I bought this 'rig and ring' recently http://www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?category_id=1923&item=9012 , used it a lot for the first time today removing 2 large dead ash, virtually everything had to be roped down, it went very well and smooth . I've always been a huge fan of blocks http://www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?category_id=235&item=139 as they are bulletproof, eliminate virtually all wear on the rope, and rope retrieval between cuts is usually blazing fast and easy which lends itself to our preferred style of rigging- smaller, faster, more cuts rather than slower, fewer, larger cuts- easy on the ground crew and fast.
Pluses of the rings for us are: they're light and easy to use and quick to set up in most situations, they are pretty easy on the rope, and they have a bit more friction compared to blocks and since my ninja rope guy has hydraulic winches for arms and prefers to use just leather gloves as his friction device, he can more often use these with no porty.
About the only disadvantage is rope retrieval is a bit slower due to the added friction. One other dis is when setting it up on a stem where the length of the device is a tad long for the stem diameter- if there is no crotch to hang it on, I haven't figured a way to shorten it up just a bit to better cinch on the stem.
Anyone else have experience with these? I was thinking I should get a longer one with 1 or 2 large rings spliced to the end and just set it up snug on the stem using standard cow hitch same way you hang a block. Thanks.
Pluses of the rings for us are: they're light and easy to use and quick to set up in most situations, they are pretty easy on the rope, and they have a bit more friction compared to blocks and since my ninja rope guy has hydraulic winches for arms and prefers to use just leather gloves as his friction device, he can more often use these with no porty.
About the only disadvantage is rope retrieval is a bit slower due to the added friction. One other dis is when setting it up on a stem where the length of the device is a tad long for the stem diameter- if there is no crotch to hang it on, I haven't figured a way to shorten it up just a bit to better cinch on the stem.
Anyone else have experience with these? I was thinking I should get a longer one with 1 or 2 large rings spliced to the end and just set it up snug on the stem using standard cow hitch same way you hang a block. Thanks.