Skylotec & Husqvarna Power Ascender

[Burrapeg]

. . . The Rollgliss unit looks interesting but I want to be able to confidently buy something that will work from day one that I’m able to put my employees on with confidence. Something made in a garage or that needs modification doesn’t fit that bill for me.

The only mods we are doing to the Rollgliss are merely those to make it mid-line attachable and to hook a drill to it. The unit itself is an industrial quality device made exactly for what we are using it for, rope ascent and descent. Granted, not everyone is tooled up to do the mods as far as I did (I own a machine shop) but a passable mod can be done with a hacksaw and angle grinder. And lots of guys have a drill press. It is also totally possible to use the thing right out of the box with the captive kermantle rope that comes with it, in parallel to your normal system, same as you would use a Ronin or other ascender that requires its own rope and is not mid-line attachable. All you have to do in that case is to drive the pin out that holds the flywheel on, so you can put your cordless drill on the stub shaft. My mods allow the device to work on any of my climbing ropes and to come on and off those ropes midline within seconds, both of which it does better than most commercial powered ascenders. In addition, the problem of expensive propriety replacement batteries is a non-issue with the DeWalt. And no noisy gas engine like the Wraptor if you want to climb in a park or quiet neighborhood. A final advantage, that again few other power ascenders can boast, is that with a quick twist to release the chuck, you have the use of your big 1/2 inch cordless drill.

 

[southsoundtree]

I love rope walking and pride myself at being a very efficient climber. That said, I would consider one of these if the price point is anywhere near 5000€.

Our work is plenty physical without having to do every aspect of it the hard way. If I have access to tools that help me extend my career or make my crew safer or more efficient, we are going to get them. The reason the Wraptor was such a turn off for me and I never tried it was the gas motor. The Rollgliss unit looks interesting but I want to be able to confidently buy something that will work from day one that I’m able to put my employees on with confidence. Something made in a garage or that needs modification doesn’t fit that bill for me.

I live on an off grid homestead with an endless list of things to work on or do. Energy and time saved at work will be burned at home.

IME, a Wraptor is a great tool for when it's needed.

My last ride was up a big fir with an 80' TIP. 80' lanyard, 2 rigging ropes, rigging ring deadeye sling, small POW, few slings...fast, easy, without expending energy or having an adrenaline dump. No exertion interfering with fast thinking and thorough observation.

I don't use it very often.



It's not the years, it's the miles. Wear and tear accelerates.




I haven't ever used the Wraptor to haul a big saw and rigging, without me.
If it's out though, it can be used on a rope to haul up heavy gear to the climber, easily, by one person of any strength, without exertion.

Money well spent.

 

[27RMT0N]

I'm with Ryan here. I like rope walking as well, but if someone wants me to remove the 'low' deadwood in like five firs, and those limbs start at 80', absolutely I'd take a lift up to them on every tree. Now if it's just one or two trees, I wouldn't bother, but I work hard enough the rest of the week, exercise is not something I lack in my life. I can't imagine ever using it enough my actual climbing skills would get rusty.

I've daydreamed and talked about buying one of the other models occasionally here but never pulled the trigger. This one seems to have some nice new features that are very appealing, so it's mostly a question of price.

 

[Bart_]

6000€ is $6400 U.S. according to the interweb. Not so bad.

Burrapeg hope all is well with you these days Good to hear from you.

Tree Access, what's the instruction book policy on separate ascender line vs use on your climb line?

 

[Shadowscape]

I don't believe there is a rule governing the use of a separate fall arrest system when using a power ascender, or whether it can or cannot be used on your climb line. That said, every tower work company that I have delt with requires a separate fall arrest system and separate line that system be attached to when using a power ascender.
This particular unit only operates on 11mm rope. If you climb on 11mm I don't see why you could not use it on your climb line. You are trusting your life to that line when using the ascender, so why not when the ascender is not attached? I would be checking the rope after each use of the ascender for damage however. Saw a Ronin tear up a rope. Don't know why it did, maybe wrong size rope, or the fellow didn't know what he was doing. But I would be checking the rope after use very closely. If you are thinking about using the rope to move about in the tree once you are up there, what do you do with the ascender? Food for thought.
We don't have many trees over 60 feet in this neck of the woods. A few that hit 100 from time to time, but rare. I can get up to the top probably as quickly as unpacking this contraption and getting it on the rope, and then riding it up. And I don't have to deal with where to store it when I'm up there. Sounds to me like an answer to a problem that doesn't exist for this part of the country. Maybe for the rich people on the west coast who want the dead limb pruned out of the top of their 200' redwood. Or use it as a means of hauling a big saw up to the climber. But if you don't climb on 11mm rope you have the pain of setting two ropes. Doesn't sound practical to me. One of those things that would be fun to ride once if someone else owned it.
My 2¢

 

[Muggs]

 

[Matias]

8500?!?! Why? Other than, "because they can"

 

[XTREEC]

I’m out. They’d have to get to the 2k ballpark for me to consider buying one. Time to look at the Rollgliss thread again.

Liability driving the price?

 

[Matias]

I’m out. They’d have to get to the 2k ballpark for me to consider buying one. Time to look at the Rollgliss thread again.

Liability driving the price?

Same. 2500 would probably be my absolute max with everything included, even sales tax and whatever. I know that it would likely eventually feel like I got my ROI, but there's a long list of things that cost less than 8500 that I'd likely get more value out of, so I'll keep buying down that list for a long time before I get to this one. Shit, I'll probably attempt to DIY something first, as there's a documented functioning design here already. Thanks for asking skylotec for us Muggs

 

[rico]

I can’t help but notice that the remote on this thing is good to only 50 meters. So for $8500 it won’t even deliver me a cup of coffee at 175 ft.
Fuck that!

 

[surveyor]

I've always wondered how they shot that video....

 

[data farm 26]

Since it's rc I'd like to try mounting it at the base of a tree, routing the line through a pulley at the tip and attaching myself to the dead end of the rope. Idea from jomoco. Tail-less climbing would be great though.

 

[27RMT0N]

I'm not surprised by that pricing, but it's certainly beyond what I'd spend on such an occasional use tool for my needs. At 5k I'd seriously consider it.

 

[Burrapeg]

. . . Burrapeg hope all is well with you these days Good to hear from you.

Thanks, Bart. Yes, am doing OK. Trying to get in a regular climb to stay in shape, weather permitting. I have not had any paying work since the Great Pandemic but fortunately had just gone on my full social security. So am basically retired now. Time to get after my own projects and enjoy living in the lovely Pacific Northwest!

 

[Shadowscape]

Actually, about half of what I thought they would be charging. Still $8,200. more than I would spend on one.

 

[Bart_]

Shadowscape, with my ascender you keep it on your saddle and go up/down or freewheel it as desired. Sometimes I pop it off my climb line and let it just hang in place until I re-clip it onto the rope.

I believe the Ronin is a multi wrap capstan design with a helping hand pressure applier to initiate the capstan effect. Offending parties could be the spiral rope guide or pressure applicator. It may harken (har!) back to a publicized school design project by a guy using capstan rope wrap and 36V Dewalt drill components.

 

[Tree Access]

Got a price update from Skylotec as well, its 6500€ without VAT now.
Still so much cheaper then any battery powered Actsafe ascender before...
The manual of the ICX answers some questions, its already online on the product page: https://www.skylotec.com/eu_de/actsafe-icx-power-ascender-poa-030-1-eu.html

 

[Burrapeg]

. . . The manual of the ICX answers some questions, its already online on the product page: https://www.skylotec.com/eu_de/actsafe-icx-power-ascender-poa-030-1-eu.html

From the manual it appears the thing is rather particular about the size of the rope, limiting it to both a maximum and minimum of 11mm. Another advantage our Rollgliss units have; with the right mods they work with anything you shove in them. While it is happiest with the usual sized rope at about 11 to 11.7 mm, I have used mine with both the big Vortex Cool and some small 9mm rock climbing line.

 

[Sprucinator]

That ad was pretty cringy. They can't possibly think it'd be good to use that thing for work positioning? Even if it's just for a "ride to the top" it's a whole other system and giant device that has to get set up in the tree. It takes less than 5 minutes to rope walk up 100'. The rope walking up is usually the best warm up for working the tree. Gets the blood and muscles moving.

 

[Bart_]

Tree Access could you directly link the manual? I couldn't locate it. Thanks.


Burrapeg, I propose the formal theory of "Jelly Beaning" of a rope When a skinny rope goes into the rollgliss it jelly beans wider to fill the sheave. When the porridge is just the right temperature the rope stays round. When a fat rope squeezes in it jelly beans vertically. Technical terminology, you know.

Wraptor sheave has bit different operation. That's what I copied. Based on video freeze frames! What could possibly go wrong? I got lucky the first one gripped well, second one took a gamble and it gripped too. Principle of the horseshoe.