Maasdam Rope Puller - Deep Dive - A Discussion & Demonstration in Professional Tree Work

This video is a deep dive into the Maasdam Rope Puller, one of my favorite tools in the tree work I do professionally. It is not not fast paced or exciting, because that isn't the goal here. Cutting and pulling starts at 11:21. It is not a how-two but rather a discussion of my setup, what it can do, the context where I use it, the way I use it and then a demonstration putting the tool to use by pulling over three back leaning doug fir trees.
Even with as long as this video is, there are a few things I wish I'd mentioned or things I wish I'd explained differently, but oh well, first time making a video like this. I hope this video gets my overall points across, gives anyone unfamiliar with the Rope Puller a better understanding of the tool and how to put it into use in tree work. It is an extremely useful piece of equipment and I highly recommend it.

[@richsellskc]

Nice job. Spoken and done so like a pro!

[@keethw2950]

Very methodical demonstration! I appreciate the lack of drama. Cool, controlled, and safe application using a great tool!

[@davekoch145]

Nice job! I use a Maasdam rope puller quite a bit but I’m still not entirely comfortable about when enough is enough trying to pull something against its lean. I had one that I really had to crank on, one click at a time, before I could get it over.

[@Billster1955]

Excellent real-world use of the Maasdam R.P. Love mine. I'm also thinking about buying that 6-ton puller in your video.

[@aerialrescuesolutions3277]

Very well done. The multiple camera angles and POV are excellent, I just happened on your channel today. Thank you, and very well done, Jim H.

[@leemarylohman3852]

Excellent presentation. Particularly enjoyed your analysis of how to approach the lean problems.

[@calandmaryellencole8766]

Dido! very good video. Very helpful for a few of my leaners!

[@justus7663]

Outstanding demonstration, Thank you for doing this! I bought one of these last year, and used it for the first time today. Its a workout for an old man, but when you have no one to help you, its a lifesaver, and works just as your described! A big fan! 🙂

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

Glad it was useful, one of these days I ought to get back to making videos...

[@JoeyGolden367]

Excellent demonstration. You're a very good teacher. I just bought one of these to clear a line of dead trees which create a property line around my yard. I want to avoid damage to other trees in the yard and, obviously, any other objects around, so this seems to be the perfect tool. Thanks again for taking the time to explain the tool. The actual case examples are very helpful.

[@lotharschiese8559]

You've sold me on the rope puller, you take your time to do it right, to get home after another day's done!

[@michaelmullins6868]

This is by far the best demonstration/explanation I've seen. Well done!

[@graybeard8950]

Excellent real world demonstration, the best I have seen on youtube.

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

Thank you.

[@c2gsovermind]

that last tree was a satisfying "thwack", thank you!

[@ChathamJackTar]

Outstanding job. Thank you.

[@teennomore]

Thanks for the info on the maasdam

[@pearlman21]

Excellent presentation, professional instruction!

[@searchmanager9372]

Great video thank you for sharing. I am impressed with how far you were able to pull the tree from its back lean. I have the same puller and it has made my tree falling easier and safer.

[@rysaik7543]

Just what I needed for tree work by myself and no climbing.

[@albertbutkas1678]

Very good job nice soothing voice sticking with facts and matter at hand

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

Thanks. I've got no interest in drama or views, just trying to make an educational video here.

[@jeffscott4757]

Excellent video. Very well articulated and taught. Thanks for the work. 🙂👏👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🙂

[@captainjack8823]

Excellent demo, especially for a one man operation. That's where I find myself around my house in the big pine country of east central Mississippi.

[@JimDillon]

Tagging on to all the praise. Excellent video. Very pertinent as I prepare to cut along a power line r-o-w. Love the combination of explanation followed up with demonstration.

[@catherinebeaudin8568]

Great video !

[@awesome52040]

great video man, definely subbed.

[@fatcapital88]

Awesome video, super helpful

[@HeyNylo]

Excellent demonstration

[@andrewhelmer7710]

thank you for your excellent advice.

[@sterlingmoore6032]

Nice and informative work. Thank you!!!

[@TheRedhawke]

Beautiful job.

[@lights80088]

Very well explained, great job. Thank you.

[@Polamish]

super helpful. I will be buying one of these

[@savage22bolt32]

Great video! Thanks for posting, I'll have to check out some more of your channel. Way back in 1974 I bought a one ton Massdam single cable puller. We called it a come-a-long, & used it for getting unstuck when off-roading. Still have it & still using it when I have to drag or lower something heavy. It's pretty worn now, so for safety's sake, I should buy another one. Might need one of these rope pullers too. Tree felling is a hobby for me 🎄

[@HeathInHeath]

This was a great explanation of the process and I appreciate the thoroughness of your approach.

[@winterfar2814]

Killer video man. This helped me out a lot.

[@fullthrottletreeservice4101]

A quick release on that big shot will make a world of difference. But great vid. Thx

[@est.1971]

thanx, very helpful👍🏻

[@briantatro7493]

Great vid I just bought one and looking for tips and tricks to help me along

[@traveler7249]

Impressive to have all 3 fall in the same place.

[@matthewforestieri6895]

Thank you!

[@samuelluria4744]

First of all, let me tell you, that you're a man after my own heart....my colleagues know me for always collecting and saving little random unique pieces of tree!🤣🤣😔 I decorate my house with them. I also want to really encourage you to try the Wyeth-Scott 6-ton come-along, with the AmSteel (Dyneema) line. I absolutely swear by it. Heavy-duty cast iron construction, and extreme pulling capacity. I employ it as follows: Anchor point (tree, etc.) -> sling -> come-along (with almost all the line pulled out, because otherwise, the Dyneema will DIVE DEEPLY into itself on the spool!!!) -> sling#2/Porta-Wrap Now, all you need to do is to set the pull line in the Porta-Wrap and pull out as much slack as you can by hand, lock it off, and you're good to start cranking the come-along. I've done hundreds of trees this way, and it works great. It would be $350-$380 well spent!(not sure what they're going for right now) [edit: 4:18 aaaand, you pull one out from under the work bench! 🤣🤣🤣👍👍]

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

Haha, I was just about to say "but I did mention it in the video!"

[@jamescole1786]

Loved yur clear, calm, engineer-type verbal & on-site presentation. Excellent.👍Also can u please show & explain that larger red, cast iron ratchet puller...it looks much more robust for pulling larger, busy back-leaners. Thanks again.

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

Thanks, I wanted to make a detailed video for people seeking in-depth information, I'm not here to play a character for clicks. As for the larger puller, I probably won't make a video about it since all the same rules/principals apply, it just does the same thing with more power.

[@travisgilbert8416]

@@cuttingincascadia5412 Yes, excellent video, brother! At what point would you switch over to the larger 3 ton puller (tree diameter, height, species, etc...)? I tend to work more with hardwoods back East like Oak and Maple and am wondering if I would regret not ponying up for the larger puller instead. Once again....great video and technical explanation!!

[@dougreid2351]

travis gilbert please see my comments from 27 October. And the reference to SeekTheTruth's vid title "Pulling over a 75' tree" (or similar title) As long as you're using a saw and not trying to actually PULL over a tree, rope & a Maasdam are sufficient. Terry Hale has a video about pulling a tree down, without cutting or saws. Good luck, Brother. DOUGout

[@johnnyhollis2668]

Great video. Do you have a video on using that other heavier duty puller you have?

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

No, I haven't made one on that tool. I'll keep it in mind and maybe do it some day.

[@otthefot]

Thanks, for the helpful video. Your in the shop demonstrations were clear and made it easy to understand when and why the rope puller works in several situations. Then, when you were actually using it on the job, I could see why it works so well if you only have yourself to get the job done. How hard would it be for you to link up with Amazon for easy ordering of the puller, the rope, and the carbiner for us amateurs to get it right the first time. I live in an Alaska bush community where things have to be ordered well in advance of when I wish to use them. Amazon will ship here, but it can be real frustrating and time-consuming to get the order wrong. I have a large boulder about the size of a VW BUG that I need to move and I think this puller might be just the tool for the job, or maybe the More Power Puller would work better, No idea how much the boulder weighs, but I was able to get it raised up enough with my High Lift jack to get a tow strap around it.

[@danrugbyman]

Awesome. Thanks man! What kind of sling shot is that? I'd love to see a demo of shooting that line up in the tree.

[@dougreid2351]

Using the Maasdam puller added an hour to felling trees initially. Since I was bringing down critical trees with potentially steep downsides, I didn't balk at trading time for safety. Practice has significantly reduced the time to deploying rope & puller into the 15-20 minute range. Think about this: if you're going to have a minimum of two ropes (100 & 200') why not have TWO PULLERS? I want/need a second line every third or fouth time I need rope. Great video. Subscribed tonight, of course! Forward! DOUGout

[@chrisw5742]

Or use a snatch block?

[@WoodCutr1]

just saw the PFP, Hello From Treebuzz -Treesap

[@anthonygalipo9875]

Very nice job love my massdam puller use it very very often lots of solo work like having a extra guy with you

[@getony7]

Practical, informative, important skills shared. Great videos. View count must be shooting up if you could tell us to share during the presentation, or may be adding a watermark of your channel, or even a 10 sec intro of yours. Great work again!

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

Thanks, I wanted to make a video for detailed information, not clicks. I've got a lot of other topics I'd like to cover like this, just not the time.

[@outside2585]

Fantastic video. I’ve got a very similar situation with a large 80’ black spruce, much less lean but lots of limb weight the wrong side. Would this method be technically applicable?

[@scatoutdebutter]

Subscribed.

[@turtlezed]

Yep, great presentation. like you, I think on first view the Maasdam does look a little lightweight cos you dont want to be operating it at its top end capacity and have it slip/fail on you. the heavy duty rope puller you briefly showed at 4.20 Ive seen on Ebay and it would be useful to see one of those in action. Does that heavy duty one have a drum anchored/fixed rope and you have to capture progress with another device or is there sufficient rope on the drum to do the whole pull in one without having to re-bite the load?

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

The 3- Ton More Power Puller has 35' of AmSteel-Blue with a hook spliced on the end. That much travel should be more than anyone would ever need to pull a tree over, even with stretch on a long rope. If the job needs more than that, it requires a different solution.

[@dougreid2351]

Check out SeekTheTruth's video "pulling over a 75 foot tree" (or words to that effect). Cumbersome and slow, compared to the Maasdam, he uses chain, rope & anchors driven deeply into the earth, all of which add to the cost & time needed. Since he was also actually CUTTING the tree down I didn't see that he had an advantage over my Maasdam set up. DOUGout

[@scatoutdebutter]

Interesting, well done, and helpful video. Really good presentation as others have observed. Question please... have you considered setting up a heavier rope into the tree in a e.g. 3:1 Z-rig configuration and the attaching tha Maasdam to the pulling rope with a prussik.... thus achieving up to 4500 lbs force on the larger rope while not exceeding the 1500 Maasdam limit? Thanks.

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

A setup like that would certainly be an option, however for ease of setup, when I need more pulling power I just switch to the More Power Puller. For pulling most of the first I work with, a single-line pull on the Maasdam is almost always enough. Take it on a case-by-case basis.

[@PowderhoundTully]

Great video. Two questions. What knot did you use to tie the rope around the trunk as a basal tie? Second, if I've got a tree that has two weight leans, the one bigger one towards the direction I want to go but the other lean is to the left with a 45° error being a bad outcome. Thoughts on setup for that situation? The tree would probably go right over with the forward canopy weight lean by pulling in the same direction but can't risk it not doing so as I will lose control once it goes past vertical. Tree is pretty upright with not a heavy lean to the left but a more pronounced one in the direction I would like to go.

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

The basal tie is a running bowline. As far as your felling scenario, hard to give advice on a tree I can't see but there are a few ways to handle it. If the lean where you don't want it to go isn't too heavy and the hinge is strong enough to trust, it may be a matter of just making the cuts correctly and sending it. Or the tree could have some of the weight taken off on that side (climbing, pole tools, etc) to shift the balance before felling it in the intended direction, or you could use a 'swing line' which is a support-line opposite the way you DON"T want it to fall. That acts as a backup or even supporting some of the weight so it can't fall in the 'bad' direction, while still allowing it to fall where you want it to go.

[@1973noxqses]

I've used the metal cable come alongs forever. I hate them but they can unstuck a 4x4 or pull together a double wide home. I wonder if this rope puller can do the same job? It looks easier to deal with and probably lighter weight.

[@TheRealDannydos]

Is it possible to do a 3:1 with the big shot?

[@RP-xn4xu]

i would like to know more about how you get a rope high up into the tree. Could you demonstrate that sometime, thanks good video.

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

As shown at about 11:14, line setting was done with a Big Shot, www.wesspur.com/throw-line/big-shot-line-launcher.html

[@norass411]

Have you used a CMI Rope Jack at all? Initially, I was set on one but this seems like a great, cheaper option. Would be convenient to be able to attach mid-line but I'm not sure that's worth lower capacity and way bigger price tag of the Rope Jack. I guess, I wouldn't need to buy a dedicated 3-strand for the CMI but then, it would also be more expensive if I smash up a nicer rigging line.

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

I've never used the CMI Rope Jack, but I've watched plenty of videos on it and think I have a decent understanding of it's capabilities. I will probably buy one eventually, just because I like pulling tools and use them so often.... I think you have identified the pros/cons pretty well honestly. The lower pulling force, higher cost and potential damage to a more expensive rigging line (either from the falling tree or from the cam ripping off a ropes jacket) are the cons, the pros are mid-line attachable in a situation when you find yourself switching tactics part way through a job, no need to buy a three-strand if you don't already have one and it seems lighter and easier to utilize in a tree if the situation arose. Like any tool, it all depends on the task at hand. They are somewhat interchangeable, but the details matter as to which is the better option.

[@aceace605]

Can you link the clamps you use on Amazon. All I'm finding are mountain climbing clamps but that seems like it would be too small.

[@norass411]

I love mine but tne problem I keep running into is the pawl that guides the free end back out of the capstain continuously eats the rope. Once under load, nearly every rachet will cause it to jam up one of the strands, nearly locking the whole mechanism. Using my off hand to pull the tail down and out of the winch is the only way I can get it to function reliably. Just wondering if youve ever run into similar?

[@cempakasari9821]

Where can I buy this item online

[@swordfish1120]

Will a cable come along/puller work as well as the rope puller?

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

It works, but you still need a rope to tie onto the tree and cover most of the distance, plus you are limited to the length of travel on the spool, usually around 12'. Depending on the pull and amount of rope used (stretch, getting out slack, etc) that may not be enough length. That is where the flexibility of the rope puller really shines: unlimited travel.

[@TheRedhawke]

What carabiner do you recommend to replace the hook on the puller ? The weight break rating ?

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

Changing the OEM hook on the rope puller does admittedly remove one of their intentional failure points which is a safety feature. I took the original hook off for easier attachment to an adjustable sling, and because I understand the system enough I feel comfortable modifying it while knowing where the limits are. If you don't have the same understanding, keep it original. That said, almost any carbineer will work and be well over the original parts strength, but again the reason for changing it isn't to increase strength or power because it doesn't do that, it is only to make connection to different slings easier.

[@tomknud]

About the maasdam puller?

[@mossymaple]

Can you use 3/4" rope in this?

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

No, it only works with 1/2"

[@williamwalters581]

What rope are you using on the puller?

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

Samson Pro-Master 1/2” 3-strand.

[@simd510]

What chainsaw were you using in this video?

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

361 with a 20" bar.

[@markschriever1801]

How is your stump pulling efficacy?

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

I don't use it for pulling stumps and don't feel it would work especially well without adding a lot of extra mechanical advantage/leverage. Maybe small shrubs, but it wouldn't stand a chance against any actual tree on it's own.

[@tinytoons2517]

interesting . .

[@mapleridgefarm1026]

What kind of rope are you using?

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

Samson Pro-Master 1/2” 3-strand.

[@mapleridgefarm1026]

@@cuttingincascadia5412 Thanks

[@birdisinfire]

hey what rope is that, can we know the exact specs ?

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

Samson Pro-Master 12mm (1/2”) • 3-strand soft lay • 5,700 lb ABS • 2% elongation at 10% ABS • 6.5 lb per 100' • spliceable. 3-strand is what you need for the puller, and while it isn't all that strong compared to more modern/tech types of rope, it is more than enough for the puller that is only applying ~1,500 lbs force.

[@corby404]

Do you ever redirect so as not to pull the tree on you?

[@cuttingincascadia5412]

When necessary yes I do, all it takes is another sling around the redirect tree and a pully you don't mind abusing a bit. Most of the time however, I am able to find an anchor tree far enough away it isn't an issue.

[@glennreynolds962]

Your power puller is only rated 3500lbs single line

[@timeorspace]

Great video! This winch is great for pulling stumps too! kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGjEhpqcp5xpfMk I've been adding to my rigging kit lately and I suspect the average pull force is less than 1500lb. The handle is designed as a fail safe, and I've hurt my hands trying. If this puller is rated the way automobile jacks are, I suspect the average effective pull force is around half of the 1500lb rating, or approximately 750lbs. I'd love to have a load cell to measure it, does anybody know?

[@PATCsawyer]

I've put a Maasdam on a dynamometer and can attest to a full 1500# tension.

[@treeman765]

It’s funny how a pony tail on a man just makes him lose all credibility lol