OK, I am in no way professional, but also a helluva lot smarter and experienced than the average joe. Sorry in advance.
I grew up in remote parts of north central Kansas. There are no truly trained pros there. My family and I have been cutting down trees, putting up firewood, clearing messes for decades. No one has ever been injured. I take that as a sign we are not completely stupid!
Here is the question: I live around Kansas City now, and a few years back, I hired a fellow to take down some trees that were too close to my house and the electrical feed for my comfort. Nice fellow. We had a couple of tricky situations and he had me pull a bull rope (rigging) with my tractor. He had about a 7/8" or maybe 3/4" rope. It was perfect, far better than the cables or chains I have used in the past, since it had some stretch.
We could put a fair amount of tension on the tree, and the operator of the tractor did not have to worry about feathering the clutch or pulling too hard.
Fast forward. I cannot find the fellow any more, and moreover, I have to take down some large trees around an old house in western KS. I could not hire someone out there even if I wanted. The tractors out there weight 20k lbs and up and tear chains off in an instant. I need a line that will forgive a jerk here or there.
What I want is some of that very nice stretchy line this fellow had. He was a climber, used other line for that. This was his pulling line, where the stretch was a good thing.
I've been searching and reading sites for days and I just cannot find the right line. Most of the lines are bragging about their low stretch. I *want* the stretch......
Can someone point me it the right direction?
I grew up in remote parts of north central Kansas. There are no truly trained pros there. My family and I have been cutting down trees, putting up firewood, clearing messes for decades. No one has ever been injured. I take that as a sign we are not completely stupid!
Here is the question: I live around Kansas City now, and a few years back, I hired a fellow to take down some trees that were too close to my house and the electrical feed for my comfort. Nice fellow. We had a couple of tricky situations and he had me pull a bull rope (rigging) with my tractor. He had about a 7/8" or maybe 3/4" rope. It was perfect, far better than the cables or chains I have used in the past, since it had some stretch.
We could put a fair amount of tension on the tree, and the operator of the tractor did not have to worry about feathering the clutch or pulling too hard.
Fast forward. I cannot find the fellow any more, and moreover, I have to take down some large trees around an old house in western KS. I could not hire someone out there even if I wanted. The tractors out there weight 20k lbs and up and tear chains off in an instant. I need a line that will forgive a jerk here or there.
What I want is some of that very nice stretchy line this fellow had. He was a climber, used other line for that. This was his pulling line, where the stretch was a good thing.
I've been searching and reading sites for days and I just cannot find the right line. Most of the lines are bragging about their low stretch. I *want* the stretch......
Can someone point me it the right direction?