zip wires?? info

[ratcatcher]

hi all, bit of help/info needed if you can

 

I own some woodland in kent, only a small patch of 7 acres, am doing a little bit of hazel coppicing, but not touching the big trees, its more a place for the family to enjoy and our friends, anyway, we have wanted to install a zip wire within it, now I can only find packages via evil bay that sell a zip wire kit

 

Zip Line / Zip Wire Rope Kit. 6mm x 50meter Length with Cable Slings & fasteners | eBay

 

 

is this the best way to go, or do those of you that use ropes and pulleys all day know of a better way

[WorcsWuss]

Looks decent enough kit, don't whether it's expensive or not though...?

I'd say you'll want a coupe of pulleys & a length of cord to tension it up initially, there's less than a foot of pull on the two turnbuckles together.

What were you thinking for a carriage?

Either way, sounds like fun!

[benedmonds]

I spent several hours yesterday making and playing with one for the kids in the garden. It worked OK, but I only had dynamic rope with to much bounce... We replaced the wire winch cable off the landrover so I might try that. I have also just brought a Petzl Trac of ebay as the single fixed pully I was using didn't seem to run very well.

[Quercus-90]

I'm pretty sure the guys at Tree life installed a big zip line, might be worth chatting to Tim wise

 

 

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[ratcatcher]

Looks decent enough kit, don't whether it's expensive or not though...?

I'd say you'll want a coupe of pulleys & a length of cord to tension it up initially, there's less than a foot of pull on the two turnbuckles together.

What were you thinking for a carriage?

Either way, sounds like fun!

 

probably something like this

 

ZIP WIRE TANDEM TWIN WHEEL PULLEY Zip Line Trolley with sealed ball bearings | eBay

 

with a harness fixed under it?

[WorcsWuss]

probably something like this

 

ZIP WIRE TANDEM TWIN WHEEL PULLEY Zip Line Trolley with sealed ball bearings | eBay

 

with a harness fixed under it?

 

Just the job

You'll want a sling and a couple of biners to attach the rider's harness to the tandem pulley, I guess a 1m nylon loop sling will stop even the tallest riders from getting their hair tangled or slitting their throat on the wire rope.....

 

You'll need a buffer/damper at the bottom as well to stop you ploughing into the tree, a nice long stiff compression spring slid over the rope secured with cable clamps will do the job. A rubber donut at the open end wouldn't be a bad idea to stop the pulley from being damaged when it hits the stop.

Unless you go for the rather uncomfortable arse/floor braking system of course.....

[ratcatcher]

thanks for the replies, we were going to test it the redneck way

 

camp over, get everyone drunk, then dare the heaviest person (biker) to "have a go"

 

I've got an old tyre but where to get a spring?

[Al.]

I've just done one in our woods, and I got the wire and fasteners from here (8mm wire) Flints

Reading on the site, a steel core is better than a fibre core for zip lines.

The carriage I got off ebay from a russian company (I'll dig out the details if you want) bit underwhelmed with it, but it was only 30 quid, and does the job fine.

I didn't worry about a brake; its over a valley, and with a bit of slack in the wire, the take off speed is good, but than naturally brakes as it goes up the other side. Its about 70 metres. The seat was a log on a rope.

 

Al.

[Al.]

 

Here's one of the first test runs; lobbing my 8 year old over it....

[Garyjp]

 

Here's one of the first test runs; lobbing my 8 year old over it....

 

Awesome... Wish i had one as kid. Rather fancy havin a go now im just a big kid lol

 

 

 

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