2- 300 ft Trolley / Speed line rope selection ?

NWPEZ

NWPEZ

New member
Location
Oregon Coast
Hello all, I have an upcoming project that is in a quite difficult location. I’m looking at speed lining limbs to a hill crest point that is approximately 150ft from the tree in question. The tree being removed is roughly 110 to the canopy. At that point I plan to set up a drift or high line to send branches down the hill to the the chipper which is another 280 ft stretch. The tree is a 89” dbh spruce located above a nature retreat with no machine access. All limbs and wood have to be removed from the site. The other only other option would be cutting limbs and wood into slivers and carrying down 4 flights of stairs. Not a great option!!

I’m looking to purchase 400 ft of rope to facilitate the speed line and then the drift line. I will reset the line for the drift after I speed line limbs to the crest of the downhill path. If I could find an economic enough rope solution it would be much more efficient to have both lines set so we don’t have to weed through the pile to set the material on it’s downhill drift. I need a rope that can withstand quite a bit of weight and abuse due to tensioning and zipping, would rather not burn up a very expensive coil of static rope for the job. If anyone has rope suggestions or has had experience with such long trolley situations it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks
 
Tree and downhill run
 

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Wire rope's your best bet IMO.

I've speedlined big stuff 150 feet and even with 3/4 inch bull line, it was a sloppy wobbly anything but a straight line affair.

Haulback control line's a must even with wire rope, unless you have a huge landing zone you can tear up.

Best of luck gettin the job done.

Jemco
 
@Jonny that is a cheap price for that much rope. MBS isn’t nearly stable braid country but enough to get the job done and could still be some useable rope for later. Thanks for the heads up.

@Jemco I agree with slop issue using rope and the need for control line. The beginning point of the drift to the load out is a significant elevation above. I was planning on setting a block in a tree then tensioning the line with portable winch or mini from the bottom until limbs or wood were high enough to slide down. Although will probably still need a control line to prevent things getting crazy especially the wood. We’re would I get wire rope? And how would I tension it? Thanks
 
I'd recommend using a redirect block at the LZ just to be safe.

Tensioning with a mini pulling 90 degrees off the main line'd probably work well if you stay under 500 lbs.

A 7/16ths wire rope oughta do it.

What part of the country yu workin?

Jemco
 
That was my thought as well. A block up top and one at the bottom. I was hoping to be able to tension from up top with a winch if need be. But f not then the mini at the bottom off the block as you said would be the way to go. I have used similar system many times to move material just never with a wire rope. I’ll do a little research into wire ropes see what I can come up with. I’m in Oregon on the Coast. Thanks for the ideas.
 
You better have a pro come out and film this one. I'd love seeing 89" wood flying thru the air.
Or maybe contact a cable yarder logger for ideas on how to rig it all because there is going to be massive pressures involved.
 
I fear even in my most optimistic state the big woods not gonna be flying through the air. Probably more like dragging through the dirt after being painstakingly gensued up on the deck! Haaa‍♂️ Typo on the 89” was supposed to be 70” probably 89” at the root flare. Gonna be a mission either way.
 
Evidently there’s some translation lost from iPhone emojis to tree buzz. But the Austin Powers logo serves the same purpose I guess.
 
3/8 wire rope has a 12000 lb break strength. A 5:1 safety factor gives you 2500 lb WL. Even a 10:1 like you'd use for rope gives you 1200 WL. Smaller is lighter and easier to handle when it comes to wire rope. Company I worked with uses 3/8 cable as a highline to move treehouse materials onto site with a homemade steel clone of the DMM offya minimal ground damage. Pretensioned with small diameter prusiks. Challenges will be strength of anchors on each side and a wire rope compatible haul system. Steel sheaves is a must. If you go that route, they will no longer be suitable for use with rope when done so keep that in mind. Petzl Zipline trolley would work, has a 2248 WLL. I'd still back it up if damage from failure is not an option. If you want to go more of an english reeve style for easier lifting and lowering, cmc has omni pulleys with steel sheeves. Not sure if rock exotica offers them that way with the house branding, they might. But remember, they are no longer good for anything but wire rope when you're done. Pricey investment for one time use compared to a couple zipline trolleys.

In terms of strength of anchors, keep in mind your vector forces when dealing with a highline. TwoAnchorRiggingForces.jpg
Yours won't be flat(You absolutely should not tension any highline to 180%, horizontal or not), but there can be a whole lot of force on either end of a flat tensioned line.

Whatever way you decide to go.... Stay safe, take lots of pictures, and keep us posted.
 
This is the perfect time to employ a skyline setup with some sort of carriage which uses a skidding line off the from of the carriage, a haul backline off the back to f the carriage, and some sort of drop line...As someone mentioned the DMM Offya (which is essentially modeled after a skyline yarder logging carriage) will give you an idea of what is needed to pull this off...You could find a few old steel blocks and weld up a homemade version of the very expensive, yet awesome Offya.. And if you are gonna be lifting any real weights you should seriously consider using some sort guy-line setup for those lateral forces you will surely be dealing with.
 
Jemco said:
Wire rope's your best bet IMO.

I've speedlined big stuff 150 feet and even with 3/4 inch bull line, it was a sloppy wobbly anything but a straight line affair.

Haulback control line's a must even with wire rope, unless you have a huge landing zone you can tear up.

Best of luck gettin the job done.

Jemco
Click to expand...

Way too heavy. OP, get 3/8th spectra..but buy it through me. I'll connect you to my supplier. His prices are unbeatable. Near zero stretch, which is perfect as your anchors sound beefy. I have 2 300 foot 1/2" lines. Too bad I cut the 600 foot reel in half, or I'd have shipped it to you. It's super light. And 24k tensile at 1/2"...
 
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NWPEZ said:
@Jonny that is a cheap price for that much rope. MBS isn’t nearly stable braid country but enough to get the job done and could still be some useable rope for later. Thanks for the heads up.

@Jemco I agree with slop issue using rope and the need for control line. The beginning point of the drift to the load out is a significant elevation above. I was planning on setting a block in a tree then tensioning the line with portable winch or mini from the bottom until limbs or wood were high enough to slide down. Although will probably still need a control line to prevent things getting crazy especially the wood. We’re would I get wire rope? And how would I tension it? Thanks
Click to expand...

See my post to jemco. PM me your contact info. Seriously. You need spectra for this application
 
Roger_Barnett said:
Way too heavy. OP, get 3/8th spectra..but buy it through me. I'll connect you to my supplier. His prices are unbeatable. Near zero stretch, which is perfect as your anchors sound beefy. I have 2 300 foot 1/2" lines. Too badt the 600 foot reel in half, or I'd have shipped it to you. It's super light. And 24k tensile at 1/2"...
Click to expand...
I’m totally game for a spool if the price is right
 
Roger_Barnett said:
Way too heavy. OP, get 3/8th spectra..but buy it through me. I'll connect you to my supplier. His prices are unbeatable. Near zero stretch, which is perfect as your anchors sound beefy. I have 2 300 foot 1/2" lines. Too badt the 600 foot reel in half, or I'd have shipped it to you. It's super light. And 24k tensile at 1/2"...
Click to expand...

Will the tenex/spectra hold a knot Rog?

Jemco
 
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