Had a maple limb kick back on me in a tight backyard in Portland last spring.

The notch closed early, the piece barber-chaired and swung right into the fence, but I had a secondary line on it so we just had to replace three panels instead of the whole thing, anyone have a better trick for those narrow spaces?

3 comments

3 Comments

taylorlewis1mo ago

Been there. For tight spots like that, I'll sometimes use a speedline rigged high in a neighboring tree to pull the piece into the open yard. You get a cleaner drop without relying on the fence. What kind of pull line were you using?

holly_green821mo ago

Actually, a speedline needs a lower anchor in the landing zone, not just a high point. If you only rig high in a neighboring tree, the piece just swings. You need that second, lower anchor to create the descending angle. I tried it that way once and the log just pendulumed right back toward the house.

evan_jenkins26d ago

That bit about needing a lower anchor for a speedline is dead on. It's like anything with tension, you need the right angle to make it work. I see it all the time with guys trying to pull a tarp tight with just one high point, it just flaps around. You need that second tie-down point low to actually get a clean, tight line. Same idea with a load on a truck, if you don't strap it down from a few directions, it's gonna shift. The right setup fixes most problems before they start.