Tool Tuesday - Throw Lines, Throw Weights & the Big Shot
It’s Tuesday, which means it’s time for another look at the tools Red Mountain Rigging uses to get the job done!
A couple weeks back we had a look at wedges, a tool that can be used for opening up cuts, freeing trapped saw bars and, perhaps most usefully, bringing down leaning trees by coaxing the gravitational mass over its centre point in the direction you want to tree to fall. And while wedges are really good at aiding fall direction of trees, Red Mountain Rigging specializes in hazardous and dangerous tree removals - trees that are incredibly compromised due to cracked structure or interior rot. Often wedges just aren’t enough insurance to rely upon. A lack of sufficient hinge wood can cause a tree to snap off mid fall and go in an unintended direction, and a lack of interior integrity can often result in the wood being compressed as the wedge is driven into the back cut, rather than ‘lifting’ the tree.
That’s where ropes come in to play. By placing a rope into a tree, we can set up mechanical advantage, redirected, or winching pull systems that allow us to physically pull the tree against its prominent lean. The principle is the same - we need to get the gravitational mass over its centre point to bring it down precisely where we want it.
‘But how do you get the rope up there?’
This is easily the most asked question when we’re on a job site, so let’s take a bit of a closer look at the pieces of equipment that let us set a rope in a tree without having to leave the ground - Throw Lines, Throw Weights and the Big Shot.
A throw line is a small diameter line typically consisting of woven HMPE (high-modulus polyethylene). The material gives the line a waxy feel that helps it to side through the canopy and over the bark of limbs, etc. We typically store our throw lines in pop up cubes, which allow the line to flake out without getting tangled. We’ve got a variety of brands and diameters, but the typical range for a throw line is right around 2mm in diameter.
In order to propel the line up into the canopy, we utilize a throw weight. This small pouch is filled with shot to give it a specific weight. Based on the type of tree or scenario we’re presented with, we can select the most appropriate weight to affix to the end of our line. Weights range from 8 oz all the way up to 16 oz, and the pouch is tied to the end of the throw line using the affixed metal ring.
Once the weight is tied on, we can throw the line up into the canopy by hand using a variety of throwing techniques. For situations where the height may be great or there is clutter in the throw path from branches or other trees, we often rely on a special device called a Big Shot to help launch the weight. This tool is essentially a big 8 foot long sling shot, proving that we’re really still kids at heart and we never actually grew up...
Once we’ve got the throw line up and over the required spot in the tree, the weighted pouch helps pull the end of line back to ground. We can then tie our rigging line to the throw line, pull it up and over our tie-in point and voila! The rope is in the tree!
The use of throw lines is a critical skill in our toolbox of tricks, allowing us to create better safety margins and take better control of hazardous trees during felling operations. Using throw lines to remotely set ropes into the canopy is also useful for climbing operations, allowing us to get ropes up high and climb up on them rather than the tree itself. This has far less impact on the tree for situations such as pruning and lets us leave the spurs in the truck so we’re not puncturing the cambium layer of the tree and creating open invitations for insects and disease!
Written by Sean Sterna - The Rocky Mountain Arborist & Used with Permission
Red Mountain Rigging is a local Redwood Meadows based company, owned & operated by members of this incredible community. We founded this company on a desire to help our neighbours and have built ourselves to provide a more economical solution for tree services. Our focus on safety ensures your job gets done quickly and efficiently while maintaining not only our crew’s wellbeing, but the wellbeing of you and your property. Fully insured and registered with WCB, our crews are your local experts for all things tree services! And while we love to focus on education for our community, it’s always recommended to consult with a professional first before undertaking any serious tree work on your own!