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Tried rope friction hitches on a big red oak removal last Tuesday
Switched from a standard climbing line setup to a hitch climber pulley system and felt way more control on the way down. Has anyone else noticed less wobble with a different hitch knot?
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nora11013d ago
That 8 inch limb at the south side of the canopy gave me fits last month with a standard Blake's hitch. Did you switch to a Michoacan or a Distel for that oak, and did you notice the hitch grabbing too hard when you were trying to feed slack for those lateral moves? I'm still messing with the number of wraps on my VT to get that sweet spot between control and smooth descent.
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the_kim13d ago
The bark on that south limb might be your real problem, not the hitch you are using.
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claire_hart5313d ago
The way that VT hitch grabs HARD sometimes reminds me of when I used a tautline hitch on a wet pine tree a few years back. I was trying to make a small cut and the whole line locked up like it was glued to the bark. I ended up hanging there for five minutes just fiddling with the wraps because I had too many on there. Now I always go with a Michoacan for oak trees specifically because it feeds smoother through the pulley. But honestly that south limb bark on oaks is a real menace no matter what hitch you throw at it.
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