By Mike Crouse Each of the past two years, log-gers who were involved with the

ongoing Oregon State University

field testing of Samson Rope Tech-nologies Am-Steel Blue, and Am-Steel Blue II synthetic rope come to-gether to a “cooperators” meeting toshare their experiences, and sharewhat works and doesn’t work withthe product.

This year’s meeting was held atthe Oregon State Forestry ClubCabin on the OSU Research Forest

just outside Corvallis, Oregon inearly May, with about 20 partici-pants involved, most of whom hadused the AmSteel synthetic line theover that span of time.

AMSTEEL-BLUE is manufac-tured by Samson Rope Technologiesout of Ferndale, Washington(www.samsonrope.com). Certainly,there are other synthetic ropes on

the market, however SamsonRope stepped up in the researchand provided a lot of their owntime, energy, and materials tothis project.

First, the rope itself is ultrahigh molecular weight polyethy-lene (UHMWPE) fiber rope. Thepolyethylene fibers are combinedto yarns and the yarns are com-bined into strands that areformed into various rope con-structions including twisted,plaited, and braided. AM-STEEL-BLUE is a 12-strandbraided rope. This syntheticrope has a higher breakingstrength to weight ratio thansteel, by a factor of 9 to 10. Oth-er favorable characteristics in-clude high flexibility, low stretch(other than the newly formedeye-splice), and a specific gravityless than one (floats), and can beeasily spliced. Coatings can beapplied to increase resistance toabrasion, prevent contamina-tion, and increase ease of splic-ing used ropes.

The synthetic is generally thesame material commonly usedfor fuel containers.

Weight difference

The most obvious plus ofsynthetic rope is the differ-

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DR. JOHN GARLAND during the cooperatorsmeeting of those individuals involved in thefield tests on the AmSteel Blue synthericrope, in early May. The meeting was held atthe OSU Forestry Club cabin on the OSU Re-search Forest just outside Corvallis, Oregon.

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Synthetic rope and loggingSecond cooperators meeting

yields some solutionsCORVALLIS, OREGON

23

ence in weight. For a given diame-ter, steel wire rope is 7.5 (extra im-proved plow steel, EIPS) to 9(swaged) times as heavy as a compa-rable length of AMSTEEL-BLUErope (See Fig. 1). The synthetic ropeis also flexible and does not produce“jiggers” (sharp, broken wires withina strand) as handling hazards com-mon to wire rope. The cost is aboutfour to six times that of wire rope inthe specially produced quantitiesnow available. The offshore drilling

(anchoring) marine towing indus-tries use similar synthetic ropesin applications parallel to log-ging.

The breaking strength of AM-STEEL vs. steel products is sig-nificantly higher than in previoussynthetics as well (See Fig. 2 onPage 25). Comparisons betweenpublished breaking strengths forsome common logging wire ropegrades and constructions (EIPSand swaged) and those publishedfor AMSTEEL-BLUE. At medi-um rope sizes (0.5-0.625 inch di-ameter), synthetic strength exceedsboth EIPS and swaged wire ropes.At larger diameters, the syntheticadvantage diminishes to aboutequal EIPS strength at a 1-inch di-ameter. Rope elongation is alsoshown for AMSTEEL-BLUE underloads in Table 1. These elongationvalues are an increase of 0.3 feet per

100 feet of rope length at loadingsshown (an absolute percentage dif-ference of 0.3 percent more thansteel constructed ropes).

Other testing and otherproducts

Oregon State University’s Dr.John Garland opened the meet-

ing with reviewing test resultsfrom other areas on similar syn-thetic rope products, includingfield trials in Canada by FERIC(Forest Engineering Research In-stitute of Canada), as well as oth-er trials in Austria, NewZealand, and in both Minnesotaand Colorado. The applicationswere similar to those being testedat Oregon State, although condi-tions varied with locale. The syn-thetic line was also used in NewZealand on self-releasing chokersas well.

End connectors research

One of the more eagerly antici-pated presentations was from

graduate research assistant JoelHartter, and the results of the re-

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VARIIOUS pices of working Am-Steel Blue and some Am-Steel BlueII on display for all to examine atthe cooperators meeting.

DR. JOHN GARLAND (standing) as Ben Stringhamtalks of his experience using the Am-Steel Bluesynthetic rope the few years during the recentlycompleted cooperators meeting at Oregon StateUniv. From the left are Steve Wimer, Mike Lulay,Stringham, Steve Pinkerton and Doug Schlatter.

24Synthetic rope

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FIGURE ONE. Nominal breaking strength as a functinoof rope weight for rope diameters 0.5-1.0 inches.

search he’s been involved with on synthetic ropeend connectors for harvesting applications.

There are some obsta-cles by the very nature ofsynthetic rope’s character-istics that have made endconnectors a challenge.With the AmSteel Blue, ithas a low coefficient offriction (about 0.08), lowheat resistance (max.working temperature is158 deg. F), and does notbond well to other materi-als.

The rope’s manufactur-er, Samson, recommendssplices only, and tests con-sistently demonstrate therope loses very little of its strength from thatmodification.

A number of splices have worked well, in termsof joining two pieces together (long splice), mak-ing an eye by feeding the rope back onto itself(eye splice), whoopee slings, that feed backthrough the rope itself, which allows for lengthadjustment, and Y-Splices.

Knots or compressing the synthetic rope great-ly reduces both its strength and resilience, andepoxy proved disappointing as well.

What has proven to work best is creating aneye splice that looks over an end connector. Thatmaintains the strength of the rope while allowinga terminator. Some original designs of this arenot quite ready for public use as yet, but are ex-pected in the near future.

Hartter noted that seven of the 14 end connec-tors which were tested were suitable for commer-cial use. He made particular emphasis that knotson the synthetic rope should not be used (sacri-fices strength, and because of the lack of abra-

sion, ultimately will slipand fail).

The central point tokeep in mind in workingwith the synthetic rope iswhen they encounter anysurface, that the surfacebe smooth, and if the ropeis looped over that surfacethat it be smooth, round-ed, and without sharpedges. With that and agood eye splice, you’reable to maintain the ropesstrength, and form a con-nection with (as in thecase with synthetic wrap-pers) lengths of chain.

A new development

Samson developed a second Am-Steel productcalled Am-Steel Blue II. “It’s two ropes,” said

Samson representative Dave Strauss, “made toresist the wear.” This was in response to the wearthey were seeing in the log truck wrappers. Theoutside blue layer covers the interior yellow core.“When the core is visible, its time to retire,”Strauss reiterated “it’s a double braid... with thisproduct its core dependent in terms of the load.”

The product to date has been used primarilywith truck wrappers.

JOEL HARTTER presented the results of his re-search on synthetic rope end connectors duringthe cooperator’s meeting. Hartter is a graduateassistant.

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25Synthetic rope

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FIGURE 2. Ultimate breaking strengths of common di-ameter ropes used in logging applications: comparisonof steel wire rope with AMSTEEL-BLUE (UHMWPE)synthetic rope.

Other logging applications

Afew things to keep in mindwith AmSteel Blue, and likely

with other similar makes of synthet-ic rope. First off, while it hasstrength similar to that seen in steelrope, the crew using this materialhas to be aware of how they treat it,in particular as it concerns sharpedges and rough surfaces. For in-stance, you’ll want to make sure thestumps you tie to aren’t going tosnag or perforate the rope. Similar-ly, any surface the rope runs overshould be smooth, and withoutsharp edges that can cut thestrands.

The rope has excellent spoolingcharacteristics, laying down on thespool very well, without the prob-lems one can encounter with steelwire diving between loops and beingdifficult to retrieve. One plus sever-al have alluded to, is the ability toget more line on the spool, whichhas some obvious benefits.Some other applications:

• Haywire: one crew used about2,000-ft. of 3/8ths inch AmSteelBlue, in three sections. “We won-dered how we’d string them togeth-er, and used a short strap with aburied eye on each end, and connect-ed.” They hadn’t found any problemswith pulling it through the brush,and between the weight and its flex-

ibility, it is much easier to deal with.Again, you have to be aware of run-ning over sharp surfaces.

• Drop line on a Boman sky-car: The crew runs 9/16ths. “Wetied it with a knot and about eightwraps, then painted orange on thenext 50-ft. so they had plenty of no-

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26Synthetic rope

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few

MEASURING DEFLECTOIN with a plumb bob are a number of thoseparticipating in the Division 7 Forest Activities Code Rigging Demon-stations at Oregon State’s McDonald Forest the day following the co-operator’s meeting. During this demonstration, they also had a num-ber of working and static displays set up using the Am-Steel Bluesynthetic rope, which Oregon State has been researching for forestapplications the past several years.

tice they were nearing the end.Those guys knew as soon as the linehits the ground, they need to bepulling line out because it will backspool.” That occurred because they’drun very light turns at first. Theemphasis is that you have to tensionthe spool. The benefit beyond thedrop line being both light and flexi-ble is the additional line that couldbe spooled. ‘They were pulling out300-ft. laterally.” In conclusion,“Overall the crew really liked thematerial. They take care of it oncethey learn how to use it.”

• Static line, guy lines, sup-port lines, and jack lines for in-termediate supports: First, ifyou’re notching a tree, those notchesmust be clean, and not pinch therope (which sacrifices ropestrength). Also, when you wrap astump, you cannot bind the synthet-ic cable because that compromisesthe line, and how the weight is dis-tributed on the line.

• Intermediate support packs:several operators assembled all theintermediate support components ona single board, or pack, which en-abled them to haul all they neededto rig a tree in a single trip. “Itsaves our bacon” said one contractor

who’s use the AmSteel the past yearplus.

In the final analysis, syntheticrope is available from a number ofvendors, many of which have simi-lar characteristics to the AmSteelBlue and AmSteel Blue II products,although virtually all the researchand testing both in the lab and inthe field was with Samson’s Am-Steel.

And while the synthetic rope isnot the answer to all situations allthe time, it provides a number of ob-vious and sometimes not so obviousadvantages (such as no jiggers fromwear). It does require that the crewusing it pays attention to how it’s

being used, particularly in its expo-sure to heat and sharp edges.

As the material finds its way intoday-to-day use with logging crews,other innovations will inevitablycome to light as is the norm. At pre-sent, it is three to fives times thecost of wire rope, but in the rightcircumstance many have found thata small price to pay for the weight,flexibility, strength and convenience,particularly when it comes with im-proved productivity and improvedsafety.

WORKING TO TIGHTEN a “woopiesling” of Am-Steel Blue syntheticrope is one of the crew memberswith the help of Steve Pilkerton.

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CLASSROOM in the open at the Division 7 For-est Activities Code Rigging Demonstations atOregon State’s McDonald Forest the day fol-lowing the cooperator’s meeting. Nearly 50were in attendance for the day-long session.

Synthetic rope(Continued from Page 26)