Haulin' stuff up steep slopes

[FutureBumpkin]

Happy Holidays All,

I've searched the forum and (surprisingly) not hit on any projects along this line from this most creative group!  Until I build, I'll likely be camping for a couple years on my Western NC property.  It's quite near a lake, but there is a h*lluva slope to get to it.  One of my first desires is to be able to get a cooler/paddles/wet towels, etc. up and down to the lake without taking a tumble or hoofing the load the long way round by road.

There are plenty of trees to use for infrastructure and no other property owners nearby I have to work around.  Have any of you built a rope/pulley system or any other kind of device for zipping your goods a hundred or so yards downhill?

[rick91351]

Glenn and his zip line but it is sort of one way however.  And it's all down hill from here..........

[flyingvan]

http://www.thedockdoctors.com/hillside-elevators

[Bob S.]

Have you established where you will build your cabin yet? I would look into making a path with stair sections in it. You could use rocks for the steps and wind it back and forth. It would be neat and you will need it in the future anyway. Your children could help with and it would be a fun faimly project.
Bob

[UK4X4]

Sure theres a name for it - similar to chain ferries - cable ferries

Run a tight steel rope from bottom to top

Install a Pully wheel at the top and the bottom

Connect to one of these in the middle- add a basket below

haull on the rope for getting gear up and down

http://adventureropegear.com/cart/pages.php?pID=10&CDpath=0

Add an ATV winch into your financial equation and a 12V connection on your truck and motorise it if required

[firefox]

That is some serious stuff! I am having a hard time getting up the nerve to travel
150 mph hanging on to one of those. Hmm, maybe if you connected the end of the
cable to the other side of the lake.....Now that could be a lot of fun.

Bruce

[Don_P]

My Aunt has one of the units in flyingvan's post, it works very well ~20 years old. There is also an inertia brake on the car like an elevator has in case something breaks. Having done the zip line... pad the tree and make sure your insurance is up to date 

[FutureBumpkin]

Thanks for all the inputs!  With the kids now in their late teens, getting everyone together for "family projects" is quite a challenge - miss those simpler days when they had to go wherever I went and do whatever I say.   The stairs will eventually happen, but it will just be me and the hubby working that one.

I love the idea of a zip line, but there is always the possibility of uninvited guests playing around in my absence - which of course doesn't eliminate my liability.  I'm curious how difficult it is, once the end points are installed, to just unhook the cable and take it with me when I leave?

[Rob_O]

The zip line has to be tensioned for the weight it will be supporting. Just taking the cable with you is not as easy as it sounds

[MountainDon]

chain / cable and padlock

[Alan Gage]

Just remember that steep slopes are very prone to erosion, especially if you remove any of the vegetation that's currently rooting it in place.

Alan

[hpinson]

This poor guy decided to build his house in an inaccessable gully next to the Gila River in Southern New Mexico.  The little metal structure to the left of the house is the cable tram he used to transport the cinder blocks down from a road to the build site from about 500 feet above.  He forgot that the Gila River moves a lot of bank material during floods. He also forgot that debris flows down gullies during heavy rains. This is a fail, but the tram itself was pretty cool and I wish I had a better picture of it. I imagine the whole structure will be in the river in a few years! Despite that, it shows what can be done with a tram.

[cbc58]

how about a tree house?  some nice examples here:  http://www.treehousepoint.com   you could do a framed solid walkway or rope-bridge out to the treehouse and then a Swiss Family Robinson type dumbwaiter/elevator up and down to the lake area.   It could be the kids place or a cool guest house.   

[FutureBumpkin]

Mr. Gila River, while possessed of a certain ignorance, was well armed with ambition. I will content myself to hoist a cooler full of beer!

I love tree houses, but constructing one intimidates me just a bit.  If I can accomplish a simple deck/sleeping platform that is actually level and doesn't slide down the hill, I may attempt one in the future. I also like the idea of sleeping above the snakes.  (Now don't go and ruin my illusion with tales of copperheads slithering overhead!)

Beautiful pictures - thanks for sharing!

[cbc58]

was just an idea.. never know.  just thinking random ideas... simplest and cheapest method is a rope tied to a few trees to guide you down and back.  or maybe you can get a winch like they make for a truck and affix it somehow and bring a battery with you when you go - create a "sled" for gear or something.  military must have something for this situation and wonder what they use - perhaps they sell it at gov. surplus.  you could also build Jefferson stairs at home in sections and bring them there each time you go... or get a 32' ladder and lay it down somehow.  cables and pulleys are way cooler though.

[Native_NM]

I'd look for an old lawnmower engine in the red and green pile and rig up a hoist! :grin:

Kidding aside, we were working in the canyons near Los Alamos.  We could get the 4x and the ATV's in but it was tough.  They sell some nice winches that can pull quite a bit.  We hoisted a large compressor up a pretty steel incline.   I agree that an electric winch makes sense for a long-term project. 

Let's not discuss how the or why the compressor was at the bottom of the ravine. :eek:

[kenhill]

They also make a wench that is powered by a chainsaw engine.  It is very slow going though....

[firefox]

They speed up if you are nice to her....

[Huge29]

They also make a wench that is powered by a chainsaw engine.  It is very slow going though....

Nice, I once heard of a guy selling an ATV that apparently had a 2,000 lb wench on the front.  I asked him to send pictures of her as it seemed hard to believe, he did not ever reply, so I assume that she was not that big. 

[stricsm]

I imagine your slope is steeper than mine.  Mine is walk-able but from our driveway to our dock it is hard to carry concrete supplies up/down.  I took an old heavy duty but small John Deere walk behind tiller (model 624) that you can connect a turning plow to and devised a hitch for a 4 wheeled garden cart.  My tiller could be fitted with tractor tires on the tine shaft but I just leave the tines in place.  I put a Harbor Freight engine on it that works like a gem.  It pulls pretty good and 300 lbs doesn't give it much trouble.  This is for going up the slope.  Going down I use a two wheeled wheelbarrow. 

You can buy powered wheelbarrows which is what I wanted but after looking at the price I decided against it. 

[FutureBumpkin]

Thanks for all the ideas - and the chuckles, you wench heads.   I'm thinking that the easiest solution to my problem is to just get a flask of Wild Turkey, and forget about the cooler full of beer and ice!    I've got several months of winter ahead before I will be on the lake anyhow, so I'll hunker down with my thinking cap for awhile and see what I can come up with.

[flyingvan]

I bet that 2,000# wench could haul stuff up and down for you, no problem