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skidding rope

Started by chuck172, July 28, 2008, 09:58:10 AM

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chuck172

 
I'd like to snake a few trees through the woods a rather long distance downhill.  This is for firewood. I have the chance to pick up some new 3/4" nylon rope. 14,200 lbs. tensile strength.
I've used hemp rope before  with snatch blocks.  I use my backhoe or 8n to pull with and it works well.
Is nylon O.K, or will it stretch like a rubber band, maybe break and  dangerously snap back?

beenthere

Think I understand what you want to do...when you say 'snake' logs to a landing.
Don't Didn't see a need for trying to wrestle with a 3/4" rope.

How long would the rope be?

There are ropes available that won't stretch, so less danger of snapping back if they break.

south central Wisconsin
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chuck172

I can get a great buy on 300' 3/4 nylon for $60.00.

OneWithWood

Get to now the history of that rope.  It sounds like a great deal but nylon is susceptible to UV degradation.  The stretch factor is high and can be the cause of grief when trying to snake some serious weight through the woods.
One With Wood
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Onthesauk

I've got 200 feet of 5/8" dacron that I've been using with the ATV for several years now.  I don't do any real long pulls, mostly 50-100 feet with two pulleys.  Works great, holds up well, not a great deal of stretch.  Just use it for dragging stuff up or down the hills to get it to a trail where I can get it on a trailer or in the arch.
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PC-Urban-Sawyer

I would not use the nylon line for this purpose.

I know I have watched a Navy safety training film on several occassions that had film of an accident involving a nylon line used as a mooring line. It was absolutely devastating to see the damage caused by the snapped line.

Saving money is good. Saving life and limb is better.


jwoods

It might work for very small logs in open field conditions.  Things to consider..abrasion, hang-ups, pushing it under the log.  I have some good Nylon rope for general use, and it stretches quite a bit.

300 feet for $60.00?  A better purchase would be a 3/8 or 1/2 inch "Cat" choker from Baileys.  -Regular cable already made up with ferrules, etc. I used to use chain, but after 1 day with that choker, I won't go back.

You can't go wrong with the cable choker.  -

chuck172

The deal fell through on the rope. Something too good to be true usually is. Anyway it's O.K. because I know nylon has a big time stretch factor.
I'll just have to figure some other way to get the distance I need. I can't drive anything close to where I want to be, maybe just some steel cable hung with snatch blocks will do it.
Necessity is the mother of invention.

jwoods

Why can't  you drive close?

rebocardo

> used hemp rope before  with snatch blocks

I have used 1/4" winch cable to skid huge logs before from difficult areas where driving was not an option. Sometimes to lift a log out of a hollow, you can cut a groove into a stump and lay the cable into that to get a pull up hill if a high pulley block is not an option.

One thing I would not suggest is skidding a log and hitting a solid object like a tree or stump, it will snap like a rubber band if you have enough speed. Use the 1/4" to get it close to hook up a strap or chain.

I built my truck with headache protection to stop anything from coming through the back window or cab wall.

On my truck what I have done in the past is get the log close enough to the truck,  wrap a chain around it, then lift the log with the high lift jack and attach it to the pintle hook on the back of my truck. You can skid a log for a good long distance this way because the log becomes like a trailer and only the very back end gathers mud. Just drive slow.

I agree on the nylon rope being a bad idea. You get a lot of stretch and in my limited experience with it, it breaks right at the the loop or knot and comes whipping back like a snake. I would use it for lowering branches, not skidding.



abnorm

I use a 7/8 bull rope for my dragging thru the woods low stretch and strong no chance for snapping and getting some one hurt.  Lots of pulls are up hill steep 30 40 % grade use a large pully with 1/2 cable for ties with a chocker on the log and drag em up with my 4x4


Jasperfield

Somewhat related; I have an apportunity to retrieve a good quantity of 10"-20" hickory logs (and cut-offs) from a log deck / slash pile that stands 40' distant, downhill, and over a 18'-high dirt ridge...all on steep slopes, here in WNC.

I'm using a Bobcat T-180 (rubber-tracked loader) w/Farmi winch and a Bobcat 337 trackhoe with a Valby log grapple (instead of a bucket). I have a Ford F-650-2wd, 16' log bed w/a Fassie loader which will be used to load the spoils onto my F-450 to take to the dump & sort site.

Notwithstanding the small equipment I use here in the "really steep" areas around Bula-Dean, NC; I'm constantly reminded how things get done by the three machine-like day-laborers (from Honduras) to do tie-ons & hook-ups:

I want to find a way to decrease their workload of dragging a metal cable in-and-out and make things reasonably more productive.

Nevertheless, I'd like to use rope on the Farmi rather than cable. Rope is lighter and it's easier to maneuver through debris, weeds, etc.

What do I need to know to implement rope for my dragback cable (and in consideration of friction/abrasion whilst pulling it across-through the dirt ridge?

I'm up to speed re nylon and the stretchy stuff.

Thank you ahead of time for your responses.


aksawyer

Wheather you use chain,cable, or nylon,any of the special skidding synthetics,there is always some stretch,and thus a reaction(never a good reaction).If you take an old pair of logging chaps or a heavy jacket,and lay it across the line.Than as it gets tigthened and over stressed and breaks almost all that enegy will wrap up around it and stop.Just my experiance as have seen alot of bad accidents.

Kevin

I like to use a mechanical advantage, 3:1 with the load block to rove on the bigger logs.
When the pull gets difficult a tweak on the log with a cant hook can get it going again.
I use a skidding cone to lesson drag and three strand 1/2" nylon/dacron or 1/2"stable braid rigging line which is good for over two thousand pounds with a built in safety factor of 5.
Know what you are pulling and what your rope is capable of pulling with a safety factor.

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