Sling shot for throw bag

[Jere39]

I am still harvesting dead Red Oak here. In PA, timber work is considered "Life Sustaining" and therefore legal. This particular dead Red was leaning in the wrong way, so I wanted to throw a rope through a very high Y crotch. Well throw would never have made it, but I own one of these Sling Shot tools, and nailed this sling on second try:



Pulled a static line through that crotch and applied a little subtle influence to assist the notch and hinge

 

[Saiso]

That’s some nice wood and technique! Right on

 

[Jere39]

After some rigging, I took the tree down: (Shortend a 4x speed to a minute)



Then had a great start on bucking it up till I must have rocked a couple cutters on my chain, so I quit to change to a fresh one and got a picture taken

 

[rancher2]

'That's going to make some nice firewood. Nice job. I wish I had a truck load of that size log to run threw my processor.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

When all else fails using a crossbow can get you over the top. Thanks

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Sweet!
Forty years ago I used to say "Tits!", but the kids grew up and said that's unacceptable.

 

[rarefish383]

Thanks Jere, I

After some rigging, I took the tree down: (Shortend a 4x speed to a minute)



Then had a great start on bucking it up till I must have rocked a couple cutters on my chain, so I quit to change to a fresh one and got a picture taken

View attachment 809769

Thanks, Jere. I always use a tag line. I usually can hit a limb with a rubber "JohnnyBall". But a Super Shot is slick. Wish more guys used a tag line, but, then youtube would go out of business.

 

[Jere39]

So, our fine Governor here in the great Commonwealth of PA has declared my county an ill-defined lock-down. But, I'm on my own property, and probably need some more exercise. So, this afternoon I strolled down to this tree with an old hardware store maul and halved about half of the tree (the fat end) so I can lift them up on my chopping block. The actual Splitting is scheduled another day.



Scout helps me identify the one I will chop on so I don't halve it too soon!

 

[Marley5]

Just went to the slingshot after years of throwing that damn bag.

Side business of cutting dead ash out of yards, many to go.

 

[Jere39]

Behind the Scenes
Ok, who has nearly 4 minutes during your shelter in place life to watch the exciting world of "what's happening on the other end of the static line". My son helped rig the line we used to steer this counter-leaning dead Red into a nice resting place between the surrounding trees. He also hung his new fangled Samsung S20 something or other in the crook of a small tree to record his high paced, intricate dance of the timberman. (Oh, and warn his mother to stay away from the woods edge). He's a great son, and in his spare time between an actual IT career, and helping me around here, he tours with a ZZTop tribute band.

 

[Skeans]

Just a thought but wouldn’t a jack be faster and easier then messing with a rope? Not trying to be hard on anyone I just come from a completely different background of production timber falling.


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[Jere39]

Thanks to all who view my posts, special thanks to all who comment. I post to share, and learn, from comments, recommendations, and questions. I never take any offense from comments.

I also am not cutting anything for timber, not even one tree. All my small time operation is in firewood, where I typically cut around 16 of these dead Red Oak a year. These are mostly around 100 years old, and run between 20-36" DBH. Some are longer dead than others, and as a one man (with a dog, a grandson, and an occasional son on a weekend day) I am never in a hurry.

I should make clear, I am not posting training guides for anyone else. I post my own work, and take all comments into consideration - Thanks again!. Some are so obvious I adopt them straight away. Some are so different from my objectives and they get ignored. Most are tucked away for some future reference when they might come in handy.

With that preface let me react:

When all else fails using a crossbow can get you over the top. Thanks

I can easily see how a crossbow would fit this bill, some of my friends carry crossbows with sights. I am curious, do you use a special weighted bolt, to ensure it will fall back to earth and drag the line with it after crossing the target limb/crotch? I don't own a crossbow, and I am a kind of use what you got guy. The sling at the beginning of this thread is about as high as I'll ever need (good thing too, it emptied my line sack). Thanks again for the idea. If I hadn't gotten the sling as a gift from the same son in later video, I'd likely go find a cheap used crossbow on CL and give it a "shot".

Just a thought but wouldn’t a jack be faster and easier then messing with a rope? Not trying to be hard on anyone I just come from a completely different background of production timber falling.


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I don't really know. I've never tried to place a jack and use one to steer a fall. In fact, if not for YouTube, I'd never seen it done. I don't know anyone here along the mid-Atlantic who uses one. Doesn't mean I couldn't. I've watched some local timber operations and find they mostly use skidders, dozers, or fellers to steer down trees in bulk operations, then drag the trees to their landing zone. Maybe we don't have big enough trees? Thanks for taking time to comment.

Good luck folks, stay safe, from tree, equipment, and virus. Thanks again for checking my posts.

 

[old CB]

Nice job, Jere. Using a jack is a west coast thing for trees so tall that you'd need to send a climber up to set a pull line at the proper height. Although yes, a crossbow with a light line can also get to the right limb. Jacking trees can produce poor outcomes when undertaken by the unschooled or underprepared.

For trees on the scale of what you and I cut, the BigShot is an ideal tool for setting a pull line, and a come-along to a tree is my standard pulling option. One caution, however. The tree you anchored the come-along to was on the small side. I've pulled an anchor tree out of the ground when it was overmatched by what I was pulling over. Yours worked just fine, so no worry.

Thanks for enlivening four minutes of virus lock-down.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

For certain situations a crossbow makes it easy. Sling shots have their place too. I use braided contractors line the most for the sling shot or crossbow. I most often do not use a bag. I coil the line right in front of me and shoot away. Once line is in place then pull some 1/2'' line then maybe some chain. One time I went to 1/2'' line to 3/8'' chain as it was a hard pull, but it worked well. My most convenient crossbow is small at 50 lbs. I have seen many decent crossbows used for $75. Typical hunting bows are about 150 to 175 lbs which will meet almost every ones needs. I have not weighted the bolts, but it might be worth the effort. There is almost nothing one can not do with a rope saw and a crossbow. Thanks

 

[unclemoustache]

I made something similar to this, but I used a 1 inch webbing strap fastened to the bottom of the pole and used a single cam buckle instead of all the pulleys.

Attached an archery release to it. Works great.