Weaver Speed Line Kit

A speed line lets you send brush down a tensioned rope from the canopy to a landing spot well away from the tree, and the Weaver speedline kit packages what you need to rig one. It is the answer for removals where the drop zone under the tree is crowded with roofs, decks and plantings.

Why run a speed line

On a tight lot, getting brush to the ground is easy. Getting it to the ground without hitting the house, the fence and the flower beds is the hard part. A speed line runs from a high anchor in the tree to a low anchor at the landing zone, and each bundle of brush slides down it, clearing everything underneath.

It changes the pace of a job. The climber keeps cutting and sending, the ground crew keeps clearing the landing zone, and the brush ends up next to the chipper instead of spread across the yard. Meanwhile the main lowering line stays free for wood.

It is also a cleaner job for the client. Fewer crushed shrubs and dented gutters means fewer callbacks and a better reputation for the crew. Many arborists who try a speed line on one tight job end up keeping a kit in the truck permanently.

Rigging it

Pick the high anchor above the work in sound wood, and the low anchor at the landing zone: a stump, another tree or a ground anchor your company approves. The line angle sets the speed. A steep line delivers fast and hard; a shallow one may stall loads halfway.

Tension the line with a mechanical advantage system or with wraps on a lowering device at the low end. A controllable low anchor lets you slacken the line to bring loads down gently into the pile. Over-tensioning multiplies forces on both anchors, so tension only enough to clear the targets.

For a store-assembled alternative, compare the speed line kit with carabiners.

Protect the bark at the high anchor with a sling or friction saver rather than running the line around a bare limb, and use a sling sized for the forces a loaded speed line can put on it.

Sending loads

Clip a pulley or carabiner to the line first, then to the brush with a sling. Keep loads small and trimmed so they ride clean. Several light bundles are easier on the anchors and the crew than one heavy limb. Have extra connectors on the line so the climber is not waiting for gear to come back.

Everyone stays out from under the line and the landing zone while loads are moving. Agree on calls for sending, clear and stop. If a load hangs up halfway, do not stand under it to free it; use the low anchor to slack and lower it.

Strip awkward side branches so bundles ride without catching. A tangle of twigs dragging along the line slows everything and wears the rope.

Safety and inspection

A speed line is rigging, not a life-support system. Never clip a person to it. Check the rope, slings, pulleys and carabiners before every job, and retire anything cut, glazed or deformed. Re-check the anchors and tension after the first few loads, since rope stretches and slings settle.

Train the crew to set up and run a speed line before using one over property, and work to ANSI Z133. The line cuts a job's risk only when everyone knows how it works and where to stand.