I have some dead popple trees in my yard that are going to need to come down. They are located in spots where I am going to need to pull them to make sure they come down right. I know I can't do them alone but my son will be able to help with his Jeep/winch/strong back.

I have downed a lot of trees in my life and am good with a chainsaw. One thing I have always needed was a decent rope. I was looking on Amazon for some ideas of what roped are out there. i saw way too many options and figured it was time to go to T-Man for advice on what kind of rope I should get. I figure about a 100 footer will do it.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Moosetrot

My primary pull rope is 200' and rated for 10k lb. I don't remember the brand I buy from arborist supply stores.

min dia 5/8" and if you think you need 100' you better get 200' as for types of rope i have only used old safety lines or tow straps that have seen there end

Samson is my go to for all ropes, 150' gives some room for error. 1/2 Samson stable braid should work for most applications, get a throw ball and line and leave the ladder in the garage.

A Shackel or large nut works for a weight in a pinch. If he is only doing one tree he may not want a throw line. Now if he wants more gear get a throw ball and a big shot sling shot to launch that throw ball.

Be sure you watch some YouTube videos so you can learn how to do it....of course I'm being a bit sarcastic.
Ropes used to direct tree falling have a very high failure rate. I've never known a logger to use a rope.

Another thing to remember is that 150 or 200' rope usually allows for a base tie. Throw a throw line through the canopy of the tree and tie it to the base of the tree on the opposite side, it makes it do you don't have to isolate a limb. I could explain it better on the phone if that doesn't make sense

We use ropes to fell trees daily, it definitely adds a safety factor. Loggers often don't have as tight of drop windows as we do. We may drop one large tree per day and everything needs to go perfectly, loggers can drop a large tree before their morning coffee is gone and if it doesn't go perfectly it won't go bailing through the neighbors house.

Safety is another factor, if you have a rope in a tree you don't need to be anywhere near the tree when it's falling. Notch, backcut with a wedge, exit the area and pull the tree over gently. Of course you can screw things up with a rope in the tree, pull to hard and you'll see some wild barber chairs... its a tool, use it responsibly.

last time I needed a good pull line , we all went to our trucks and started pulling out 30 foot tow traps and chains and such and started joining them together , you probably know a few you could borrow.

didn't take long and we had enough that the tractor was well out of the way of the falling tee


the synthetic winch line might be a good place to look for not all that expensive of a line that will take a lot of weight.

if you want static line for tree work , Baileys online is going to be the place to find it https://www.baileysonline.com/teufelberger-1-2-multiline-ii-3-strand-bull-rope.html
those who climb may have a better suggestion to the exact line to by
https://www.baileysonline.com/samson-1-2-tenex-tec-12-strand-rope-per-foot.html

if you or your son know any fiber pullers and you can get the 2000 pound bull line they pull the fiber with it is a flat 1/2 inch strap material my son has a friend who has given us some , I need ask him if we can get a longer run so far it is mostly like 25 foot sections.

I have done very little pulling , and a lot more wedging them over
all depends how much holding wood you have how much they are leaning and how dead they are.

Popple is a stupid heavy wood when green and paper light when dry
but it is also not so strong when dry

I have dropped many trees from small to very large, but all have been in the woods where being very accurate was not a crucial as some of these around my house, neighbors' fences, etc. That is why I am going to be using a pulling rope.

The popples I need to take out are all dead and relatively small but big enough they would be a problem if they came down on anything. There will be more that will need to go in the future. They migrated in when my neighbor planted some fast-growing popple along the property line. I left them as I figured they would last for a while but I never thought they would die so fast and easy. Most are in my back half-acre woods but some are along the property line and too close to my house for comfort and easy felling.

Moosetrot

https://www.wesspur.com/tree-rigging-gear/rope-pullers-winches

You can pull a tree allmost over with this.

Be exceptionally careful with dead popples, they like to snap. I put on onto a customers house one time because it broke in half from pulling a 12 ounce throw ball weight up it. I would be cautious about having one hooked to a vehicle, I wouldn't pull until I was out of the drop zone.

https://www.wesspur.com/RIG201K-maasdam-continuous-rope-puller-kit

Sorry this is what I wanted to post.

My buddy works for electric company and pulls tree away from lines everyday with them.

since you have several to do look up big shot throw ball launcher. Basically they sell different weight bases with mettel ring you attach a thin Polly line to called a throw ball. you can throw it by hand but the big shot is a sling shot that goes on a runner pole and makes it easier to get your throw ball where you need it.. then you tie the polly line onto your bull rope (pulling rope) and pull it into place. typically I then use a running bow line knot making a strong knot that will bench down on the loop up on the tree on one end then I run the other end out to whatever I'm pulling it with. maybe just people.

don't bounce or tug on the rope keep a steady pull on it. If you tug or let off the going back can snap the tree off and cause problems.

you might consider a rental lift , hardware store here rents one that will get you up 45 feet , then bring it down in chunks , it really limits your fall zone.

I was looking at that for a huge hackberry overhanging my house , I called around found a guy with a tree service he works Sundays with his wife for side cash , for 450 dollars he dropped it all in about 6-8 foot lengths and I had a huge mess of cleaning it up but it was down for a little more than the lift would have cost me for the rental.

These are nice used to use one now and then when I did line clearance keeps a nice steady pull as long as your are easy working the come along. But the rope is not as strong as my bull lines.

They make a tow able that's 55' but it won't reach that high since it has to sit out away from the base of the tree .

https://www.wesspur.com/basic-arborist-throw-line-kit

Here is throw ball like Providence is talking about but without the sling shot.

Amazon also has some $20 throw line kits that would suffice for limited use.