Speed lines

[Stumper]

I haven't used one a lot-in fact only once.,but it sure worked slick. I was doing a removal alone. I had five limbs on a cottonwood that need about 20 feet taken off the ends and lowered/diverted. The rest of the tree could be blocked and dropped safely. I rigged a line across the yard and tensioned it by hand (rigged blocks for a 3/1 advantage). Went up the tree with several biners and pieces of rope about eight feet long with eyeslices in one end. Tied the branches one at a time and stuck a biner thru the eye and clipped it onto the zip line.(these were dead limbs and not very heavy so I wasn't worried about slight dynamic loading as the limbs swung down and across2-3 feet) I cut 'em loose and they slid down and piled up right in front of the gate as planned. It was fun.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?threadid=2997&perpage=15&highlight=speedline&s=&pagenumber=1

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2787&highlight=speedline

 

[Tom Dunlap]

There are two parts to working safely with a speedline. The first is the tools the other is the physics. I'm sure that you'll get a lot of advice here about which tools to use to set up the speedline but the more important part is understanding the physics.

If you want to learn the physics start with a copy of the manual for the ISA training "The Art and Science of Practical Rigging", ASPRn. Dr. Pete Donzelli wrote the book. You should also consider getting the tapes that go along with the book. Read up on all kinds of sling loading. You should also go over to the ISA Discussion Forum and see what is in the archives. The real physics of speedlining has been discussed pretty thoroughly over there. If you don't find what you need in the archive, start up a thread there too.

The NAA also has a speedline video that Don Blair and Robert Phillips worked on.

The consequences of setting up a bad speedline could lead to disaster. As you learn this technique, start with very small pieces on a job where you don't HAVE to use a SL. If you find that things aren't working out, use more traditional means.

Tom