You Ever Work Solo?

[LordFarkwad]

(Kpop boy band name)

I'd never had an alpine butterfly lock up until the first time I tried this technique (using the whole rigging line up by sequentially rigging and lowering pieces along its length). Had to use the vice grips to break the knot afterwards.

 

[Stumpsprouts]

I'd never had an alpine butterfly lock up until the first time I tried this technique (using the whole rigging line up by sequentially rigging and lowering pieces along its length). Had to use the vice grips to break the knot afterwards.

That makes sense. I know folks also cleat the rig line to the porty on the ground, take prusik loops, connected to your pieces, and attach them to the rig line up and down the rope, and lower everything at the same time on the ground. I have not used that method but maybe someone who has can chime in.

 

[LordFarkwad]

That makes sense. I know folks also cleat the rig line to the porty on the ground, take prusik loops, connected to your pieces, and attach them to the rig line up and down the rope, and lower everything at the same time on the ground. I have not used that method but maybe someone who has can chime in.

Yeah, I've done that before, except with porty in tree.

These were some larger pieces that I wanted to allow to run, however (porty not locked off, take several wraps, enough that I know it'll stop before hitting ground, but will run a little when the initial load hits it).

 

[LordFarkwad]

That makes sense. I know folks also cleat the rig line to the porty on the ground, take prusik loops, connected to your pieces, and attach them to the rig line up and down the rope, and lower everything at the same time on the ground. I have not used that method but maybe someone who has can chime in.

Actually, I think that exact thing is from a Reg Coates video.

 

[Jehinten]

I work solo when needed, I enjoy the easy pace as others have said.

As for the rigging techniques, this one is my favorite for most situations. I do not use this for negative rigging, by the time I need to negative rig there is a pile of brush that I bomb the wood into. I've shared it a few times before, so here's a link to a pic and a brief explanation. Since taking this pic I have spliced a dedicated sling for this task that is much lighter weight. Either way works great.

Post in thread '*Solo rigging* Whatcha using? Swivel Bail Shackle and similar methods/?' https://www.treebuzz.com/forum/thre...shackle-and-similar-methods.39297/post-587545

 

[Jehinten]

I regularly will set up a knot-blocked base anchor for initial ascent, which is then retrieved and converted into a canopy anchor with a short retrieval tail - I've wondered if something like this could be used for rigging, by using choked sling with a ring on it around the piece, then knot/carabiner-blocking the ring

Not exactly as you've described but I've done similar. Using the rigSaver from treestuff, I can set it up as a pulley saver on the limb being removed. Lower it with DWT then retrieve the RigSaver with the retrieval ring. Works exactly like DWT except that you don't leave any gear behind.

 

[climbingmonkey24]

Okay so here it is.

Let’s say we are going to be rigging out the lowest limb. You’re going to secure the end of the rigging line onto a higher branch above it. Clipping it onto itself with a carabiner is fine, or a knot whatever.

Now you’re going to pick another spot and set up a pulley and run the other end of the line through, but leave some slack so you are essentially left with half a loop.

Now hook a sling onto the branch and clip onto that “half loop” of rigging line with carabiner.

You’re going to hold the end of the line coming out of the pulley and make your cut.

Lower the piece, pull the rope out of the pulley and out of the carabiner / sling and pull it back up and repeat the process with another sling.

It’s sort of almost like span rigging.

 

[climbingmonkey24]

 

[Stumpsprouts]

I have a lot of respect for the innovations around this unique question, it’s really amazing what everyone has come up with.

Setting safety concerns aside, of which I have a few, this strikes me as very inefficient from a labor standpoint. I imagine myself rigging out that tree in some fashion like this it would take at least 1.5 times as long, and then there’s all the cleanup, and I’ll be tired so that will take me 1.5 times as long as it would a fresh helper. So I imagine this tree taking 3 times as long as it would if there were two people... not very efficient. I don’t want to yuck anyone’s yum but doesn’t that kind of suck?

 

[climbingmonkey24]

From a production standpoint in comparison to having somebody on the ground if you’re doing full cleanup as well it could be considered inefficient. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do if help isn’t available, or for the guy’s on here who enjoy working solo, and don’t mind doing everything themselves.

Case in point, when I started I worked solo, then when I hired someone it made the world of difference. This week I’m by myself working in the heat. Was ambitious to book a big storm damage job and got into it and realized it was just not efficient in 90 degree weather and high humidity to try and do it all myself. So I’m gonna wait until my worker is back to finish.

But this morning I banged out a small shrub and tree trimming job no cleanup or rigging, in and out in less then an hour.

But I still think it doesn’t hurt to know these techniques. There’s some climbers who do their own rigging, even though they have ground guy’s.

 

[Able Feller]

Knocked this popcorn tree out in about a half hour yesterday between rains after some bids.
Cut it up and loaded on pickup and dumped it in the back alley for the city to pickup and haul off.
Awesome way to make a little side cash when the help isn’t required.
It amazes me how many small jobs like this many companies around me turn down.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[climbingmonkey24]

Knocked this popcorn tree out in about a half hour yesterday between rains after some bids.
Cut it up and loaded on pickup and dumped it in the back alley for the city to pickup and haul off.
Awesome way to make a little side cash when the help isn’t required.
It amazes me how many small jobs like this many companies around me turn down.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I guess it’s not worth it to someone with 500k of iron on the road who needs to make 2k-3k per day, unless they have a crew for small jobs or fit it in between.

I don’t mind small little jobs either. Because they can turn into referrals, repeat business, etc. even if they don’t have a major payday initially.

 

[LordFarkwad]

@climbingmonkey24 Thanks for the drawings! Excellent. Apologies for making you go through all that - that's what I call double-whipping. Use it a lot, even without the pulley, for smaller stuff (it still effectively halves the load).

The 'gotcha' with that system, at least for me, is that when you're working with a 200' line, that is a lot of yarding rope (not to mention hoping that the tail doesn't get stuck underneath or around some brush).

 

[southsoundtree]

Clear your rope, meaning pull it free from the biner and sling on the lowered branch by untying the end of the rope and pulling it back up to you.

You can DWT on natural crotches without selling and biner, and easily pull the rope clear from the tree.


Not for noobs:
When roping down a bunch of separate pieces on one rope, the last piece rigged can be at the second rope end, and left suspended, counter-weighted by the previous piece that was lowered the opposite way through the crotch, along with the first, second...

When you're down, you can free up your rigged pieces, and lower the last one.




Natural stub wraps for friction, when chosen and cut correctly, can be remotely-released, one wrap at a time, from the ground, preserving your lowering friction and control.

 

[Sandy Gaffs CC]

I live on Cape Cod. Finding good help that’s not gonna kill you holding the rope is tricky. Still alive but lord knows the ground guys have tried out here!! You mention the words “tree” and “work” out here and people run for the hills. Offered a few guys $200 for an hour of running ropes….NOOOPPPEE! I’ll only run rigs solo if I have to. It has it’s limitations. Ive gone up and down a tree four or five times to untie my own knots because no ground guy. Definitely lucrative for a sole proprietor but man, you won’t ever skip “leg day” this way. It gets old fast. Was doing it regularly until I started getting sub contracted out three days a week. It’s nice but the ground guys have “learning issues” and cant seem to grasp when to hold tension in drop lines versus letting it run. If I could untie my knots from the tree top I’d work alone all day everyday !!

 

[southsoundtree]

Double-whip tackle through a biner that is slung to the work-piece.

Solo speedlines, anchored at the bottom, tensioned up top.

 

[Sandy Gaffs CC]

Double-whip tackle through a biner that is slung to the work-piece.

Solo speedlines, anchored at the bottom, tensioned up top.

My goodness how times change. Definitely gonna apply this. I was taught old school to the point where rigging beaners were new technology as well as new fangled rigging blocks. These new bull rings / redirects have been on my wish list for some time….Thank you for bringing this up! Very useful and I can already tell it’s applicability will be VERY useful.

 

[Stumpsprouts]

My goodness how times change. Definitely gonna apply this. I was taught old school to the point where rigging beaners were new technology as well as new fangled rigging blocks. These new bull rings / redirects have been on my wish list for some time….Thank you for bringing this up! Very useful and I can already tell it’s applicability will be VERY useful.

Cheaper than paying someone $200 for an hour of roping!

 

[southsoundtree]

Start tying the first piece at the end.
Tie pieces midline, until you're running out of rope. Use the end of the rope, run for the last piece.
Use s second rope that's a different color, start at the end...

A horizontal stub can be wrapped to lock the rope. After descent, flip off wraps until lowering friction is achieved.
Lower pieces until you are to friction-y, and flip off another wrap

 

[Sandy Gaffs CC]

Cheaper than paying someone $200 for an hour of roping!

Yer damn right!