Hobbs or GRCS

[RC0]

The Hobbs is better for negative rigging for all the reasons mentioned already, as well as the mounting options.

 

The preservation mounting on the Hobbs is ok but could still do some damage on certain trees and times of year.

 

Pre-loading the line during negative blocking can reduce the distance of fall as well as the burning which can occur when a sections has to be pulled up abruptly. You can draw out some of the slack as log folds on the GRCS aluminium bollard and similar fixed devices on 2 wraps or less....not as much as with a capstan winch (hobbs) but still enough to make a difference with practice. Pre-loading the aluminium bollard can be done to a 3:1 easy enough with a little pulley and friction cord.

 

With the GRCS (harken) and Hobbs you are committed to taking full wraps as opposed to having the option of half’s which you can do on the aluminium bollard, sometimes 1, 2 or 3 full wraps might be too much in a critical situation where there is no room for error....the hobbs relatively tight bend radius on a 19mm line doesn’t help matters either.

 

The Hobbs arguably promotes safer practice in regards to raising a load, two heads are often better than one; more than likely there’s going to be more than one grounds-worker on the job anyway, and that piercing ratchet noise from the hobbs is always a good ‘heads-up’.

 

The GRCS on the other hand offers many, many more possible applications and is more user friendly.....but without the foresight to make the best of all these applications, lots of current Grcs owners out there could probably get the same results from a basic portowrap i.e. there is little point in buying an Aston Martin and driving it at 30 mph. Great tools both of them....from a totally unbiased point of view now days, I honestly couldn’t pick the winner.

Good luck

[Craig Johnson]

A 33kg log, dropped approx 500mm, generated a peak load of 245kg on the rigging anchor point.

 

If I have any really big snatching to do, it will be with Reg's two pulley system, otherwise I shall make more use of vertical speedline or other non shock loading techniques.

 

its realy 245Kn at the rigging point, at its a mesure of force as the mass stays the same:001_tt2: F= M X A but thats just me been perdantic:lol:

[Peter]

True, and there is no r in pedantic!

[bob]

would it of been 66kg with it just hanging there

[Tom D]

Even better than the Hobbs IMO becasue you can pull rope though as the section falls, this is better than tensioning thew line.

 

If you are blocking a stem, a pretensioned line will be pulling the load into the stem (straight down) and cut close the cut onto the saw and cause problems. It can even make it harder to push the logs off the stem. (of course a pulling line could be used).

 

With the GRCS, if used withing a certian load limit which IMO is anything you would dare do with a 16mm rope!, you can leave the line untensioned (not slack) and as you push the log off the ground pulls in the slack right up until the log passes the pulley then its let out again. I dont think thats possible with the HObbs.

 

Of course there comes a point when this doesn't work, then you dig out the 19mm rope put the bollard on and get on with it.

 

We dont even take the bollard on to site unless the 19mm rope is coming aswell. All the blocking I have done with a 14 or 16mm rope has been straight onto the capstan.

 

You can do this with tha hobbs, that for me is one of the main reasons for owning one. Whats more you can do it with big bits that might damage the winch on the grcs.

[Rupe]

Yes, I think I have been told now! But i'm still happy with what i have!

 

BUT, as for big bits that might damage the winch, I dont think there is such a thing? If using 16mm rope you would break the rope before you broke the winch.

 

19mm, maybe not, that can handle more than the winch can.

 

Did you ever see the volvo drop test?

[Peter]

Was that with the winch or the bollard?

 

I don't find the winch as smooth to lower on as the bollard or the Hobbs, but that might just be me.

 

The winch probably is bombproof, but it feels a bit wrong to put big shockloads on a expensive Harken winch!