Rigging equipment to direct the falling of trees while thinning woodlot.

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Abbeville TSI

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Nottoway County, Virginia
I have used chains and a wire rope com-a-long before, but I know those are not the proper tools for the job. I won't be pulling on large trees or trees near buildings etc. that may be damaged. 18" DBH would be the limit on size, and few of them. I just need to direct the lay away from the trees I want to keep. Most trees will be 6 to 12 inches at the butt.
I'm not looking to do this on the cheap. not my way of doing things. I need some suggestions for the rope, a rope come-a-long, pulleys and such. I will have to teach myself, so I need a good reference book as well. Throw line and other necessities.
Thanks for the help!
 
I have used chains and a wire rope com-a-long before, but I know those are not the proper tools for the job. I won't be pulling on large trees or trees near buildings etc. that may be damaged. 18" DBH would be the limit on size, and few of them. I just need to direct the lay away from the trees I want to keep. Most trees will be 6 to 12 inches at the butt.
I'm not looking to do this on the cheap. not my way of doing things. I need some suggestions for the rope, a rope come-a-long, pulleys and such. I will have to teach myself, so I need a good reference book as well. Throw line and other necessities.
Thanks for the help!
A bean bag throw line to get a rope in a tree.
A one eyed sling to anchor a pulley to a tree to control direction.
A few 4 in pulleys
A 1/2 rope .
 
https://cmigearusa.com/collections/clearance
On this page, you can scroll down a little and find the RP137D double pulleys. Get 2 of those and some 1/2” rope then you can make a 5:1 mechanical advantage, or a 4:1 or 3:1 Z-rig if you like. I’m a big fan of using MA to pull trees where I want them. CMI gear is made in US, and excellent quality. Not quite as pretty as Rock Exotica and DMM stuff (I got lots of RE and a couple DMM pulleys too), but every bit as durable and reliable.

I got two of those pulleys, they shipped free, was exactly 50$ to my door for two of them and I’m almost certain they’re sold as factory 2nds because of a tiny blemish in the anodized finish. I never would’ve noticed if I bought them at retail price. They won’t sell you something that has compromised strength or build.

A 5:1 takes a long piece of rope. Add a prusik cord to it for progress capture and you can put tension on the system and walk away without it going slack.


One little side thought, since you posted this in Arborist 101. You really need to have a working understanding of how a face cut/ back cut and the remaining hinge functions, or you will still botch your lay, even with all kinds of tension and force on it. If you cut through your hinge or don’t leave enough holding wood on tension fibers, it will go wherever nature says it’s going.

Check out Maple Leaf Ropes for a good polyester double braid at a pretty remarkable price too, if you need rope. They’re a good company, they treat their customers well. They might even be a member here, I’ve seen them on other forums.
 
https://www.treestuff.com/maasdam-rope-puller-kit/Basically a come-a-long that uses a rope instead of a cable so you never run out of pull. I won't use it for anything heavy or a back leaner, but for just a little direction it works great with simple set up. That link has the choice of getting the kit with the puller, rope, and endless sling.
The 4-1 and 5-1 mechanical advantage is great and can pull a lot more, just takes a little more set up and parts to the system.
Get a decent throw line. The cheap ones function, but the good ones are night and day difference. Two lines and two weights is ideal for when you get one stuck. Lol.
As stated above your hinge is ultimately what's going to direct the tree all the way down. The rope just gets it moving.
 
I have used chains and a wire rope com-a-long before, but I know those are not the proper tools for the job. I won't be pulling on large trees or trees near buildings etc. that may be damaged. 18" DBH would be the limit on size, and few of them. I just need to direct the lay away from the trees I want to keep. Most trees will be 6 to 12 inches at the butt.
I'm not looking to do this on the cheap. not my way of doing things. I need some suggestions for the rope, a rope come-a-long, pulleys and such. I will have to teach myself, so I need a good reference book as well. Throw line and other necessities.
Thanks for the help!
This is overkill for what you're describing, but consider that once you become comfortable with the operation, you may want the capacity to pull larger trees near buildings. I use a grip hoist, which is like a comealong on steroids: https://www.tractel.com/us/product-applications/griphoist
It has the added advantage of being able to accommodate longer lengths of cable, so you don't run out of pull before it's leaning the way you want it Mine has 60' of line. OSHA approves of them for use in scaffolding for high rise construction, so that will tell you how bomb proof they are. I'm not parting with mine, but I do have about 250' of half inch wire rope (steel cable) slings with pressed eyes for sale. They're in good shape, in lengths of 25', 50', and 75', for extensions. I've also got about half a dozen Skookum and Mallory 8" snatch blocks for sale, also in good shape, for increasing pull power and adjusting angle of pull. I've pulled leaners up to about 42-44" dbh with that set up. If you're interested, I'll throw in a choker or two and a military surplus four ply fabric sling (for anchoring). You'll also want to get some good quality shackles to connect the wire rope slings together.
 
I bought a 9000 lb winch that mounts in my trailer hitch. That and a heavy sling and a heavy snatch block, 150’ of 5/8” rigging line. If I tie my truck I can pull over a lot of larger back learners as long as I think the hinge would be stringy enough to hold on. Wouldn’t try it on a maple but have done hundreds of dead ash trees. You can make your hinge hold on longer if you cut vertical from the top of the hinge down a bit, let’s those holding fibers bend more. I know it’s overkill for what you’re doing but I have used it for many other things since I bought it. Don’t know how I did this job before without it. The rope puller and throw line sound perfect for your stuff. We pulled over just the stalk part of a 30” diameter back leaner with the rope puller yesterday because I couldn’t get my truck between the houses. After we climbed and took the tops out in small pieces of course.
 
I'm planning on a Maasdam rope puller, and at least one pulley for redirection. I'm thinking 200 feet of 1/2 inch line will work to start with. These are not big trees that I am planning to take down, I just want to avoid getting them hung up which is a pain to deal with. As I work alone I need to work carefully and use all the mechanical assistance that I can get. The biggest piece of motorized equipment I will use is a Wheel Horse garden tractor which is not heavy enough to pull trees or anchor a rope, I use it to pull my little trailer with my saws and such.
Thanks for the replies!
 
I'm planning on a Maasdam rope puller, and at least one pulley for redirection. I'm thinking 200 feet of 1/2 inch line will work to start with. These are not big trees that I am planning to take down, I just want to avoid getting them hung up which is a pain to deal with. As I work alone I need to work carefully and use all the mechanical assistance that I can get. The biggest piece of motorized equipment I will use is a Wheel Horse garden tractor which is not heavy enough to pull trees or anchor a rope, I use it to pull my little trailer with my saws and such.
Thanks for the replies!
You can use that to assist. It'll pull more than you can by hand. If you do, put a redirect pulley at the base of a tree so that the rope is coming straight into the machine. Also, consider getting some tire chains for it.
 
I'm planning on a Maasdam rope puller, and at least one pulley for redirection. I'm thinking 200 feet of 1/2 inch line will work to start with. These are not big trees that I am planning to take down, I just want to avoid getting them hung up which is a pain to deal with. As I work alone I need to work carefully and use all the mechanical assistance that I can get. The biggest piece of motorized equipment I will use is a Wheel Horse garden tractor which is not heavy enough to pull trees or anchor a rope, I use it to pull my little trailer with my saws and such.
Thanks for the replies!
That's a tough row to hoe alone. Although if you cant get an experiened helper you might be better off.
 
That's a tough row to hoe alone. Although if you cant get an experiened helper you might be better off.
It's really not, just slow going alone, once you have done it for 35+ years selective cutting dead or dying for firewood it's easy. This made removing monster trees up against structure or homes easy in urban tree removal so I went with it over a decade ago.

Your gonna need that rope, 50, 100 and a 150.
3/4" bull line 120+ft
You need three ropes for redirects.
Two good shot lines with one and two pound throw weights are your new best friends.
12oz doesn't help me out much unless your up a tree. The two pound rubber pear ball is the ticket shooting lines over roofs or cars, trucks whatever. Setting up hinges and felling rows of trees all at once is not only fun but practical some days. Making leaners also plays into it.

The cabled snatch block lug-all is singularly the best mule team your ever going to have in tight woods. I've got three in two sizes or get the rope puller tool. Shackles are used quite often to rig slides, rope couplers, zips and double eye flat slings for chokers on trees or whatever.

Two saws minimum, I bring six or more sometimes, one guy, one 4x4, pu or my Camry gets it done. I pull trees with the Camry. 5-1 comes out sometimes for light pulls on big trees in tight spots. You cut and pull from the same spot by hand, literally and sometimes off a redirect to who knows where or what.

Vehicles are a poor choice to pull with on back leaners before you get them up straight. They can and will drag your vehicle on poor ground but not pavement or concrete. Blocks and an emergency brake are good choices sometimes in the city. Short hooking right up against your choker point to that low choked block with a lawnmower will work with little risks when done right. No chance of sliding backwards if your at the redirect point or right up on the block. We've had three 3,500ld lug-alls loaded down on an uprooted big white oak blown over onto the house but not broke. We put it back up with those three rigs and nothing more. It was down at a 55* or more angle. Anchor points are everything! I started about twenty feet up on two large oaks in the back yard near it.

Out in open woods I use my truck, long ropes, shallow angles and a rolling bridal across the front hooks. Having a locker in the front of my 97'GMC Z71 ext cab SLT three door, heavy half ton pu makes quick work with some mediocre traction in the wet leaves.

I don't like electric winches because they can be too slow for quick redirects or simple pull overs on rotten trees.

You need a hinge. Again you need a solid hinge!!!! If you have no holding wood.... do use the sap wood on the face of a hollow maple tree. So... your dealing with something pretty sketchy. Cripple cuts are something to NOT be using near structure and they tend to have unpredictable tendencies every time but on small snags or dead pecker poles.

Having two rope lines on one tree I know is hollow is good to keep it under control. Felling into a high line as a slide way works. Felling onto another rigging line is okay if you go slow and have a seriously good anchor point like a choker and shackle in a natural crotch or better yet choked to the main stem with a shackle and a two eye nylon flat strap. Getting rigging back is easy if you have that third line to hang it from 😉

Be smart and stay safe kids.
A mellon protection device is highly recommended for falling sticks and limbs.
I tried to keep it all written in crayon, like usual 😁
K.I.S.S. and run when **** goes wrong or finish with a power pruner like I have so many times before. Yes you will crush the pole eventually, oh well.

Don't work tired or distracted.
Keep your head on a swivel.

Did I miss anything?
 
I have used chains and a wire rope com-a-long before, but I know those are not the proper tools for the job. I won't be pulling on large trees or trees near buildings etc. that may be damaged. 18" DBH would be the limit on size, and few of them. I just need to direct the lay away from the trees I want to keep. Most trees will be 6 to 12 inches at the butt.
I'm not looking to do this on the cheap. not my way of doing things. I need some suggestions for the rope, a rope come-a-long, pulleys and such. I will have to teach myself, so I need a good reference book as well. Throw line and other necessities.
Thanks for the help!
Buy static lines only DO NOT use dynamic ropes for pulling loads.

Forgot that bit.
 
Two good shot lines with one and two pound throw weights are your new best friends.
12oz doesn't help me out much unless your up a tree.th

You are pretty far behind the times. My heaviest throwball is a 16oz, and 12oz is lots and plenty for almost any toss. A two lb throwball is likely to break a lot of stuff if it goes awry from where you aimed it. That, and it's got to be hard to get much height/accuracy setting a rope when you are using one fourth of a shot-put.

The only reason I can think of for having a heavy weight like a 2lb ball would be if you have a coarse, heavy throw-line. Try some zing-it. Made of Dyneema, the line is exceptionally strong, and it glides through trees with almost no resistance.

Check it out here: https://wesspur.com/items/thr101.html
(one of our sponsors!)
 

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