throwline reel

Re: Shotline reel 4U

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just ordered mine. I'm taking your word for it, better be good! looks brilliant.


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All I have in this world is my word.

Compliment appreciated, but how it makes <u>your</u> rope setting duties more swift and efficient is what it's all about. I want it to pay you back in time savings and then keep on giving.

Don't run over it with your truck, though. It didn't pass that test at this end.
 
Re: Shotline reel stowage

Good question! There are five reel threads going in four forums, so I get mixed up what's been covered and where.

The nicks in the outside are for the line to catch on for storage. The line folds over the reel's outer perimeter through one of the nicks, then under the bottom, back up through one side of the center, over the handle and droop the bag. The nick keeps the line from sliding around the circumference. It will take a fraction of the time to actually do this than it took to read it.

Below is a picture of the above described, but on one of the former versions of the reel. Yours will be essentially identical.

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Shotline reel bag stowage

Here's a picture I just found of the new version, with the nick detail in action, or at rest, I should say.

The differing colors are differing shotlines. The red is Zing-It, the orange is Fling-It. I'm running 100 feet of each. It helps me determine the height of the shot. I can't estimate 80 feet so well, but I can estimate the remaining 20 feet of the primary line to come up with the height of the shot. Pen marks every 5 feet of the last 30 feet of color #1 give a fairly precise measure beyond 70 feet. In these upper limit shots, I'm interested in knowing.

I've never actually tried to see just how high a shot I can get straight off the reel, that doesn't really interest me, it's not a contest. I'm at work and nailing the shot is all I care about. Draining it on the first shot is where the glory is because all the sooner I can get up into the canopy. My best shot, off the reel, so far is an 80 foot crotch. The bag went higher initially, so its assumed a higher placement is easily possible. This was using a 12 oz bag.

Yours may have nicks angled different directions. I did this on a number of recent reels. One direction of nicks accepts line from the reel wound right-handed. The nicks going the other direction are for left-handed winders because the line would be wound on from the other direction, don't want to discriminate based on handedness.

Seasoned veterans may find it useful to use both ends of the line for their own unique reasons. The reel facilitates this as you can peel line off the reel very fast to expose the terminal end. Just hold the center handle and give the line a swift pull.

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Re: Shotline reel bag stowage

used it today. Kind of wierd I didn't think of this myself. thats the way the best inovations are though, "like, duh!"

I got my first throw off the thing stuck into a topped mulberry so I didn't even get to wind it up cause I had to rescue the throw bag. I didn't get the line winder for me, I got it for my ground guy who always insists on wrapping up my throw line on sticks rather than flaking it into my cubes or buckets. Hes happy.

I hope I dont break it though. I wish it could be made a little more solid. It kind of feels a little lightweight. I liked that earlier picture you had with the plexiglass plate bolted on to the bottom.

I'm stoked about it.

As for 70 bucks, I just remember I bought that stupid falteimer cube for 70 bucks and it blows away in the slightest puff of wind and is a PIA to open. And it didnt even come with a throwline included. With this, I got a hat, a bunch of stickers, and a slick lil keychain carabiner. and best of all, a James Kilpatrick trading card.
 
Stoked about it. Shotline reel

I can sense your enthusiasm.

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I didn't get the line winder for me, I got it for my ground guy who always insists on wrapping up my throw line on sticks rather than flaking it into my cubes or buckets. Hes happy.


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Interesting. I have deliberately NOT included instructions with the reel. The thought behind that is, if you're buying one, and the only place to get them is through here, then it's one of you using it. This thread is the instructions.

But giving it to your ground guy, if he doesn't hang around these halls, he has no instructions whatsoever. I did not plan on this. It begs a question; do I post explicit instructions here, or do we consider your ground hog a Guinea pig and just see how he does with nothing more than the reel as it was received.

Wow, interesting. Your ground guy is going from the crudest and most rudimentary method of winding a shotline to the far end of advanced scale (at this time in history). I think he's gonna love it.

He'll probably do things I wouldn't consider, and that'll be a good test, though I won't have any idea what he's doing. Just at least let him know the reel is to wind in line that has been flaked to the ground. Now, the reel WILL pull a rope up and over if you force the issue, but it is so much faster by hand, and you really need that human hand and its delicate abilities to trace lines down and pull ropes up and over. Smurf gloves will allow him to take full advantage of a fast up-over-and down of the climbing rope without having to ever think about wrapping a shotline around his hand.
 
Re: Shotline reel bag stowage

Yup. I think the key with the winder is that it comes with 25 bucks worth of throwline.

Personally, I think a basic 2 minute youtube would help. There are a few quick tips (as explained earlier in this and other threads) that make it work.

The big thing I found was to keep the line tensioned (by running it through your legs) as you are reeling it in.
 
Re: Shotline reel bag stowage

I do the throwing. He does the putting away and I often come out of the tree to find my line neatly wrapped around a stick which always annoys me and I ask him why he didn't flake it into my 70$ falteimer. he says ok. and a couple of weeks later my line will be around a stick again. Maybe he is genetically a wrapper as opposed to a flaker.

I think instructions are not that necessary, its fairly self explanatory. I would watch a video though for sure.
 
Re: Shotline reel bag stowage

its funny because I have concluded that throwline is the highest paying skill of being an arborist. therefore the money sunk into throwline technology is not that significant as far as overhead vs. profit.
 
Shotline reel profit

OMG. I'm not alone.

I didn't want to come right out and say it, but thank you for coming out and saying it. Here are the numbers, as they work for me. Thank you so much for bringing this up.

At 69 dollars, save me ONE HOUR of time that otherwise would have been lost, and you've paid yourself off. And then you get that same savings benefit over and over and over until the end of the life of the reel. The throwline is the gateway to the climb. A poor-man's bucket truck, if you will. Without the throwline, there is no bigshottling. But without a bigshot, you are still able to throw. It all boils down to the throwline, throwing and getting the rope up, over and down as swiftly as is technically possible. The shotline needs to be stowed away and made ready for its next mission, and since this has zero to do with the actual care of a tree, it needs to be concluded as fast as possible because this is a focal point, and one that is <u>repetitive</u>. These time savings and minimization of hassles and the elimination of.... well, .... slow is like money-in-pocket each and every time.

Streamlining this process brings that real-time benefit, but then there's the happy factor, which is, when your gear works well and does what its supposed to do, you're just happy about that. Now, this is the feeling I get each and every time I use the shotline winder. It is a fun time, there is no tangling, no snarls, no rats nests, no blowing over. Just the time NOT watching a rats nest flying into the air and then untangling it one time is worth it in my book.

This process of line-setting / rope-setting, as each and every one of you knows, can be a nightmare, or it can be exhaltingly fun. At the same time, as Tarzan says, profitable. The less time you can spend having fun, the more profitable you become. Isn't that just the most beautiful paradox ever.

No one makes money fumbling with shotline.
 
Winder price & construction

Trev, that's a very funny reference. Just by sheer coincidence, your Tall Trees, Trev McRev version fits into Treebing's question:

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I hope I dont break it though. I wish it could be made a little more solid. It kind of feels a little lightweight. I liked that earlier picture you had with the plexiglass plate bolted on to the bottom.

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treemachine.jpg


This image was # 001, the Geezers reel. The cut off waste piece from the now smaller top side of the reel was adhered and riveted to the the bottom side, making the bottom side twice the thickness. The overall heft of the reel is noticeable. It would mean also that in the making of the reel, nothing is being wasted while at the same time value is being added.

I swear, I pondered this decision, whether or not to include the cutoff piece and thereby increase the time and expense of the reel, or to minimize production costs and offer the reel at the most affordable price.

Amping up the baseplate to double thickness would add approximately 6 dollars in time and materials, not so bad, but who knows? The difference between $69 and $75 may seem like a lot to some. I really wanted to offer it at the best price possible, and hence the single thickness base plate. My gut told me to go with the double base, but I didn't listen to myself on that one. I listened to someone who has much more business experience than I, but he's not and Arborist and he doesn't use this tool multiple times a day.

Aside from the extra heft you would feel, there is a more pronounced 'flywheel' effect of the double thickness base and it winds the same, but feels better. Some of the early models we put triple bases, I may have a picture somewhere, that was like prototype 14 or so, recently, like two years ago. These were about the nicest reels out of the entire history. I actually did a formal video on that one's construction, but have never even edited the footage.

For now, here are Trev McRev's reels, the standard version on the left, single thickness baseplate, next to the tall trees version, double thickness baseplate on the right. Trev, I'm glad you're liking them. You got by without instructions A-OK I reckon?

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Re: Winder price & construction

Here's a picture of the model with the triple base. It was the reel's base, on a light-duty corruplas disc take from a front-yard election sign after the election (you can see the blue edge of that disc). This double base was then adhered to the heavy duty polycarbonate of a bit larger diameter. This baby rocked.

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Re: Winder price & construction

Here is the underside of the triple-base model. I was all about maximizing performance and I didn't focus a whole lot on looks at this point in time. Utilizing available materials to see what worked best.

I really like the chopstick detail. The swivel can be adjusted inward or outward this way, or multiple swivels can be put on.


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Re: Winder price & construction

so, Im lovin it but I am finding i never use the handle in the middle for the winding application. The handle in the middle seems like its main purpose is to hang the throwbag off of. the line is easier to just wrap manually around the spool like a kite string.

maybe you should make a video. so far this is definitely the best throwline storage I have used. I now, like you, will have my eyes peeled for similar spools in every hardware store I walk into.
 
Re: Winder function

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so, Im lovin it but I am finding i never use the handle in the middle for the winding application. The handle in the middle seems like its main purpose is to hang the throwbag off of. the line is easier to just wrap manually around the spool like a kite string.

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You're trolling me. Good try, but I gotta call you out on that one!

Seriously, I did a contract climb for a company recently, they had me with two Mexican guys and they were seeing gear they'd never seen. The one guy did exactly the same thing, using his hand on the line itself and hand-wrapped the shotline around the spool. Of course, it wasn't clear to him at first glance that the entire reel revolved around the inner handle.

Winding the line around the spool by hand serves no advantage. You can do use that method around a stick.


After showing Jose' how to pinch the line betwen the legs to act as both a tensioner and a 'fairlead' guide, and winding at multiple X his speed, I handed it back with no words exchanged, except, "Ahhhhhh."

He started winding, line is zipping off the ground and onto the reel and he says, "Eso", which, interpreted into English I think means, "Ahhhhhh".
 
Re: Winder function

Okay I need a picture of the leg pinch method. The line winder is still better than a stick because you can throw off of it. And like I said, the putting away isnt ussually my issue. I like how it stores too. Not as compact as falteimer but good. So get that video up. I see there is a little trick involved.

eso is literally "that" short for "ah, like that!"
 
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