I cut a lot of pines and have problems with sap getting on my climbing line and hitch cord and making it hard to tend slack as the sticky hitch wants to grab and not release. Anybody got any simple solutions besides changing an expensive piece of cord?
Sappy Hitch Cord
- Thread starter Limbrat
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B Harrison
ArboristSite Guru
Use a different hitch, maybe 2 on top and 2 on bottom if your doing 2/3 now?
I've got spare basic prussik loops and older rope for sappy trees but we don't get to prune many so mainly removals and single stem at that so branch walking isn't a big factor. Wears off the wire core quick enough anyway and loops go in the washing machine. Saves the stupidly expensive cord pulley thingie (French prussik... ???)
95% of the trees in my area are Ponderosa Pines, and that's what I climb 95% of the time. I have to deal with pine pitch on my clothes, my tools, all my gear. It is a pain in the butt all right.
Mostly I climb ddrt, and I always use a friction saver over the limb I use for tie-in point. My climbing rope runs through the friction saver as it goes over the limb. That keeps my climb line and split tail mostly free of pitch.
I was using a work-positioning/safety lanyard that adjusted with a prussik, and that was a constant battle against pitch that made the prussik bind and extremely difficult to adjust one-handed. So I replaced that with a wire core lanyard and a mechanical adjust--can't think of the term for that thing at the moment--which is a huge improvement.
Mostly I climb ddrt, and I always use a friction saver over the limb I use for tie-in point. My climbing rope runs through the friction saver as it goes over the limb. That keeps my climb line and split tail mostly free of pitch.
I was using a work-positioning/safety lanyard that adjusted with a prussik, and that was a constant battle against pitch that made the prussik bind and extremely difficult to adjust one-handed. So I replaced that with a wire core lanyard and a mechanical adjust--can't think of the term for that thing at the moment--which is a huge improvement.
+1 on using a friction saver or similar device. It will solve your problem.
Pine-sol...
