 

If it wasn't for people like reg we would all still be in the prussik age breaking our backs, His methods might sometimes take longer but theylook a darn sight safer than just tieing a rope on and pulling hoping it doesn't bounce back and go down the hill with you following behind it.

 

Only way to evolve IMO.

Edited October 21, 2009 by Ian Leach
sp

[David Riding]

just put a pull rope on them to make sure they didn't roll down the hill

 

Could you explain to me how you would have taken up the slack on a pull rope quick enough after each lump came off, and even if they did not roll very far down the hill how you would pull them back up again

 

Also what if a tractor and forwarder is being utilised to take timber away in lengths. A £1000 worth of kit is hardly a lot to take on a decent take down

Edited October 21, 2009 by David Riding

[David Riding]

Damn he ringed it up, thats my leave it in lengths for forwarder theory out of the window . And on second look may be that slopes not as steep as i thought, still think it was better rigged though.

[Mr Ed]

Reg did it that way because thats how he does it. Tree on ground safely, quickly and without incident. There might have been 10 other ways of getting it down, but so what?

[RC0]

Glad you enjoyed it guys:thumbup1:

 

ShreksWB, probably a little less than it would take to rig the sections in two, although those 1inch dead eye’s are awkward to work with.

 

YPudding, that’s Steve’s dog which I’ve asked him many times to leave in the truck.

 

Buzz, it just sat there, I didn’t mean to end the vid so abruptly.

 

TomD, its windows movie maker.

 

Indeed Martyn, and for extra security. Losing one of those logs would have been a disaster, such was the steep bank down to the house. We had to be so careful even walking on top of the wall for fear of dislodging the stones and sending them rolling down the hill and through the lower windows of the house.

 

Not only that but how much is it costing you in gear? Two blocks, two lowering ropes, one pull rope and a friction bollard? Its all a little bit extravagant and for the time it must take you to rig each cut you could just ring it down in smaller pieces and just put a pull rope on them to make sure they didn't roll down the hill: just as safe, more ergonomic and efficient for the ground crew, and you wouldn't be taking £1000+ worth of gear into the tree with you. Then that way you could have one groundy on the pull rope and the other two could actually do some clearing up instead of lowering stupidly big bits of wood.

 

Rowan, I am a freelance climber, have been for many years now….so it goes without saying that I’ve always had lots of rigging tackle, goes with the territory and comes along when you hire me. Needless to say, I rarely get hired to undertake ornamental pruning.

I didn’t buy all that gear the day before just to do that one job….and seems as I already own it, I’m certainly not going to discard it if it’ll make my job easier and safer.

 

I can well appreciate that video footage whether web or high quality doesn’t always give the viewer a true perspective and appreciation of scale, dimension and distance etc, so I personally try not to be so quick judge people and their chosen methodology as you have done here. So without judging you or your suggestions, what I will say is that if I’d asked another climber to go look at that job for real, with a view to fill in and finish it for me, and he favoured a similar method to that you suggested….I’d tell him he wouldn’t now be needed and good luck with the rest of his career.

 

instead of lowering stupidly big bits of wood.

 

Are you saying I am stupid for lowering big bits of wood or the wood is stupid just for being big?

 

And there were only 2 guys on the ground and not 3 as you implied. They cut up each stupid log while I was setting up for the next one…..surely it is more ergonomic (your term) to have 2 guys cutting up the wood on the ground as opposed to one guy doing it strapped to a tree stood on a pair of spurs?

Edited October 21, 2009 by RC0
typo

[Squirrel1]

Agreed with totally good points Reg,,

 

Another good video pleasure watching,,

[mistahbenn]

That dog made my PMSL! hahaha funny! Nice big lumps mate, the LD is certainly standing its ground!

 

See ya soon hopefully. Benn

[gibbon]

Reg

 

Do you supply your own groundsman when you you contract climb?

 

Do you think you would have been working close to the limits of your system if you'd been using just 1 pulley and lowering rope?

[Mark Bolam]

Super stuff again Reg, great comments in defence of your methods as well!

 

I'd have felled it in a oner with Steve's dog in a harness on a pull line.

 

Pics/film often distort the true picture as we know, and it's usually the guy doing the job that makes the right call on how to do it. Or he ends up in the 'Bloopers' forum!

 

Medium pine TD next week, so your vid was a shot in the arm to adjust some of my own rigging methods.

 

Thanks for posting.