Need help working bugs out of SRT setup!

D

Daine

Location
USA
Hey guys this is my first post. I hope it's in the correct place! If not mods please move it.

My son and I have watched rec tree climbing for a while. After pricing all the gear it made us back off.

Well I own a machine shop and started seeing hardware. One that caught our attention was the rope wrench. Well I did my research and machined out one for myself.

I also machined and fabricated my own tending pulley and tether.

The tether is 12" split tail version.

IMG_6625.JPGIMG_6623.JPG

The problem I'm having is the wrench isn't taking the weight off of the hitch enough to descend. It just locks and we have to unweight the hitch to disengage it. Wven still we can't get a decent from the hitch.
I've tried more loops less loops and a couple style hitches. Most I've watched used the VT so that's what we've attempted to correct or perfect.

One other thing is that the hitch seems to reach close to the wrench pulley when engaged. It doesn't appear that the wrench is cranking down enough under weight.

For the hitch I'm using a GM 21" eye to eye 8mm on a 11mm static line.

I'm gonna load a few more pictures tell me what y'all think.
 
Pre-load the wrench before letting the hitch engage, by sliding the hitch a little. There will be a little "sit-back"/ loss of height, maybe a few inches.

I don't fly my RW that much, but as I recall, some tethers have a rubber bumper that helps the RW engage faster, with less sit-back.
 
southsoundtree said:
Pre-load the wrench before letting the hitch engage, by sliding the hitch a little. There will be a little "sit-back"/ loss of height, maybe a few inches.

I don't fly my RW that much, but as I recall, some tethers have a rubber bumper that helps the RW engage faster, with less sit-back.
Click to expand...


Yeah I caught that after I fabricated the tether. I've seen some with and without. I will add some type of bumper to keep the wrench in more of a engaged position on the line.

To me it still doesn't seem like my rendition is putting much drag or tension on the line. It also doesn't seem like the wrench is bending the line in a steep enough angle.

I'm just wondering if I'm getting something wrong.

I keep trying to upload more photos but it errors out??
 
Wow, that's the best DIY RW I've seen so far, I'm impressed! I dont see a "stopper" on it though, it's normally there to help it engage quicker and stay upright. Here is a pic of that thing on mine, it's just another bolt I added.Screenshot_20200101-232558.jpg
the store bought ropewrench has a rubber thingy bumping against the bottom of the plates that does the same thing.
 
Jan_ said:
Wow, that's the best DIY RW I've seen so far, I'm impressed! I dont see a "stopper" on it though, it's normally there to help it engage quicker and stay upright. Here is a pic of that thing on mine, it's just another bolt I added.View attachment 64461
the store bought ropewrench has a rubber thingy bumping against the bottom of the plates that does the same thing.
Click to expand...
NICE WORK ALSO!

I keep trying to load more photos but it says"oops we've run into a problem".

Yeah I missed the mark on my teacher but I'm sure I've got a fix for it.

I'm gonna keep trying to load these pics to show the angle of the wrench and relationship of the high to wrench.
 
Agree with rico.
I am surprised of the dimensions of your tether. The whole length of mine is only 9.5 inch e2e. and its split tail is 2-3/8 inch.long. Just enough to reach the lowest hole of the hitch climber pulley where your biner should be connected to. I have the feeling that your tether split tail is very long.
Your hitch length on the other hand seems to be short. Mine is 26" long. Also you may want to try a bigger diameter hitch such as the epiCord 9.3mm.
As said earlier, a photo of your complete set-up would help.

Did you try to set a DdRT system with a friction saver, your pulley and your hitch, without the R/W. ?
 
I used all dimensions and number from what I could find on retail sites, forum sites etc.. I did not have one in hand to take measurements from.. Most all tethers I found such as Stein claim a E2E length of 12" so thats what I created.

I'm sorry the prusik is 30" from GM.
 
I was able to upload the photos but I had to swap over to a PC.. The phone just would not let me upload.. I seem to have no issue with PC.. Can anyone take a look at the rig and send me any seasoned advice on what you see?? As you can see in one of the pics that is about as much angle as I can get out of the wrench.. Maybe I need a bigger pin or change the pulley depth..

Anyway I sure would be thankful for any thoughts on the matter. In my mind it should work just fine.. I think without much real experience I am missing something.
 
Yeah if you’re running a VT, you do want that long tether. Try out a knut or Michoacán and if you like one or other, you can go with a much shorter tether. And if you don’t like either, maybe try a different hitch cord or rope. There’s a pretty big thread with tons of info about different rope,cord, and hitch combinations.
 
OKAY a REALLY stupid question!! Please remember I did all the research I could and didn't have much to go off of. I did not have a original RW to inspect or rip dimensions from. I basically did math from images taken from the internet. I think I am DAMN close. LOL

However can anyone tell me on the RW does the large pulley on the bottom free spool or does it move under friction? From the videos I have seen the large pulley free spools.
 
My best guess would be that your Wrench dimensions are off. Specifically the distance between the slick pin and the pulley looks off to me? I would also recommend getting a rubber chingadera on your tether to help push the wrench up thus engaging it when you sit down in your system, or when repelling.. I would also highly recommend a shorter hitch like a Michoacán. With your hitch cord length I would imagine a 5 wrap version would work nicely.

I have to say your machine metal work looks great...
 
Thank you rico for the compliments!!!!

I Think I am going to modify my tether and try other friction hitches tomorrow weather permitting and post back... I might even take a short video and figure a way to post..

I'd still would like someone to answer the question on the pulley.. Does it free spool or does it have some friction. Maybe even stationary? The 360 video I watched on youtube showed it free spooling as the guy spun it with his fingers....

THANK YOU ALL who reply!!!
 
Tuebor said:
What rope is that?
Click to expand...


I could not tell you at this moment..
My son purchased it a little bit back. He did some talking in forums and wound up buying it... We've had it laying around and I got extra time in my shop so I made a rope wrench setup a few pulleys and now I,m actually building my SAKA or knee aceender to get us going. Just before Christmas I purchased the GM prusik and the feet accenders..
 
I made my own RW and at first my pulley free wheeled. But I had the same problem, where it did not grab as well and I went to a smaller diameter bollard that was bolted solid. Also my rope was sliding thru the RW too easily. I brought the side plates closer together so that there was a very slight drag on the rope, not enough to make tending any harder but enough that the RW engaged immediately each time.
 
Daine said:
I'd still would like someone to answer the question on the pulley.. Does it free spool or does it have some friction. Maybe even stationary? The 360 video I watched on youtube showed it free spooling as the guy spun it with his fingers....
Click to expand...
The pulley free spins, very little friction on the bearing. The slic pin above also free spins, although not quite as easily when loaded.
 
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