a very usefull device

test2

  • yes

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • no

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
T

timthetreeman

Gentlemen,
I have been a practising arborist/climber for 27 yrs. I am now 53 years (old) and older, fatter and smarter than when I was a young buck.
To aid me in my old age(ha ha)---I developed an innovation that I and many other tree guys have found to be very usefull.
Every time I leave the ground I thank the lord for modern tree ropes, carabiners and---the sidekick. Check it out at arborexotica.com
See you on the upside!
 
whats the purpose of the vote? Are we to help you name your device?

i dont want to sound over critical here, but a tool such as this will only enforce laziness, rather than moving 9 ft. to grab or place a line sit in the bowl of the tree ( as in your pictures) and unscrew, extend,and screw this device out to length then unscrew, collapse, and screw back to size ? /forum/images/graemlins/confused.gif Seems like more hassle and work than simply moving over or swinging out 9 ft for a rope. For that matter a groundy can swing a rigging line into you if its out of reach. Im sure it may be useful in a rare case, but very rare at that.

/forum/images/graemlins/pigfly.gif
 
Where's the pics? I don't see an attachment attached. /forum/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
sir- I appreciate your reservations as regards the sidekick(it's name). however, the use of the sidekick greatly enhances safety as well as efficientcy. Often when executing a hazardous dead tree removal that nine to twelve ft. advantage provided by the sidekick is concievably critical. We all know that somewhere along a dead tree limb or trunck there is a point at which it would be inadvisable to proceed above or leap-out to. The ability to precisely place a rigging line beyound this point and easily retrieve it in only seconds is often times crucial to the success of the attempted maneuver at hand.
As regards the assertion that a rope hanging out of reach is easily retrieved by having a "groundy" swing it to you is accurate only insofar as there are no interfering branches or smaller trees separating rope from climber. Plucking the rope back to you with the sidekick saves aggravation and job-time as while you retrieve and re-set your line, your groundy can be doing more usfull things like swamping the work area or dragging brush or whatever. Lord knows the ground-mans' job is often more demanding than the climbers.
T
 
Tim,
I reread my post and I apologize, i didnt mean to come off so rudely to you.
To me your tool will work, but very rarely. I guess I just picture someone getting real lazy using something like that. It is not practical for me to carry something like that around with me,it would be more trouble than it was worth.
Regarding the groundies flipping the line back to you, yes it only works if there are no interefering limbs or trees in the path of the swing. This is usually anticipated though and having an additional 9 ft of reach is not that valuable to me. As far as taking up your groundies time??, how long does it take?
After Ive lowered the limb down somebody down there will be untying the rope from the limb, right? Groundies working my deck know that after they untie the limb to immediately swing the rope to me if I cannot already reach it, takes a whole 2 or 3 seconds. I wish you luck with your sidekick, actually it is a good marketable idea, but i have no need for one.

btw- what IS the purpose of the vote?
 
Sir,
I apologise if my last post to you came off as a rebuke. In no way did I find your original post to be "rude". Your comments enlightened me to the fact that I had left out of my website some important information which I have subsequently tried to remedy.
It is true that the sidekick is somthing of a (crutch)created by an aging climber looking to make the job go easier (my words). Every climber is different in their style and aproach to the job-----and I respect that.
T
 
if it looks like a crutch and acts like a crutch ...it's a crutch. About those groundpeople having such a demanding job , that all depends on who they work for , i'm getting misty eyed . Back to the drawing board Tim . No more dip sticks in the tree. /forum/images/graemlins/9lame.gif
 
A good friend of mine is a huge gear nut, he's got 1 120litre bag for climbing and a bigger one for rigging. He's had something like this for a few years now. Aluminium, plastic hook. Its' a bit longer but ends up 9-11 feet long extended. I think he got it from a marina for $20 CAD. I hate it, and he only ever uses it on really big, nasty removals......periodically.
 
Dear dip sticks in the tree,
"Misty-eyed"? It is my opinion that a good ground-guy,can make or break a project as readily as an incompetent climber.Therefor it would stand to reason that any device that enhances the efficentcy and safety of the project at hand(even a 'crutch')---is deserving of consideration.
Should you wish,I would be happy to send you my most recently retired (but still usefull)Sidekick so that you may have somthing concrete to base your opinions on.
T
 
No thanks , but thanks for the offer , I'd feel a little like Harry Potter using that thing. I'm sort of at a loss on how it makes you more efficient , is it that much of a burden to ask someone to swing you the line? or is it because when you get older your patience runs thin and you need that line back right away ? Don't take it personal , it's just a stick. All them sticks in a tree and you want me to buy one and hang it on my saddle . Next... /forum/images/graemlins/aaa.gif
 
Is that something that you carry with you like 80% of the time? I like things to be as streamlined as possible. That doesn't seem to fit the bill.

love
nick
 
Dear dip sticks in the tree,
Before modern climbing lines there was manilla ropes--before that (?)---vines maybe? The use of the throw-cord to set a line in a tree is a vast improvement over a heaving-knot to the first limb only to have to shinny to the top. I wonder what they said when climbing-spikes came along: 'gee--I'd rather just keep sharpening my toenails?'The point is that improvements are always being made(micro-pulley's)for instance?
As for the sidekick,that "stick in the tree" as you call it; perhaps I have been remiss in fully explaining the concept and use. Please refer to T.C.I. magazine volume12,number4,April 2001. The article therin, page 32, does a much better job of review than I have been able to accomplish so far.
yours-
Tim
 
I use a retrieval line clipped to the lowering line. The other end can be clipped to a branch or stem near where your working and the excess left hanging to the ground away from the direction of travel of the cut section. The lowering line can then be pulled back up no matter how far away it is.

As long as you don't get caught up in the line as it runs through as the peice is lowered then no worries.

If necessary you can run the line through a figure eight attached below the cut and use that to reduce any swing.

Nine feet is nothing to jump out to or have the groundie swing a rope to you. No need for dip sticks in the tree!

BTW I use my old Fly line for this, its just about what its best for!
 
Tim

I feel that your idea is taking alot of heat right now. I hope you don't get discouraged, keep the think tank going, not everyone buys into someone elses idea. I tried to express in my previous post that I at the very least gave an idea similar to yours a shot to see if it would work for me. It didn't. I hope everyone else is forming their opinions as a result of similar openmindedness.

I watched a company from my area bring a bunch of his brash young men to an Arbormaster 1 day seminar touching on rigging. The young men were overheard leaving the seminar riduculing the overuse of rigging gear and lowering devices and the expence of the GRCS. 'Just get a (*&^^*%% crane' the 'leader said. Very closed minded. I've worked extensively w/the GRCS and it IS a crane, one that keeps the money in the tree company not the crane company.
 
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