Rigging with a portawrap instead of a GRCS saved me 4 hours on a job in Portland

Everyone I work with swears by the GRCS for big takedowns. But I was on a job last month taking down a 70ft red oak in tight quarters, and my buddy's GRCS was already booked. I decided to just use my old portawrap and some slings for the lowering. Ran some false crotch lines and took my time. Honestly, it worked fine. Was it slower per pick? Sure. But I saved all the setup time of dragging out the crane winch and drilling holes. Total time was about 8 hours vs what they quoted for 12. I get that a GRCS is safer for massive wood, but for medium stuff the portawrap gets the job done. Has anyone else had good luck going the simpler route on big trees?

3 comments

3 Comments

paige4271mo agoTop Commenter

That 70ft red oak sounds like a solid test run. My buddy did something similar swapping a GRCS for a portawrap on a 50ft maple, and he said it cut out a full hour just on not having to haul the bigger gear up. Makes me wonder if the GRCS is overkill for anything under 80 feet.

terry_thomas1mo ago

...and honestly I think people overthink this stuff. Your buddy saved an hour on a 50ft maple which is nice but that's also a tree you could probably do with a rope and a saddle if you know what you're doing. The GRCS is overkill for most residential jobs period. It's a big heavy piece of iron that needs its own crew to move around. I've seen guys use one on a 30ft dead pine and it just looked ridiculous. Like using a sledgehammer for a finishing nail. A portawrap and a 5/8 rope can handle most of the stuff people drag the GRCS out for. The whole conversation around these tools gets way too serious for what is basically just taking logs down.

kim1911mo ago

That 70ft red oak sounds like a solid first test.