Knowledge of the ratcheting bollard?

Sqirrel wrote :

...is there any record of one failing under reasonable amount of stress/or due to wearing out orextended/overuse


Tom and Mark have covered some of this, but in case you need more to convince you.

I've seen LD's get thunked with the log that was being lowered. I've seen them get wanged with the butt end of branches and logs that were free-falled. In none of these cases did the LD appear to suffer any damage. I have also seen an LD with a frame that was bent (noone knew how it happened) , but it is still being used. Ken Johnson said that he would reinforce the unit and the owner plans to have that done.

Greg Good tried for several years to overload the GRCS. In the process they broke a 5/8 doube braid rope and finally, after six years, broke one tooth on the gear assembly. They replaced the drum and the unit was put back into regular use.

I have seen straps that were worn because of long term use or from being tightened when the strap was rubbing against the frame. Mark B. related a story about a friction device that sailed into the air because it was not mounted properly. I also saw a ground worker yanked across the ground because he had wrapped the rope on the LD in the wrong direction. (Fortuneately it was a small piece and the worker was far enough away from the LD when the piece was cut that he wasn't pulled itno the bollard.)

All of the above were due to operator error. The friction device was not at fault and, as far as I know, all of the units are still in service.

Mahk
 
I think that I am satisfied with the opinions of this discussion and will go ahead and buy the GRCS for safety reasons if for no other, the added efficiency is just a big bonus
 
I have no practical experience with the GRCS. I do have experience with the Hobbs lowering device. The GRCS has a mechnical advantage of 12:1. Mahk worked out the mechanical advantage of the Hobbs some time ago at another forum and showed it was 15:1. The Hobbs can remove slack in the line as a tree or limb falls into the rigging by simply pulling on the rope-it's rapid slack removing. The rope can also be pulled taught by simply pulling on the rope. The removals I do call for the advantage of having slack removed rapidly more so than folding a lot of the tree. One needs to know their applications to tree care before making such an expensive purchase.

Joe
 
by pulling on the rope you mean the tail of the rope right similar to the portawrap right? Also, this is an important point so I want to make sure I am clear on this. What do you mean by folding a lot of the tree, is that folding the top limb or log down to the closest pulley in your rigging?
 
If you buy the Ratcheding Bollard you bought Junk . So you really only have to choose between Greg's or Don's . You'll crank a limb faster with Gregs , but what's the hurry . Hobb's has redirect now so it just might be worth it ..but those boat winches are slick . $$$$$$$$
 
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