Lazy or Clever?

Fair enough. I had my own concerns about using it, just thought I'd see if they were justified. I'm leaning towards the larger dewalt. @cerviarborist makes a good point with the super hawg, but most homeowners around here are not interested in cabling. I've tried to sell it in the past but with no luck. However a general purpose drill will still serve an additional purpose around the house.
 
Today I showed the public my R500 in person at the tree stuff event in Palatka. It was pretty well received. I was even challenged to a race. The challenger had a SRT setup with a unicender and a foot ascender. The R500 won but we had a rematch and he added a SAKA and beat the pants off of the R500. If I had a stronger drill and could run it in high speed it would have been close.
 
Santiago Casanova said:
Today I showed the public my R500 in person . . .
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That's great, Santiago. Sounds like a very successful public demo. I can't wait for this bloody rain to stop so I can use mine some more. I have the mods finished on the second unit now, except keeping the original sprocket intact for the smaller rope. So I have one for both the original rope and also for my big 1/2 inch regular climbing lines. I have one of those Captain hooks with the same size smaller rope on it to make it easier to throw, and I want to try some power traverses!
 
Hey chaps, I just finished a couple of mechanical prusiks that were inspired by Surveyor (Gordon). He had a youTube some time ago of a device I think he called a pulley rack. They are not mid-line attachable, but have to be threaded on like a ZigZag and they predate his fabulous Bone. But I wanted something I could throw together quick to use with the small kermantle stuff that comes with these r500 contraptions, so the line can be used as a main climbing line after you pull off the device when you get up there in the tree. I used size 60 stainless steel roller chain links which were a good fit for the line. Here is a photo of these. I made two so I have an extra one for traversing. As I mentioned earlier, the device will climb with the larger DeWalt even on high speed and it is quite dramatic. I let the homebrew pulley rack ride above the r500 with a strap to my bridge, and when I got high enough I backed off and hung from the the new rack, pulled the rope out of the r500, let it hang from my belt, and rappelled back down. I did this about a dozen times, up to 20 to 25 feet or so. The new racks work perfectly with this rope. There was no slip at all when I sat back on them and they released fairly well. I was doing this SRT also. They will probably release a bit more smoothly if used Ddrt. and also this is brand new rope. I think they will work more smoothly as the rope wears in. Anyway, the trials this afternoon were a real success and I am a happy lad!
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Meant to say also that I will try and get someone to video a trial of this DIY power ascender and the new small pulley rack that worked so well with it. I weigh 190 and with harness, assorted gear, lanyard, etc, the r500 and large DeWalt was easily handling probably 240 to 250 total. The drill did not even get warm.
 
Have you left the roller links intact then? (not removing the rollers)
A small swivel is easily installed if desired, in place of the teardrop.
 
surveyor said:
Have you left the roller links intact then? (not removing the rollers)
A small swivel is easily installed if desired, in place of the teardrop.
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No, I punched them apart and removed the rollers. And a couple of Nano swivels are definitely on the list as soon as my finances allow. I put one on my Bone I got from you and I love it. Thanks again Gordon, for your pioneering work on these things.
 
You might find it a good idea to turn the side links of the roller links "inside out" as the outer edge of the side link is rounded slightly on the outer edge.
Have you seen my video of my Lynx, which uses a tailstock in addition to the headstock.
 
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surveyor said:
You might find it a good idea to turn the side links of the roller links "inside out" as the outer edge of the side link is rounded slightly on the outer edge.
Have you seen my video of my Lynx, which uses a tailstock in addition to the headstock.
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Thanks for the tip, Gordon. I guess I could still smooth the internal edges, without punching them back apart, with a stone in a Dremel. I will check out the Lynx vid. cheers, Stewart
 
Just a word of caution to anyone using system, the rope grab says that it is rated for 5/8 rope. I read that upon getting it, and later forgot because it came with a system to use it on a 3/8 rope. Well I tied into the rope grab (with a pulley clipped to it) with a moving rope system, did a test ascent up to the rafters in a pole barn about 10' up. Then repelled down on the climbing system. The rope grab slipped and although it did grab, it cut the sheething of the kernmantle. I would highly recommend a smaller rope grab or a friction hitch above the rollgliss.
 

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Yeah, the heavy duty steel rope grabs that come with the thing are very rough and are pretty much useless. I also don't care for the big heavy steel biners that come with it, except maybe for rigging work or cinching at the TIP or a basal tie off. What I am doing with the Rollgliss, that works great for me, is using my normal BDB or ZigZag above it on an adjustable tether back to my bridge (the line thru the rollgliss is my main climbing line). Either device advances automatically, pushed up by the rollgliss and I don't even have to think about it. When the ascent is done, I back off the rollgliss so that I am hanging on the BDB or ZigZag just as though a normal climb; and with my mods I can remove the rollgliss from the line completely at that point and move around normally with the tether shortened up to lower the Bone closer to the saddle. I then lower the rollgliss to the ground using my tail or a throw line, or hang it somewhere there near the TIP or even from my saddle like a saw if I think I may need it again soon. It has a similar weight to a small chainsaw. It is so nice to have my normal stuff already in place on the rope and just pull the Rollgliss off when I get up there and I am ready to do whatever I was going to do. Of course, one can't do this with the thing right out of the box since it is not removable from the rope. But it did not take long to change that!
 
Jehinten said:
I gave it another attempt with my climbing system through this instead https://www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?item=6887. It advances easy and grabs securely. I also purchased a near identical dewalt drill that you recommend, it works great. Thanks for the heads up on that model, I needed a heavier duty drill anyways.
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That pinto prusik looks sweet, Jehinten. Would be useful in quite a variety of places. And I love that drill so far. I have been using it for putting some 5/8 in. holes thru the ends of railroad ties, dozens of them. It is a real workhorse and brushless! And on the Rollgliss, it carries me up on high speed with everything on my saddle, maybe 220-230 lbs. total and no sign it is overloaded. Drill doesn't even get warm. I really do want to get some video of it in action. I just bought a used GoPro helmet cam on eBay and am looking forward to using it when it comes in. cheers, Stew
 
Jehinten said:
Just a word of caution to anyone using system, the rope grab says that it is rated for 5/8 rope. I read that upon getting it, and later forgot because it came with a system to use it on a 3/8 rope. Well I tied into the rope grab (with a pulley clipped to it) with a moving rope system, did a test ascent up to the rafters in a pole barn about 10' up. Then repelled down on the climbing system. The rope grab slipped and although it did grab, it cut the sheething of the kernmantle. I would highly recommend a smaller rope grab or a friction hitch above the rollgliss.
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Was that damage just from lowering into it or dropping into it? I have used the rope brake and it is aggressive but it has not broken the cover on the rope. I will admit that I don't like that it is rated for 12mm and it is being used on a 9.5. I have a foot lock prusik above the rope brake, above the r500 for a backup. So far so good.
 
Santiago Casanova said:
Was that damage just from lowering into it or dropping into it? I have used the rope brake and it is aggressive but it has not broken the cover on the rope. I will admit that I don't like that it is rated for 12mm and it is being used on a 9.5. I have a foot lock prusik above the rope brake, above the r500 for a backup. So far so good.
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The grab is probably harder on our softer regular climbing lines. The stuff that comes with it is really tough stuff and quite hard-surfaced once you hang on it. Not really very good for normal climbing but would hold up to hard use like that steel grab.
 
Santiago Casanova said:
Was that damage just from lowering into it or dropping into it? I have used the rope brake and it is aggressive but it has not broken the cover on the rope. I will admit that I don't like that it is rated for 12mm and it is being used on a 9.5. I have a foot lock prusik above the rope brake, above the r500 for a backup. So far so good.
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That was from descending on my hitch from about 10' up. I was tied into the rope brake with a moving rope system (through a pulley attached to the rope brake) its possible that I came to a stop mid way down and that may have increased the force a little. But I did not drop into it. At the point that it slipped, I had already transferred over to my other system and removed the r500 from my harness.
 
Burrapeg said:
The grab is probably harder on our softer regular climbing lines. The stuff that comes with it is really tough stuff and quite hard-surfaced once you hang on it. Not really very good for normal climbing but would hold up to hard use like that steel grab.
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Just to clarify, the danage was done to the static kernmantle that came with the r500. I am using that rope for ascent and switching over to a different climbing line once I am in the tree.
 
Jehinten said:
Just to clarify, the danage was done to the static kernmantle that came with the r500. I am using that rope for ascent and switching over to a different climbing line once I am in the tree.
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Interesting. Well, we have better equipment available to us now than these heavy duty steel grabs anyway. I tossed mine aside and will just use them for rigging work and other things besides climbing. While the design of the grabs is well thought out, the actual construction seems a bit crude, with sharp edges and such. They don't compare favourably with my various ascenders and other gear.
 
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