Using the Ronin Lift Battery Powered Ascender To climb Large Tree

[@alexmollera6672]

I love ronin!! Thanks for your first ronin video, actually I have one

[@stihlgotit]

They are a nice piece of kit for sure. They had pretty vague instructions when I got mine. With the refined instructions and videos they have put out they are quite easy to use.

[@alexmollera6672]

@@stihlgotit how do you pull the rope out of the ronin? I haven t any information about that. At the moment i put the ronin conected of the basal anchor and I pullo out the rope. But I need 2 persons...

[@stihlgotit]

@@alexmollera6672 you can't effectively pull it out. You have to run it through. You can back the tension all the way off and pull it through, but it takes a lot of force. It is designed to belay. Back the tension all the way off and pull the lever still allows a controlled descent.

[@OldSloGuy]

I just ordered mine, so I was debating the Ronin vs Wraptor thing. I saw the Ronin chew rope, but the wraptor is not available at the moment. The Wraptor is bigger, but weighs about the same. The Gas engine is noisy, It doesn't go down, just up, On the plus side, it is midline attachable, there is no tension adjustment and it is not at all particular about the rope you are using. You can burn out the centrifugal clutch by ascending at part throttle, so it is a one speed device. With that said, I found out that there is no estimate of when they will be available again. so unless I found a good used one, the Ronin is the only show for me. A down side to the lithium ion battery is 300 to 500 charge cycles and a 2 to 3 year life like a laptop battery! At 2 dollars a week for a battery, it is a cheap vice. Its just going to sting the wallet a little when replacement time comes around. Another thing is a spare battery needs maintenance charging. If it spends more than 6 months in the back of the truck, it will be replacement time. That is why I didn't buy a second battery. I don't anticipate ascending more than 400 feet in a day, so the second battery would need to be rotated and then it would be more than 2 years before I used 1000 charge cycles and the batteries would time out, not wear out. Some of you may consider that cheap insurance for the unexpected, I haven't had that experience yet.

[@stihlgotit]

It's a great tool. I have a second battery, but only because I got a super deal on the preorder. I chewed a rope on my second ascent. They have changed the instructions for tension adjustment, so not really a problem now. They said to keep the tension as light as possible; just enough to ascend without slippage. Don't do that. Just crank it down and back it off s touch. I don't use it often as most of the trees in KS are 45-60ft, but it is nice for 80ft+ Cottonwoods.

[@seanasbell9368]

I bought a Wraptor before the Ronin device was available. The exhaust fumes are a bit annoying, and the model I have doesn't descend. I don't know if they have since designed one that does. Also, the Wraptor at that time cost significantly more than the Ronin does now. But I would say the best advantage of the Ronin (as I understand it) is the ability to descend.

[@treemands]

@@seanasbell9368 I have em both. You can descend by rapelling off the Wraptor.

[@alexfrederick9019]

I'm not familiar with the device specifically, but I am familiar with expensive batteries. More often than not, you would do well to have them rebuilt when their duty cycle is up. Keep it as a spare or rotate it in. I've had good luck with it.

[@brodyowens4620]

The double rigging line has helped save me from killing a house before

[@stihlgotit]

I was actually using a balancer on one line. I just left the butt somewhat loose so it would work more like a tip tie, but not let the butt swing too much.

[@1neAdam12]

I hate cotton woods.

[@stihlgotit]

Big and stinky.

[@treemands]

and brittle @@stihlgotit