Sherrill failure

Matlack st...... Recent problems there have led me to not want to deal with them again.
The week before thanksgivivg I went up to order a saw, and parts for my backpack blower. Last tuesday I called and asked what the progress was on my saw and parts. "What saw? What parts?" Was the responce I recieved. Upon reminding them of the face to face conversation we had had they said "oh yea, the saw is on back order and we have not ordered the Stihl parts yet" I promply called to insure another supplier had the saw and had it three days later. I'm still waiting on my parts, and will probably be looking for a new Stihl dealer in the new year.
I like spending my money locally but these guys make it so difficult.
 
I would avoid Matlack street at all costs. They have rarely if ever come through on any custom orders. The staff is not knowledgeable and does not understand the industry. I can order stuff faster from treestuff then they can have shipped to their locale.
 
Sad that once reputable companies have slid downhill so far. Used to be that Matlack St was the best on the floor at Penn-Del.
 
Yeah when I got my pole pruners awhile back they stiffed me with a surprise $60 COD to be payed, which made the bargain basement pruners the same price had I bought it from a local dealer. Not a fan of the staff either, watched them sell a 5/8's block and rope to a guy that had no business using said equipment judging by the questions he was asking. 1/2" inch would have been more than plenty, but half the cost. I bought my first set of pants from there when I started, stood there for 40 minutes trying to figure out what I was looking at. Poor retail practice. I'm the purchasing representation for the place I work for now, funny how the past can catch up with you.
 
If your in SE PA the best saw shop for Stihl & Husky I have found is Bortz's Saw Shop in Oley. Doesnt carry a ton of climbing and rigging gear but has been in the saw biz over 40 yrs. be hard pressed to get a better deal or service IME on a saw. 610-987-6752
 
I've heard that AM Leonard has great service and should have what you are looking for. My wife has a horticulture business and has purchased many items from them. They've been around since 1885 and not only provide arborist supplies, but almost every other horticultural tool you'll need. I'd love to hear about anyone else's experience with AM Leonard on this forum.
 
Paul Weinstein said:
I've heard that AM Leonard has great service and should have what you are looking for. My wife has a horticulture business and has purchased many items from them. They've been around since 1885 and not only provide arborist supplies, but almost every other horticultural tool you'll need. I'd love to hear about anyone else's experience with AM Leonard on this forum.
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I'm in Ohio. While traveling I've purchase a few things from Leonard. They had what I needed & were knowledgeable.

Bartlett has a very good rep.
 
cory said:
Sherrill stinks, but ftr, they were awesome when Tobe ran things there. Their catalogs set a standard back in the day.
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Does anyone know approximately when it was that Tobe left the company and why? I know nothing about the back story of how that all came to be.

For about the first year I was learning to climb, just by reading on the forums and watching videos, I slowly gathered together all of the necessary gear by buying it from Sherrill Tree company. And as people say, their hard copy catalogs were very instructive.

But then after buying from them for all of that time, with flawless execution of each and every order, I started to experience what I felt were obvious mistakes in my orders. Maybe two or three times. After the first time or two, I started buying from TreeStuff, just to give them a shot, and had no issues with any of my orders so far.

I tried to give Sherrill one more shot when they sent me an e-mail coupon good for 15% off one time. Compared to TreeStuff, I did not save much, but I just thought I'd spread the wealth around a little bit and see how Sherrill fared. I bought a 200 foot Vortex rope from Sherrill, with one end spliced with a tight eye. For the record, this was to be only the second climbing rope I'd ever purchased, which is still the case by the way.

Well, I pulled my rope out to use it for the first time, and in fairly short order found that the end of the rope without the spliced eye was just a cut end with nothing more than a few wraps of electrical tape holding it together. The tape had come loose, and the rope was rapidly starting to unravel itself. To this day, I am ignorant of whether or not this is what people expect to get when they buy a $200.00 rope. It was not what I was expecting. I was expecting to get a rope that was finished at both ends, and ready to use. Just like the Mamut rope I bought from Amazon as my first climbing rope. Maybe the climbers on this forum with a long history can tell me what "normal" is, in this circumstance.

Thanks for listening.

Tim
 
Thanks for the response, Stihlmadd. Can you tell me though, if you've purchased a bunch of climbing ropes during your time, what is "normal" to expect from most arb supply houses, as far as the "finishing" of the rope is concerned? Do most at least whip the end of the rope, if they are not selling a "manufactured" length? I guess before I purchased this 200 foot Vortex rope I assumed that the supply house (in this case, Sherrill Tree) was selling only lengths as produced by the manufacturer. The lengths I recall being available, typically, are 150 feet, 200 feet and 600 feet. I was surprised by Sherrill when I received what I thought was going to be a length of rope 200 feet long, finished by the manufacturer, and instead received something that had obviously been cut off of a longer spool, most likely a 600 footer. To this day, I'm still not certain I received the 200 feet of rope I paid for, just because I haven't taken the time to lay it all out on the ground and measure it. Which is another reason I have been left with a mildly bad taste in my mouth over this
transaction.
 
Usually they are just taped tightly or possibly heat seal if they use a hot knife. Most are pulling them off reels and just cutting them to length. They don't know if your splicing eyes in them or anything else for that matter.Also most ropes will milk to some extent so sealing both ends is usally a bad idea with most ropes. Treestuff usually has it listed if 2 eyes is not recommended. Once the rope has been used enough or has been milked enough you can usually seal the second end. I personally never seal both sides, just tape, rope seal or shrink wrap so the cover can still milk more if required.
 
Monkeylove, thanks for the quick response! If you don't mind, a couple more quick questions.

Is the 200 feet of rope you're supposed to be getting before or after they've made up any spliced eyes you've requested? I would hope that it was after the splicing, so that the finished length of the rope from end to end after eyes have been added is still the 200 feet you ordered, or just a bit more, as a "fudge" factor.

My second question is, what is this "rope seal" stuff you referred to in your previous post? I don't think I've heard of it, but it sounds like nice stuff to have. Thanks again, in advance.

Tim
 
I assumed they get 600' spools of rope and offer 120', 150', 200', and 600' because those are factors of 600 and wouldn't leave any odd ends remaining.
 
Tim, it might be called fabric seal or something like that. I think I saw it used in the Splicing threads. I have never used it myself. As far as how the rope is measured im not actually sure, I get all my ropes from Treestuff and usually splice my own eye on one end. I have never measured any rope I've purchased, I just assume it is correct give or take a foot.
 
TimBr said:
Do most at least whip the end of the rope
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I have never asked for or received a wicked climb line at the end for the same reasoning as monkeylove.
the rope will need to milk out the difference and wicking will not allow for that process to happen.

I always heat cut or seal then apply tape to the ropes I cut and prefer that to be the case when I buy ropes , the milk will still occur and can be redone once the rope 'settles down'.

If you bought a spliced eye on both ends from a reputable supplier then it will be finished at both terminations as per spec.
Never used a rope sealer myself nor do I heat shrink because I like the ability to lay my eyes over the 'worked' areas of the splice at all times not a fan of hiding things without due cause.
I personally have never checked the actual length I have received from a supplier I just go on trust factor in this regard,
bear in mind there would be some mild variation but that would be the human factor if anything, try measuring out a 600 ft spool and you will see what I mean :D
 
TimBr not sure what rope seal you are thinking of but, I like to use Plastic Dip. Have seen it in smaller quantities in Home Depot as Electricians Seal or some such. Same thing is sold in Marine stores as Rope Whipping in a can. I think that is all the same liquid product you are speaking of.

Only time I ever got a rope with ends in better condition than taped was when I had TreeStuff deliver a package to the East Coast for me and happened to mention I was going there to learn some stuff about XRR usage from Xman and so wouldn't have stuff there to take care of the ends. I asked if they would tape them up well. They came melted nicely and heatshrunk, still use that rope as is to this day. I buy everything I can from TS.
 
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