Pete Bannister

Something is definitely wrong then! So check your hitch knot/s. Check and be 100% sure the rope and cord are what you think they are. What length is your e2e? What configuration are you climbing on? Photos would be helpful

Impressive crane: big gulp at the end as others have said. Glad it went well: Check out this vid at 45 seconds. Similar scenario?

Gulp!

Good points Jules,

Must say, I 'd like to go with Blake's hitch. Do you find it holds ok for higher loads Mistahbenn? I heard somewhere that its prone to slipping at higher loads..but maybe that's when tied on same section line thanks

You mean ...Impressed that I can say it.. me too! I should say that, in my field, this is a technique to apply to find the extent of decay when you know that decay is present. I wouldn't advocate it as a primary decay detection technique. The type of hammer is entirely dependent on the material being tested and, critically the ergonomics of the situation. Ive used all sorts of tools and have made up a specific tool on more than one occasion. Size, shape and heft range from an engineer's screwdriver (which is always in the pocket of my overalls) through wood mallets, steel hammers, nylon and dead- blow mallets for aesthetically or surface sensitive stuff. I have a particular steel wrecking bar that is better than just about anything else in many overhead applications (ergonomics I guess). Ive tried many others and they dont come close to this particular one for some reason. If Ive learned anything about the technique its that the 'hammer' needs to be 'tuned' with the tested object/structure. So, trying a range of sizes, weights and balances is necessary for the useful results. Ive used a dead-blow mallet on the sensitive decorative surfaces of carved oak beams and found that an engineer's large screwdriver held against the surface of the timber and your scull near to the ear to pick up the resonation works OK but was very awkward to apply. Estwing Deadblow Hammers Anyone have experience of the technique on thick barked trees?

I'm interested in this tread, not because I have any expertise in the field of living wood but I do have experience in testing 'dead' timber structures for decay. We use decay detection most days of the week and have done for decades. However, I remain a fan of hammer testing or 'percussion auscultation’ ( if you want to be paid more for it! ) ever since I tested my own accuracy at interpreting hammer soundings on insitu timber beams (circa 300 x 200 and 400x 400) against decay detection drilling. We found that hammer sounding interpretation was at less than 10% variance of the drill detection. In total we tested 7000 linear metres of timber. All P. sylvestris as I recall and decay would all be by brown rots

What about using a Super Munter Hitch ( a.k.a Double Munter, or Monster Munter). Tons of friction if you want it and it doesn't twist the rope like the standard munter

thanks guys Sloth I was trying to avoid connectors and other knots in the leg. A prussic would mean adding a connection and a knot in the leg ( to connect to the connector). But it would'nt require any extra thought to perform it..which is always good Paul That's certainly less of a memory drain than tying and icicle hitch is for me. A klemhiest would also involve adding a connector and a knot..unless you just form a big open loop with a knot in the leg and tie the klemhiest with that? What do you use? cheers Pete

I'm thinking of trying an icicle hitch for a 11mm (ish) ‘spider’s leg’ balancer line back to my 16 mm lowering line for some medium limbs. Its a one-off for me and probably not worth investing in a long spliced eye Anyone have advice on suitable hitches for the application? thanks

The abraised slings would fail at only 40% of their stated max. loading. Nylon slings or kevlar TGB?

Sorry Nick....its what Grais said. and they're called screamers cus that's what you do when they deploy!

I’ve not used an SJ but....if its acting on your climbing line, then the line is the elastic element in the system...apart from your body and harness of course! The dropped test weight in these tests will (I think) result in a different load curve than a human body of the same mass When working on short strops/lines where I could take a fall of more than say factor 0.5 I add a screamer into the system; either to protect me or more often, to limit the load on the anchor So with that in mind, why not introduce a screamer as the link between the SJ (or whatever) and the harness in situations where a high fall factor is possible Regards Pete

Nice post. Sulphuric acid will do that to most timbers..but stopping the process is difficult to control....so maybe it would be easier to do mechanically. I’d be distressed too if I had eczema like that...strictly for non-smokers!

Congratulations on a great facility! Its the first time Ive looked at it. I'm wondering where the end of the second eye is on this icicle hitch? Always has two ends through the final bite whenever I’ve tied it before best wishes Pete Bannister

In the end, boric acid is the product deposited in/on the wood. Wykabor is formulated to obtain optimal penetration in use and for the product to remain stable before use. cheers Pete Bannister

excellent movie..thanks for posting it. Still stomach-clenching after watching it Would be of great value in a wider forum e.g. gardening, home maintenance etc. Ladders have such a bad safety reputation in commercial use in the UK that some organisations have just about ‘outlawed’ their use. The reputation is undeserved. As your movie illustrates, it’s the user not the tool where the problem lies. HSE publish useful guidance on safe use of ladders for users and employers in the UK

That is outrageous... that tree should go in green waste and she even put plastics in the paper and cardboard bin...tut

Dan, the mycelium doesn’t look like a mould ( i.e. utilising wood cell contents). It looks more like a wood-rotting fungus ( i.e. utilising the wood cell walls).

Here's some background info on grading timber, as promised last week for Farmerjohn http://http://www.catg.co.uk/CATGGradingguidelines.pdf TRADA are the other main body issuing info on E/UK grading but this little CATG document is nice and simple yet comprehensive. they publish a useful list of stuff online and free.

H, re-supported and glued back together using a gap-filling epoxy resin with similar modulus of elasticity as the timber. The glued joint then stitch dowelled with ss rod embedded in a less viscous epoxy resin. 'Theoretically' that would restore the timber to its former state. However, because its former state was inadequate for the stresses ( because of the slope of grain issue) further failure would be possible as fibres part parallel to the glued joint as the load is reapplied to the truss. That is a design issue rather than a materials issue; so it was agreed to introduce a raking post at the joint node. this satisfied the headroom requirements whilst not reducing floor plan and it could be argued, added to the aesthetic because its a traditional timber framing technique. Apparently the roof finishes didnt require any action. The overturned brickwork and blockwork was rebuilt Sorry for the delayed reply!

We only get invited once Albedo! But no one ever forgets that party

Very interesting thread . Thanks for the posts Ross; it takes intelligence to question judgements of this sort. You are always ‘exposed’ when stepping out of line and it requires a certain degree of courage Tony Croft is expressing the polemic here as he does elsewhere and with great effect. It is absolutely necessary to do this because as this case demonstrates so well, ‘professional’ judgments are so often based on nothing more than speculation: no real measurements: no real science. If we don’t have real data on which to base judgments about significant cost or safety issues, experience shows that most of us resort to prejudice. That is the antithesis of good judgement.

Now that is an achievement!.

[ame=http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsIk1V_C3DQ]http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsIk1V_C3DQ[/ame] Came across this and thought it was really quite impressive. Could do with some editing mind but there’s only so much one can do singlehanded Apologies if its been seen before