In praise of natural crotch lowering/rigging.

[hamdogg]

i'm a bit wary of rigging.

I don't like those pieces swinging around near my ladders.

 

 

😂😂👍👍👌

[kevin bingham]

I hate having to pull the rope back up to me to retire another limb. With a block and pulleys one tug and the rope is back at me and I'm ready to go. That alone is worth it to me.

[silky fox]

Great point Kevin!

[Gary Prentice]

I think the "youth" should be made to do a working stint "old school" to give them a better appreciation of the difficulties and techniques involved.

 

[BenR]

Using pulleys also transfers the load through more of the rigging line using all of the stretch in the system. rather that end of the rope getting most of the bang.. I will natural crotch but only if its just one or two pieces.. If doing a decent size removal as Rich said: Planning!! I dont often need more than two pulleys up the tree and I don't often move them round that much either. If I am going to be moving the rigging point around a lot for some reason I use the x rings splicing as a cambium saver so its retrievable.

[JaySmith]

I haven't used natural crotch since I first started out. For me using a pulley is a no brainer, it prolongs the life of the kit and also protects the tree, especially if you are reducing or pollarding.

 

I believe it can also help (less experienced) groundies to understand how quickly to let a bit run/stop it if you use a pulley or block as no matter what the bark is like the rope goes at the same speed. Even if I'm doing a quick limb removal i'll always use a pulley as it only takes minute to install and as some of our rigging ropes cost hundreds of pounds you want to preserve their life span and get the maximum use for your money

[Mick Dempsey]

@AHPP this one?

[AHPP]

19 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

@AHPP this one?

 

Yes. Cheers.

[manco]

On 23/10/2015 at 15:35, Mick Dempsey said:

I see a lot of vids and stuff of lots of pulleys and rings, whoopies, slings and God knows what else. I'll use hardware up the tree and at the base no bother.

But on anything less than epic I'll always go natural crotch, it's so much simpler and quicker. I'll change rigging points many times during a typical dismantle so re setting all the stuff for one or two pieces is a pita.

Sometimes I'm not sure if it's becoming a lost art.

The other thing I think people get obsessed with is "letting it run" it looks good and in a few situations like a spindly top, negative rigging blocks down or a rotten tree I can understand it, but why not just hold it for a couple of moments, let it settle then lower it down?

Don't get me wrong I'm au fait with all of that stuff, I just think it gets over complicated.

i agree.

too much clobber in the top overcomplicates and is more possibilty for something going wrong.

plan ahead, use multiple anchors and natural redirects, spread load and natural friction, less tight angles on ropes, each redirect becomes the tie-off as you work inwards.

letting it run relies on a good groundie, if it lands safely where its supposed to without damage thats a result.

or again a redicted to suspend from directly above to reduce swing when cut.

but this is a world where extra climbing ropes are required and backup personal anchors etc.

but isnt this what we train for and get paid for, to decide how much gear is needed?