Tom Lynch
New member
- Location
- Brockville
The groundwork for such a convoluted post, I'm bored on a rest day full of coffee:
This is my first season solo. I work alone often and love solo rigging out problems. I avoid cut and toss if I can see a way to rig it, I rig it. Efficiency be damned (some times, when solo mostly) I love the problem solving. Still in a learning and growth phase towards technical work. I contract climb and often have poor ground support. I want to be able to take on nasty storm damage or bigger projects with critical targets (as my skills and confidence allows, I still walk away often). So half the time I contract climb, half the time I do my own projects. My own work provides way more rewards, so I will be leaning that way as I get, better clients / support staff / consistency in sales...
I'm on a budget, about half my gross goes right back into the company. So I have some money to play with but am trying to balance what makes the most sense next (save for chip truck & 6", dump trailer, replace work truck transmission, etc buying more climbing and rigging gear is an addictive problem).
Experience: I have worked a few bigger projects with a GRCS as ground support and climbing. Slick device. Kinda seems fragile, knurling wears off kinda fast. Super pricy. Never seen any other system in person.
The Stein seems dead simple and strong price point if a bit cumbersome.
Hobbs, just learning about it meow, seeking out more content. Quickly leaning towards it.
Other options, but I really think it comes down to the Hobbs or RCW https://honeybros.com/product-category/rigging/lowering-devices/
I work with a 4:1 pulley set with progress capture I cobbled together, a lot. It allows me to get away with all kinds of shit solo, both in the tree and felling. As well as span (double whip) rigging with speed line slings, the slings are consumed with each rig. Super bulky and annoying to manage, it is what I have. Makes solo rigging feasible, till a rope gets snagged up.
My thoughts: A Rope Jack and Rigging Wrench would likely be the best realistically for the scale of projects and flexibility to use in the tree. Stay with more manageable pieces, should I have an oversight. Being able to control more in the tree if ground support is brain dead.
The other side of me wants to all in on a full big tree rigging kit now. Expand my scope of work, get the most use out of such an investment. 3/4" bull rope, some large ring slings on 7/8"-1" and a Hobbs. Get a GoPro and be cool
, maybe die. I might sit on this gear for years as the chance of larger projects falling in my lap is rather low. But if I have it, I can chase bigger work. Primarily as a contractor or the odd no clean up (happens more than I ever dare dream in my market). Or skip all that and get crane certified? Kinda scared to make the step, TBH. Looks amazing but one top heavy flip or bad twist and I get squished or flip a crane. Also, it is illegal to ride the ball in Ontario from what I gather, super lame.
Congrats if you made it this far and kinda could follow along. I have no idea what direction I'll go, so many variables. So many new tree people, companies, and clients keep popping up. This season has been unreal, thus far. I expected to scrap by my first season solo, with no investment in marketing or real business plan, not thrive. I'm in no hurry, just daydreaming here mostly.
Ideally, I'll find a used RCW-3001 with winch... I guess.
This is my first season solo. I work alone often and love solo rigging out problems. I avoid cut and toss if I can see a way to rig it, I rig it. Efficiency be damned (some times, when solo mostly) I love the problem solving. Still in a learning and growth phase towards technical work. I contract climb and often have poor ground support. I want to be able to take on nasty storm damage or bigger projects with critical targets (as my skills and confidence allows, I still walk away often). So half the time I contract climb, half the time I do my own projects. My own work provides way more rewards, so I will be leaning that way as I get, better clients / support staff / consistency in sales...
I'm on a budget, about half my gross goes right back into the company. So I have some money to play with but am trying to balance what makes the most sense next (save for chip truck & 6", dump trailer, replace work truck transmission, etc buying more climbing and rigging gear is an addictive problem).
Experience: I have worked a few bigger projects with a GRCS as ground support and climbing. Slick device. Kinda seems fragile, knurling wears off kinda fast. Super pricy. Never seen any other system in person.
The Stein seems dead simple and strong price point if a bit cumbersome.
Hobbs, just learning about it meow, seeking out more content. Quickly leaning towards it.
Other options, but I really think it comes down to the Hobbs or RCW https://honeybros.com/product-category/rigging/lowering-devices/
I work with a 4:1 pulley set with progress capture I cobbled together, a lot. It allows me to get away with all kinds of shit solo, both in the tree and felling. As well as span (double whip) rigging with speed line slings, the slings are consumed with each rig. Super bulky and annoying to manage, it is what I have. Makes solo rigging feasible, till a rope gets snagged up.
My thoughts: A Rope Jack and Rigging Wrench would likely be the best realistically for the scale of projects and flexibility to use in the tree. Stay with more manageable pieces, should I have an oversight. Being able to control more in the tree if ground support is brain dead.
The other side of me wants to all in on a full big tree rigging kit now. Expand my scope of work, get the most use out of such an investment. 3/4" bull rope, some large ring slings on 7/8"-1" and a Hobbs. Get a GoPro and be cool
, maybe die. I might sit on this gear for years as the chance of larger projects falling in my lap is rather low. But if I have it, I can chase bigger work. Primarily as a contractor or the odd no clean up (happens more than I ever dare dream in my market). Or skip all that and get crane certified? Kinda scared to make the step, TBH. Looks amazing but one top heavy flip or bad twist and I get squished or flip a crane. Also, it is illegal to ride the ball in Ontario from what I gather, super lame.Congrats if you made it this far and kinda could follow along. I have no idea what direction I'll go, so many variables. So many new tree people, companies, and clients keep popping up. This season has been unreal, thus far. I expected to scrap by my first season solo, with no investment in marketing or real business plan, not thrive. I'm in no hurry, just daydreaming here mostly.
Ideally, I'll find a used RCW-3001 with winch... I guess.
). The capstan winch is exactly just that, a winch for lifting, basically static loads.
