12 guage Line Launcher

Therrin

Hey everyone who's shown any interest in this thread.... check this out. Must be what was pictured in Quercus's post.

http://www.mossberg.com/manuals/LineLauncher.pdf

It says under good conditions that thing can launch the line up to 700 feet!!!!!!!

Looks like headspacing must be an issue, they use a full-length rod....

newguy18

its nice but I don't think it would work for a climber because of the rod like you mentioned.

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old schooler

Therrin

how does that even come into it? I'd use it from the ground.... not while climbing.

Oooh! I gotta find a video to show you guys....

newguy18

i meant from the ground.It could run into other limbs while trying to land over a particular one espically in pines and other conifers.heres a pic of the bigshot and how it launchs.
Sherrill Tree Climbing Supply: Professional Tree Care

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old schooler

Therrin

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1578568398468533467
"Produce Punishing"

The testing of techniques to be used in the later small-movie series "Pumpkin Punishing 3: Wrath of the Pumpkins"

In winter time we were going to use pumpkins, but since we needed to test the explosive's techniques, we ended up using watermelons, writing the word "pumpkin" on them, or drawing jack 'o lanterns on them

newguy18

your nuts funny though.you shoot watermelons and I can't hit the broadside of a barn.I used to shoot all the time but I'm a terrible shot.

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old schooler

TreeDimensional

Just like bird and big game huntin', always follow through. I wonder if you could get those blanks in the US? I guess if you missed the limb you were aiming for you might not have to worry, the tree might be crown reduced without leaving the ground. Remember the thread on a new way to collect firewood? Ya Redneck!

Therrin

You live in Saskatchewan and yer calling ME a redneck???

I never new till recently that it was an actual place, thought it was fictional home of big-foot.

Then I get a call one day, eh?

And he says he's from Saskatchewan, eh?

Well I'll be... I guess it really does exist

newguy18

so does bigfoot.

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old schooler

quercus

Very simple... It just lays on the ground.Pull it through your hands and let it drop on a heap on the ground. Be absolutely sure that you don't stand on the line though. A fast returning throwsack is able to crack your helmet... I'd use a throwline instead of the rope...
Why do they use a long rod? Because then the projectile is launched without pressure having to build up again in the barrel wich could cause it to explode. Imagine an egg in a big shot. The egg would stay intact when launched from the seating of the sling. If there would be space between the egg and the seating when the sling is launched, the egg would explode when the seating would hit it at high speed. I can imagine that happening here too...The kinetic energy in this last case would be much greater than it would be when there's no spacing between projectile and sling. Without space it would gradually build up, instead of very sudden....
THe wooden rod could split open too, and therefore wedge the rod in the barrel so it gets stuck. Pressure needs to go somewhere though...
I'd think of a hollow aluminum pipe here wich is welded shut on the base-ball end.
Be careful, because I don't wanna see you die... You're playing with pressures up to 5000 times atmospheric pressure here... Don't really know if I used the proper words or sentences for this here. Sorry for that.

I'd love to see this though...

Therrin

Thanks Quercus~!

The big shot & egg example actually clarified the headspacing issue for me. I wasn't seeing it too clearly. Now I understand why, when I look at the instructions, the Army also suggested the use of a 30" dowel.

I'm gonna resize the dowel tonight before tomorow's test. I'm not worried about my own safety since, bodily, I'll be behind cover, using a string. Gotta peak the camera out to see it all though.

Since mossberg already has done this, I know it can be done. As far as the experimenting, I'm "reinventing the wheel" here, but can't find test data for it.

Can't wait for the launch!

Steve Tipton

I feel a great episode of "Jackass" is coming up.

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Heightmaster

Eric Frei

Most arbo's these days flake their line into a collapse-able cube like these things.

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Therrin

This was the "feature" film that ended up being the final cut.

"Pumpkin Punishing 3 : Wrath of the Pumpkins"
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4322263132926565375
Which, wouldn't interest most of you, however, at *20 mins and 20 secs* you can see the pumpkin getting detonated. It's really something. Went off pretty nicely for that scene.

TreeDimensional

Thanks Ekka for posting the pic of the "cube". Me bad, started looking for a pic myself, and got sidetracked. I don't have a cube, we use a small bag, kinda like a rope bag. That little bag is the worst thing to try and flake line back into. When I started out I used old suitcases to put my limited stash of goodies into it was an idea borrowed from Tom Dunlop,and printed in the "Tree Climbers Companion". Now I have too much stuff and it would require a whole team of luggage handlers to load up so now we use this:

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Pigdog

Don't know about that contraption but folks who shoot muzzleloaders using black powder have successfully shot ramrods out of their rifles!
Not on purpose of course! Imagine the surprize of forgetting to take it out of the barrel, huh?

quercus

You guys have some sereous equipment... You should see what my van is like and my chipper. Ya'll would probably laugh your ass off. We do not have tree trucks like that. Here we put our stuff or rig together ourselves and you guys just buy a complete system.

TreeDimensional

Quercus, I never laught at anyones equipment, its not what you have its how you use it. I entered the tree industry in an unusual way, and soon learned that there are things that you can improvise with, But there are things that just have to be designed and tested. I am anal about things that keep people safe, and would never use equipment that has been comprimised (See coments about newguys rope) The tree care industry is full of options of speciality. Climbers to stump grinding people are like teeth of a sprocket. If the tree is still standing the grinder guy might go hungry, and if the climber doesn't have the equipment to finish the job (Stumper) the client might think twice about hiring any arborist again. All The specialities CAN work together to do one job. (SEE counterfeit arborist thread)

My son works as a utility pruner for a very large company, He asked me a question at Christmas that took some deep thought to answer, the quetion was, "?f I were to go out on my own, what should I Buy first?". My response was: 1. Find out what the market needs in the area you live. 2. Know what you need to live on, and buy equipment that will allow you to succeed. 3. Keep an open mind to education, honor what you tell your clients, and be honest to yourself about your success. Then determine if you should grow your business or continue on the way you are.

Our equipment was mostly purchased used over several years, the exception is PPE, Saddles, ropes and chainsaw.... We never knew that we would be so popular, and unfortunatley our travel (work) area is a 150km radius from home. We are kicking the hell out of 50 years old, I can live on a lot less now as the little uns' are moved out, I buy equipment that makes my day-o-day life easier.

Sorry to ramble, and back to Therrin and his project. I also have a muzzle loader, and one of the first things they explain in the manual is that "THE BULLET OR BALL MUST BE SEATED ON THE POWDER". The head space causes a dramatic rise in pressure, and could result in barrel failure. The ramrod left in the barrel would only effect the Muzzle velocity and trajectory of the bullet, and while I have never left a rod in the barrel, I have lost a couple while out hunting. And ins't it odd that I left the truck walking up hill, and the return trip to the truck is uphill too?

One other point of concern is the breach, with too much mass at the end of the barrel, is the breach lock going to hold or fail? At least Therrin is using a pump action shotgun, I'd bet a semi-auto hold eject the spent casing into the next county.

newguy18

we"ll know soon enough.Yeah I saw all the comments about my rope but you gotta start somewhere.I started with 2 huskys,a hank of lowes rope,a screwlock biner and a couple quick links,a back belt and pole gaffs,a bunch of reading and rec climbing and about 3 years worth of ground handleing a chainsaw,and a hope and a prayer as well as a desire to be an arborist.Not the best way to start but thats how I did it.I learned alot of old school but slowly I'm adding new tricks to it.

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old schooler

newguy18

I just watched that start to finish and for what its worth I think its a fantastic low budget film.More laughs than anything else.Post the first two if you can I'd like to see them as well.

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old schooler

Therrin

Well the Line Launcher was a great success today!!!!

Trial runs launched it about 200 feet or so, as far as distance.

I ended up sticking with the short dowel, and leaving the line attatched. Strapped it to a 55 gal drum, but had troubles, since I'd pull on the trigger line, and the barrel would just scoot... not good.

The 87 year old guy who's property I was using said to strap it to one of his fence posts, which ended up working nicely. The dowel was not charred at all, nor did it crack or split. The ball glue-joint stayed pefectly firm, the line flaked out just fine until it reached the end and then followed the path of travel. The ball landed without breaking. Everything was perfect.

The second time around I launched it, shooting from my shoulder. No problems. The power is really very minimal. The noise, sounds like a very low plopping sound, nowhere near even as loud as a capgun.

So far, so good. I'm still going to extend the dowel for the 3rd test. Just didn't end up actually getting around to it last night.

All in all, thanks for the support, criticism and concern... the system turned out to be a smashing success! (so far)

Pictures and videos will be following, I got video of the initial launch, but its hard to see, as it was difficult to hold the camera and pull the cord at the same time.

newguy18

glad to here it was a sucess.

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old schooler

dannyboysfc

I cant wait to see the thing in action.

Eric Frei

Good stuff, you can now go Redwood hunting and regular hunting all at the same time with just one gun.

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quercus

I'm not implying that we do not have the proper equipment here, but what I'm saying is this... You guys have a complete rig at your disposal... Which means that it has a storage area, an aerial platform (wich is also a crane, so it seems ), a tilting container system for chips and logs, and a strong and relyable truck with winches and everything. All of this in one truck. Add one chipper as a trailer you have a complete system. I've been looking at prices for these and I'm shocked because they are so cheap. Out here, to get the same equipment, one had to buy:
-1 truck with aerial platforn :175.000 euro's at least
-1 2.7 tonne trailer for chips and or wood :6000 euro's
-1 truck with storage area for gear :25.000 euro's
-1 digger or crane : 35.000 euro's for a small one
-1 trailer for transport : 5000 euro's
-1 chipper (6.5 inch) like my new chipper: 35.000 euro's

This makes a total of 281.000 euro's or 415655.2 USD
And the you have good, but medium sized eqiupment, so nothing too fancy or anything....

So to get all of this at once to a job site, you need three guys at least.
With your rigs, only one guy is needed.

I'm gonna post pictures of my equipment so you guys can gat a good nights sleep about how fortunate you guys are with your complete rigs. If it would be possible, I'd come to the USA to buy a new rig and had it shipped out here. The only problem is that no-one can service aerial platforms like you guys have, out here, and it wouldn't be CE certifeid so it wouldn't be insured for work at height. This is the equipment I'm dreaming of...and the price of a new truck like that is ridiculous...

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Tree Machine

I'm teeny-tiny compared to all that, almost embarrasingly. Strictly a climber.

Fantastic on the 12 guage testing, WooHoo!

newguy18

I do nothing but climbing as well.I could never justify buying a bucket in my opiion if you can or can't reach it with a bucket you can still climb it.I think a bucket is good for line clearance because of less chance of shock and it allows you to get closer to the lines.

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Therrin

I'm just a climber, but looking to diversify.
I use a 14' box truck. Looking for a small chipper to put behind it.

Manufacture of the longer dowel for the projectile assembly is getting started in a couple of mins.

I hadn't thought about using it for Redwood access. Woohoo! How high can you launch a bag with a big shot?

bigshea13

im waiting till they come out with a magic eraser for trees. then ill just look up...erase...and get paid.

DBS

HAHAHAA those things remove ANYTHING... have you tried it yet... bc it just might work!!

-Daryl

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