Rope puller/Come along

[rskybiz]

I had a thought using mine the other day. I wanted to add another puller to the tail end to assist in getting all I wanted. Any thoughts on that. It was getting hard to crank and my thought was it would assist.
I use mine a lot when we have a limb/lead to swing but only have the two of us. Pre tension with the puller, groundsman on porty for tip me porty for butt. Use it for pulling trees away from work zone or to create a hole to lower through.

 

[Jack]

I had a thought using mine the other day. I wanted to add another puller to the tail end to assist in getting all I wanted. Any thoughts on that. It was getting hard to crank and my thought was it would assist.
I use mine a lot when we have a limb/lead to swing but only have the two of us. Pre tension with the puller, groundsman on porty for tip me porty for butt. Use it for pulling trees away from work zone or to create a hole to lower through.

Just to be extra clear ... Two pullers on the same line?

When I need extra pull on a line, I'll rig a block to the line and double the Massdam line through the block ... seems to work better than two pullers on one line, IMO.

 

[rskybiz]

Yes Jack, two on the same line.
The doubling of the pull via blocks I do just was a thought as sometimes cranking it gets exhausting.

 

[bonner1040]

I had a thought using mine the other day. I wanted to add another puller to the tail end to assist in getting all I wanted. Any thoughts on that. It was getting hard to crank and my thought was it would assist.
I use mine a lot when we have a limb/lead to swing but only have the two of us. Pre tension with the puller, groundsman on porty for tip me porty for butt. Use it for pulling trees away from work zone or to create a hole to lower through.

Risky, That might not work out so well as I believe you are doubling the force then on the crank wheel of the A20, turning it into a block so to say. If the load exerts backwards then the A20 might become overloaded.

If you crank the a20 hard enough the rope will slip, I posted earlier about using a biner to hold the tailing line, having someone pull on that can ease the cranking in the latter end of the a20's range.

Honestly though when I get towards the top end of the A20's range (top end is towards 3000 lbs using the floating block on the load as mentioned my Jack and others.) I generally switch to a different method or tool.

 

[Marc-Antoine]

Maasdam continuous rope puller. Within its limitations, its an awesome tool. Mine rode under the seat of ky truck for 2 years before I used it. I felt like a dope the first time I gave it a try and realized its usefulness. Get some soft 3 strand to go with it and you have a really practical, inexpensive tool.

Careful, they ask an hard lay 3 strands for the rope come-along.
I bought one for pulling while climbing in the tree, much more user friendly than the wire rope pullers.
Easier and quicker to set up, less bulky too.
I use it often on the ground, each time I don't need hard pulling.
Actually, the 1500 max pull seems a little bit optimistic. It's only a 10/1 mechanical advantage, and that's already a lot of pull when you come near 100 pounds on the handle.
An other point, the rope should have a 10500pounds breaking strength to take a 1500 P. load. That's seems a lot for a 1/2" polyester 3 strands...
And last one : when I began to reach MY limit in pull strength, the rope is hard pressed in the ratchet spool and becomes damaged. Many fibers are cut on the outside of the strands and the rope looses its hard lay looking. Not really good in my book.
I never saw it slipping though.
And I like it very much.

For heavier loads, I have a 1800 P. wire come along (the Chinese Tirefort). Not extremely strong like its two big brothers (3600 and 7200 pounds), but still easy to manipulate.

 

[rskybiz]

I have the hard lay 3 strand. My curiosity just had me wondering. I have the 10,000lb warn with a reciever set up front and back and I know I'll never pull on a come along handle hard enough to bend one again another young guy with something to prove.

 

[Burnham]

I own 2 of them.. It's been well over 5 years since I used one, and that was only to load a broken stump grinder on the trailer. Worked well for that, but I don't even think about using them for falling.. depends on your equipment, topography and manpower.. Probably a good tool to have, but I wouldn't even know where to start looking for mine..

I do however see the usefulness in Burnham's big 12K winch on the front bumper of a pick up... gotta be nice when you need that kind of power!

Power is good...power with the capability for fine control is where a winch really shines.

 

[stig]

Which is why I own and use two Tirfor endless winches

Slower than a truck mounted winch, but IMO nothing beats them for precision pulling ( or slacking)

 

[woodworkingboy]

I have seen some ancient Tirfors that look like they were dragged behind a car up the Alaskan highway. Still working, though.

 

[Page]

I just bought the home depo come along the other week for pulling boulders. it was cheap and is working great so far but I can tell it will wear quickly. But I did see an awsome cast iron come along in the wespur magazine. that thing looks like you could pass it on to your grandkids

 

[woodworkingboy]

Must be the Wyeth that was mentioned earlier? Being able to double back on itself and attach to the winch body for twice the pull, with the block and additional hook on the line, is a clever idea. i changed the thin plastic grip on the handle to a fatter wooden one, made it more comfortable to crank. Take off the block and it works well for the Masdam too, light to carry up a tree, and rated for two tons.

 

[NickfromWI]

I use a 5mm Maxim prussick on my 5/16" cable. Using a kleimheist, 4 or 5 wraps it holds tight as I have ever needed it.

Really? I tried once before and it wouldn't hold. I don't remember what rope I was using though. Specifically what rope are you using? Not that stiff Maxim Tech Cord are you?

Right now the Haven's grip weighs more than the rest of my entire cabling kit and it's a pain in the ass to use because it falls off when I don't want it to. If I could switch to a svelte prusik that won't fall off, that would just make my day!

love
nick

 

[bonner1040]

Yep. The stiff 5 mm maxim.. it is a stainless cable if that matters. You have to set it really hard before you engage it.

Just on memorial day I tightened up 175' or 5/16" stainless cable using my A20 Maasdam and a 5mm Maxim kleimheist to set up a zipline (human) at my friends house.

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2

 

[flushcut]

Damn, those Chicago grips scare the heck out of me when pulling a tree, they can fall off when the tension is slackened..as I found out. I wrote about it here and got some good ideas. The gum taping it on is a good quick prevention.

I'll take credit for that one.

 

[murphy4trees]

Power is good...power with the capability for fine control is where a winch really shines.

I can see the fine control as an important factor when trying to straighten up a backleaner before taking it 90 degrees to the lean. (Like the big tree that hit the barn was SUPPOSED to do). That and using a static cable.. I lost one because as it got straight the stretch in the line was enough force to take it all the way over on the hinge..

I know some fallers like to "cut a little and pull a little"... I generally pretension, make the cut, walk away, and call for the pull. No need for fine control.. Brute force to get it moving on the hinge. What scenarios do yo really need the fine control in?

 

[pete mctree]

Daniel,your method works fine when; your pull is plenty strong enough, as is the cordage/rigging, the stump is sound & the tree has no adverse weighting laterally to the direction of pull or has a high attachment point to rig from, the species is not free grained (with a tendency to barbers chair) or the tree does not needs to swing.
When the other factors come into play, a faller may have to modify his hinge & his pull to overcome such problems. So although your chosen method is perfect for alot of trees, to use it universally might be folly

 

[Burnham]

That boy Pete puts it clear enough .

Actually, my reference was more to the point of comparing the extremely rough control that pulling with a 4 wheeled vehicle sitting on a surface of unknown coeficient of friction, driven by an operator of uncertain constancy of abilities, vs. setting the same vehicle in a standing position, well-chocked and with brakes locked down. and using an electric winch controller with which I can put tiny increments of load on the pull system, portions of an inch, both in and out, as the scenario calls for. THAT is fine control, as opposed to huge variables of control that moving a vehicle impart, which I do not like at all.

Let me put it more clearly, Murph. You have on more than one occasion blamed your skidsteer operator for pulls that didn't meet your expectations. That doesn't happen near so often with a winch. For that matter, it has never happened with my people.

If you haven't seen situations where that degree of control is advantageous, then you haven't cut enough hazard trees.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Winch pull > vehicle pull, anyday.

 

[Burnham]

Yessir.

 

[Jack]

 

[bonner1040]

I dont know that any affirmation beyond ol' Murphs dissonance is required. Basically if he says its wrong I generally assume its right.

 

[mistahbenn]

 

[murphy4trees]

C'mon now.. I NEVER said it was wrong... I just asked for specific examples where "fine" control is needed... I definitely agree with B about the pick up truck... who's driving? tires, surface, uphill vs downhill, stiffness of the pedal, in reverse or forward, hand signals vs voice commands over the engine etc... YA.. We'd all rather set it and have a winch... I only like the pick up when I need the acceleration for throwing a big top... I'll post a couple of old vids on the felling thread..

Generally I much prefer to use a skid steer with turf tracks on unpaved areas.. This generally has enough power for 98% of the my trees, is quick and easy to set pull direction with precision, and has the self limiting aspect of the turf tracks which will (mostly) slip before overloading the system...

I like fine control in pretensioning the pull line... Generally keeping one hand on the line to feel the tautness change as the line is being tensioned, while looking up at the top to see how it moves.. this gives a lot of information to the faller, which can be used to adjust the hinge etc...

 

[NickfromWI]

Yep. The stiff 5 mm maxim.. it is a stainless cable if that matters. You have to set it really hard before you engage it...

Alrighty- I'll add some maxim and a 'biner to the kit and give it a shot next time. I use the EHS which is LESS slippery than stainless, so it should work even better. I'll give it another go. If this works, I might have a cable puller for sale!

love
nick