New rope

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

Danno77

Minister of Fire
Oct 27, 2008
5,008
Hamilton, IL
Was trying to pull a hung up tree out with the truck last week and snapped my rope. It's a 75ft deal from walmart and it's been pretty handy, but it's only rated at 300something lbs (had to go back to the store to see that rating)

Arborist ropes tend to be FREAKING expensive, and I know we have some rope makers here on the forum, and some of this has been discussed before.

Has anybody had any experience with a rope like this one here?:

https://www.knotandrope.com/store/pc/5-8-polypropylene-p30.htm

decent price, decent ratings. Thought I might get a 75-100ft length of it. Just wasn't sure if I would like the material and wondered if it would be easy to tie around logs and drag them, pull small trees the direction I want, etc etc.
 
Looks like a major improvement over the 300 lb Wal-mart stuff! I would expect it to be a little stiff to work with, at 5/8" with three strands, but nothing too bad for the money.

For light pulling ropes, I went with some kind of 1/2" nylon cheap stuff with I think 12 strands, rated at about 800 lbs. from Lowes.

I also bought a 250 ft. spool of plastic coated aircraft cable, 1,500 lb strength, and several sets of hook ends to attach to it. I then cut up four pieces at 125', 75', 35', and 15'. I use this stuff alot for dragging logs around or connecting the puller up to hung trees. It's pretty light weight and reasonably flexible. Can't remember for sure what it cost, but something like $0.20 per foot.
 
Beowulf said:
Looks like a major improvement over the 300 lb Wal-mart stuff! I would expect it to be a little stiff to work with, at 5/8" with three strands, but nothing too bad for the money.

For light pulling ropes, I went with some kind of 1/2" nylon cheap stuff with I think 12 strands, rated at about 800 lbs. from Lowes.

I also bought a 250 ft. spool of plastic coated aircraft cable, 1,500 lb strength, and several sets of hook ends to attach to it. I then cut up four pieces at 125', 75', 35', and 15'. I use this stuff alot for dragging logs around or connecting the puller up to hung trees. It's pretty light weight and reasonably flexible. Can't remember for sure what it cost, but something like $0.20 per foot.
You are probably right about its size. It's actually overkill for what I'll need on a regular basis, they have 1/4, 5/16, 3/8, 1/2 sizes too. I could get 100ft of 1,000lb rated 1/4 rope for 5 whole dollars, I might just do that along with a heavier rope.
 
Not at all overkill. If you can get it in 3/4", so much the better. It is not all that stiff and you should have no problem tying it around a log.

If nothing else, get 2 lengths and double the rope rather than just tying it single.
 
Not even close to over kill my bull line is rated at 12,000 lbs.
 
Thrash44047 said:
I prefer chain, nice big heavy chain.


Chain can be a missle if it breaks.
 
smokinjay said:
Thrash44047 said:
I prefer chain, nice big heavy chain.


Chain can be a missle if it breaks.
I love chain for towing, but I'm not about to try to tie off 100ft of chain to a tree top to winch it the direction I want it to go.
 
rope can be a missile if it parts, too.

I'll pull a log and yank out a stump with a good chain, I'll pursuade a fall with rope.
 
billb3 said:
rope can be a missile if it parts, too.

I'll pull a log and yank out a stump with a good chain, I'll pursuade a fall with rope.

Rope just feels better at hi velocity...Just saying....
 
Danno77 said:
I love chain for towing, but I'm not about to try to tie off 100ft of chain to a tree top to winch it the direction I want it to go.

No winch necessary, the weight alone will probably drop the tree. :lol:

Hey Jay, what brand do you prefer (if there is one)?
 
Jags said:
Danno77 said:
I love chain for towing, but I'm not about to try to tie off 100ft of chain to a tree top to winch it the direction I want it to go.

No winch necessary, the weight alone will probably drop the tree. :lol:

Hey Jay, what brand do you prefer (if there is one)?

Black Maxx is what I use and pull it with a wench as well...
 
smokinjay said:
Black Maxx is what I use and pull it with a wench as well...

That must be one strong gal. :coolsmile:
 
Jags said:
smokinjay said:
Black Maxx is what I use and pull it with a wench as well...

That must be one strong gal. :coolsmile:

lol My gals not so strong but she very Pretty.....Funny thing is that's she is an Indian Gal and Fire is Life. Huh, Go figure me With the Fire Goddess......lol She Smokin Hot too...
 
I like polyester kernmantle ropes. I usually just buy the generic stuff for camping at EMS, but I heard the Samson brand is one of the best. They make a "Stable Braid Bull Rope" with a polyester core and a braided polyester cover that is rated at 16,300 pounds in 5/8". Polyester doesn't stretch like nylon will and it won't be damaged by UV light like nylon will, so it would be my first choice for tree work.

Unless you're a pro, you'll never need to buy another rope, might as well get the right stuff.


http://www.woodlandint.com/products/arborist___tree_care/rope/


I'm gonna need something. I just built my new shed under the biggest elm tree I've seen in this area. This year it decided to die, and it's hanging right over the shed. All I need is a tractor to anchor the other end of the rope to.
 
We've directed trees with rope...tie 'em high and make a hinge and pull, that kind of thing. But dead pulling 'em is tricky esp when they lean. You should use a chain.

I've double and tripled line a few times when it was our only option. It's tricky, one thing that you'll want to do is only use round turns, leave a 10' length and make a few half hitches at both ends or you'll never get the knot out once the rope stretches.

The thing is rope can stretch and snap back.

Real tree guys hang from their line so their demands are leagues above an armature like me...so I dunno about that line you link to.
 
savageactor7 said:
We've directed trees with rope...tie 'em high and make a hinge and pull, that kind of thing. But dead pulling 'em is tricky esp when they lean. You should use a chain.

I've double and tripled line a few times when it was our only option. It's tricky, one thing that you'll want to do is only use round turns, leave a 10' length and make a few half hitches at both ends or you'll never get the knot out once the rope stretches.

The thing is rope can stretch and snap back.

Real tree guys hang from their line so their demands are leagues above an armature like me...so I dunno about that line you link to.

Bull rope is use to manage weight and even free falling weight...The tensil stregth is measure this way as well. Chain is much harder to use and if the tree is lets say 75ft now you need about 150ft of chain.....Rope is the answer and bull rope is the way to go................
http://www.baileysonline.com/search.asp?SKW=blackmax bull&catID=295
 
I agree with Battenkiller, get a good arborist bull rope. I'm still using my half inch Samson true blue, retired climbing line. It's got to be over 12 years old. Spun the tires on my tractor pulling stuff and never broke the rope, even had the tractor up on three and the rope never broke. Stuff your looking will be a real pain to keep a good bowline in, etc. Sherrill Supply is a place I use to get all my climbing and rigging equipment from. Good service. Bailey's too. Super braid is a nice rope. You can get in half inch with the strength of I believe a 5/8th's rope size. Also never step on your rope, it breaks the fibers down and also grinds dirt into the inner fibers, acts like an abrassive. Ropes usually fail from the inside.
 
savageactor7 said:
The thing is rope can stretch and snap back.

That's why I prefer polyester over nylon. It stretches very little, some of it less that 1% I believe.

Knots are best avoided in rope if you can use a splice instead. Knots are hard to tie securely (especially in synthetics), even harder to untie, and can fail unpredictable and catastrophically. A lot of inexperienced folks have died because they thought their knots were well tied. Particularly, knots like the much revered bowline can fail without notice when used in modern cordage. The tail end of this knot needs to be positively secured to the loop. An 8" tail taped to the loop with duct tape should not slip, but there is still strength lost in almost any knot.

Chain is strong and is basically forever, doesn't stretch at all, never slips, but it heavy as hell and very expensive for the equivalent weight rating. If my life absolutely depended on it, I'd trust a good chain, but I don't think I'd want to be dragging 100# of iron up a tree.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.