Keeping hold of the lowering rope

[mikecotterill]

How to retrieve the lowering rope? As many have already said: get groundie to tie it on your climbing rope and pull it up again; what could be more simple?

 

Sorry for asking a question that is so obvious, I clearly wasn't born with the knowledge you must have been born with! Unfortunately until i know everything about tree work I'll have to keep asking questions and using the forum for what it's for!

[Steve Bullman]

Don't take it to heart Mike....some things are more obvious to others than they are to you. I for instance never really thought to use that particular method that so many others use. It does seem straight forward and obvious, but i prefer my method as it doesnt involve the groundie. they can unclip the branch thats been lowered and be on their way with dealing with that mess whilst i can take care of the rope retrieval myself.

 

Also....if it takes them 10 seconds to clip the lowering line to my line for me to pull up and i lower 15 branches then thats made up for the 2 and a half minutes it took me to put on the bollard and set the rigging pulley

Edited December 4, 2011 by Steve Bullman

[treequip]

Treequip: no, I haven't tried any of these gadgets, I hope you don't think that that fact disqualifies me from having a view on the subject... I would be happy to try them, my mind is not closed to new ideas. Let's stick with the branch lowering question for the moment: it's just lowering a branch by rope, it's not rocket science but I suspect that the manufacturers of the gadgets and possibly the colleges and HSE would like it to be. The more complicated something becomes the more training is needed and the more it all costs. My point is that it is not necessary, whether it is better or not is debatable. As I said before: No offense intended...

 

Well if you put it like that modern techniques and equipment aren’t necessary, the same could be said of modern cars, we could all go back to the triumph herald, but you wouldn’t want to.

 

A lot of people (many of them practitioners) have put a lot of time and effort into advancing techniques and equipment. I for one wouldn’t want to go back to what I regard as the dark ages.

[Mike Hill]

The old School methods have their place when for what ever reason you don't have the modern gear on site.Lowering devices and pulley's speed up removals by virtue of smoother lowering of often larger peices than what is prudent with natural Crotch and Trunk wraps.

[paddy]

Stein telescopic retriever works perfect. Use it every rigging job.

 

stein telescopic retrievers are good if they were build stronger the clip broke on my one the first hour in the tree

[WorcsWuss]

Sorry for asking a question that is so obvious, I clearly wasn't born with the knowledge you must have been born with! Unfortunately until i know everything about tree work I'll have to keep asking questions and using the forum for what it's for!

 

Mike, pulling it up your climbing line is fine unless there are limbs between your line and the lowering line, so it's not always the answer, quite often you will need to pull the line back from the pulley end rather than the floor...

Quickest answer is usually just a whippy stick sent up from the floor.

Before I ascend I stick a marling spike hitch & a crab onto the climbing line for anythnig I need sending up, be it the sling & pulley to rig up in the first place, or a stick to retrieve a rope...

[Steve Bullman]

Before I ascend I stick a marling spike hitch & a crab onto the climbing line for anythnig I need sending up, be it the sling & pulley to rig up in the first place, or a stick to retrieve a rope...

 

Problem there is you then have a nice knot in your line that could get caught up in a fork when you're pulling your rope through the crown.

[WorcsWuss]

Problem there is you then have a nice knot in your line that could get caught up in a fork when you're pulling your rope through the crown.

 

You're right, I'll only do this if I don't have to pull my rope up for anything else.

I've not had anyone help me yet who can put one in properly!

As with everything there are a million different answers and some great methods I've never thought of using coming up here...

[Eagle]

New gear makes life so much easier and less effort for the climber and groundie. Simple!

 

I thought the ART Ropeguide was expensive and stupid until I tried it....same with the Spiderjack! Now I use both of them when I can. Going up and down a big oak hip thrusting with a blakes hitch isn't something I want to try again!

[Grandad]

Sorry for asking a question that is so obvious, I clearly wasn't born with the knowledge you must have been born with! Unfortunately until i know everything about tree work I'll have to keep asking questions and using the forum for what it's for!

 

Apologies if I have given offense, it wasn't my intention.