O.C.G.D. Thread, part two

I have a good story about that.
My erstwhile partner was looking at his logging hard hat and noticing it had started to crack.
So I checked mine and it was WAY over due for throwing out. Full of cracks.
So on the way home I went by my dealer and bought a new one.
Next day I felled a medium oak next to a freeway, bit of a tricky fall.
As I was following the tree with my eyes, the World suddenly got black.
Woke up later and realized that the oak had triggered a small, 4" thick , but forest story tall, elm that had been dead so long it had completely rotted through.
That hit me in the back of my head hard enough to dent the new hard hat and discolor the plastic.
With the old one I'd have been a goner.

Drove by the dealer on the way home and bought a new hard hat.
" But you just got one yesterday?".
I showed it to him and he asked if he could keep it.
It was on display in his shop for a while, with the story.
Just to remind people to get a new hardhat regularly.

Personally, I don't need reminding any more.
 
The main culprit is the light, but other ways are possible to wreck the plastics. The energy brought by the light cuts the polymeric molecules when the right wave length matches the energy activation level of a particular link betwenen two atomes. Polyethylene family is very sensitive, polyester far less (but still). It's the same phenomenon with the fading of the varnish and the paint.
The molecules become gradually shorter. The material looses its overall strength and suppleness/elasticity, finally becomes brittle or even falls apart in tiny bits/dust. It's annoying for the garden table or the beatifull paint job on the truck, but for a PPE, that really sucks.
With plenty of pigments in the polymer, the ligth is stopped very soon under the surface and converted to heat, loosing its capability to cut the links. Each particule of pigment acts as a shield and protects the polymer just under it. Black or aluminum powder are the best for longevity.

Try to press or fold the piece of plastic. Usually, nothing happens. But with a weakened polymer, you can hear a distinct sound when the exposed surface is wrecked by thousands of microscopic cracks. Eventually not so microscopic.
 
I have a 6x12 dump trailer I bought the same week as my Avant last year. I like having the dump trailer but it is sort of like a forestry bucket truck in that it is a compromise. It does several things but nothing well. I am not using it for hauling material, and it is too tall, too small and too heavy for hauling my loader around. This week I found a 16+2 car/equipment trailer on Craigslist for cheap. I picked it up yesterday and with a couple small modifications it will work very nicely. I want some stake sides for the front to contain my attachments, and I also want to add a 2" flat steel tiedown rail along the outside of the stake pockets on both sides of the trailer. Hard to hook a ratchet strap to a stake pocket safely. I also ordered an electric tongue jack just because I'm lazy.
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Did some work on the new trailer including new brakes and wheel bearings. If you consider even $20-25 per hour labor value, it's cheaper to buy the entire hub with bearings included than to replace the bearings. Also I sold my little 6x12 dump trailer today for full asking price. The guy was slightly older than me and driving a $100K GMC Denali. He brought a bank envelope full of cash.

I am already shopping and planning on ordering a new 7x14 dump trailer. If I am going to haul stuff then I need a trailer big enough to haul it.
 
In the last week since putting my dump trailer up for sale, I've had three jobs where I needed my dump trailer and made multiple trips due to not enough capacity. Yesterday morning I sold the small dump trailer and immediately began shopping for a bigger one. Found the perfect trailer in Sebastian and drove down there yesterday afternoon to look at it. Gave him a deposit and need to pick it up in the next week.
Today I finalized a deal to sell my log grapple that I have only used twice since I bought the machine a year ago. The money from that and the old dump trailer will almost pay for the new dump trailer. The new trailer is a 7x14, 3 feet high sides, tarp, ramps, 7 gauge floor, 10 gauge sides, very solid. Never heard of the brand before but it's about perfect for me. The guy bought it to use while his dump truck was in the shop, then he bought a track lift which came with a dump trailer to haul it. This one is 4-5 months old and has never been used, not a single scratch on it anywhere.
So if you're still reading, I will have 2 trailers now. 1 to use when I'm not hauling big loads, lightweight and low so easy to load and unload. 1 for big hauling jobs where I can haul 10 yards in the truck and another 11 yards in the trailer. HP dump trailer.jpg
 
And already it's paying off. Tomorrow I have work in New Smyrna Beach which is 45 miles away. No hauling, so I can take the lighter trailer and haul it with my pickup, which is way more comfortable and gets twice the fuel economy. F350 gets 8mpg and no radio yet.
 
Wired, I always bolt the controller to the inside of the box so it doesn't get banged up and the button is always in the same spot. I can use it without looking for it. The magnets always break off and the wire always gets tangled up in all the other crap in the box otherwise.
 
Just ordered the R.E. Transporter! Made me sick to spend $80 but I’m sick of the large “not for climbing” biner with the gate removed. It kept working loose. Hopefully you’ll tell me it’s worth the $80.
 

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I don't have one of course, but I've come very close to getting one several times. What's not to like? Secure mount, and a gate that can be locked or not. $80 is nothing for something you spend a lot of time at, and make money while doing it. That's 16 $5 beers at the bar, so four nights out, and you've got something to show for it. IOW, after four 4 hour days(@ 1 beer/hour at the bar) climbing, it'll be paid for, and free ever after.

Let me know what other gear you want. I'll get you spending all your money, and feeling good doing it :^D
 
Was looking for something 1/2, midline attach, but still light and stronger than the Omni block 1.5 for neg rig...(3/8s stable braid in pulley)

weight is one pound

17kN WLL....should be using it this week...



Is anyone using a small swing cheek pulley or Omniblock or Pinto for light rigging? Would you consider this piece of sailing gear instead? It is midline attachable. I got interested in in how rigging rings and soft shackles are floating around the marine world, and four wheel offroading and arborists and hammock people and slackline people.
It comes in three sizes. I tried to compare the mid size MXLEVO 12 to the little Omniblock 1.5
Omniblock 1.5 : Max line size 13mm, weighs 260g, costs $105 and has MBS of 8,093 pounds. The MXLEVO 12: Max line size 12mm weighs 90g, costs about $110 and has a MBS of 8,370 pounds. I only had the small MXLEVO 10 to take a picture of.
 

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Is anyone using a small swing cheek pulley or Omniblock or Pinto for light rigging? Would you consider this piece of sailing gear instead? It is midline attachable. I got interested in in how rigging rings and soft shackles are floating around the marine world, and four wheel offroading and arborists and hammock people and slackline people.
It comes in three sizes. I tried to compare the mid size MXLEVO 12 to the little Omniblock 1.5
Omniblock 1.5 : Max line size 13mm, weighs 260g, costs $105 and has MBS of 8,093 pounds. The MXLEVO 12: Max line size 12mm weighs 90g, costs about $110 and has a MBS of 8,370 pounds. I only had the small MXLEVO 10 to take a picture of.
You might try a hefty chain link for a very cheap price. About the same.
 
I don't have one of course, but I've come very close to getting one several times. What's not to like? Secure mount, and a gate that can be locked or not. $80 is nothing for something you spend a lot of time at, and make money while doing it. That's 16 $5 beers at the bar, so four nights out, and you've got something to show for it. IOW, after four 4 hour days(@ 1 beer/hour at the bar) climbing, it'll be paid for, and free ever after.

Let me know what other gear you want. I'll get you spending all your money, and feeling good doing it :^D


Fwiw, I've used a taped-open biner for years. It's about the same, but round target than flat.

Idk if it stays perpendicular to the saddle less than a flat, specialty carrying tool.
K.I.S.S. IMO

$15-20
 
I'm actually pretty happy with what I'm using, but the Transporter would take it to a new level. I like the closable gate that'll allow nothing in or out. What I'm using has a fairly small gate, so less chance of undesirable hooking/clipping, but not as good as it could be.

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Yea, the "only $75" is what I keep getting hung up on. What I have works fine, so it's hard to justify in practical terms, but this stuff is what I spend money on. If I don't spend it on this, it won't get spent :shrugs: If the right opportunity appears when I'm in the right mood, I might end up with one.
 
Decided to give this much-discounted, Factory Seconds aerial friction device a try.

Great rope bend radius, particularly for larger ropes.

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This arrived.


What do you think is the strongest way to hang this? The shackle is 5/8", and a WWL of 3.25T, 6500 pounds.

I have some big-azz shackles that are more like 1"diameter that could go into the bow shackle of the device to increase the bend radius of the anchor sling, seemingly the weakest point.

Maybe a loopie in a basket formation?
T-rex, tenex, tenex-tec? Didn't look at breaking strengths, yet?
 
i prefer tenex tec over t-rex but t-rex is cheaper in europe. you are probably not using this device for negative rigging trunk wood?
i would go for a basket configuration, that also makes the small bend radius a little less problematic..

if you don't like it, you can still use the shakle on the end of heavier rigging line and the rest could be a mantel piece :)
 
i prefer tenex tec over t-rex but t-rex is cheaper in europe. you are probably not using this device for negative rigging trunk wood?
i would go for a basket configuration, that also makes the small bend radius a little less problematic..

if you don't like it, you can still use the shakle on the end of heavier rigging line and the rest could be a mantel piece :)

I can imagine using it to hang whole trees off other trees. Maybe Double-whip tackle with it. Don't really know. $75...hopefully worth a try.
 
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