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Zip line use ... or "slide line"
Zip lines are popularly thought of as those cool things people use for joy riding in the trees or getting over a mountain crevasse. And it’s true you can "zip" along, but for professional tree work, you want to take it easy and make it accurate when using these lines to move material. Thus, "slide line" is a more accurate term for the ropes and associated hardware.
Arborists use slide lines to move material out and away from a tree to a more convenient location or over an obstacle like a home's roof, a fence or a manicured golf green.
They are a great way to do this because you only move the material once, rather than lowering it to the ground, then moving it again to its final destinations, such as a chipper. With some training and good equipment you can master the art of slide lining limbs and expertly controlling significant loads.
For example, you can lower a limb on a slide line and using the control line, stop it over the chipper location and, by taking tension of the slide line, lower the limb right where you need it as if you were using a crane.
Be sure to specify the appropriate rope elongation for slide lines and control lines. Hardware has come a long way in the last ten to 15 years, too. Simple carabiners can be used to attach material to the line, but they will actually create additional drag on the rope so you may want to consider the latest in double pulleys, carriages and travelers. It's perfectly acceptable to secure a slide line with a running bowline knot on the tree trunk, but you have to keep re-tying as you progress in your work. There are new composite systems and rigging kits that can make you a slide line expert.
Adjustability is a feature you want to consider. For example you never want to drop a big load on a tensioned line—this can cause a compromised tree to fail while you're in it! It’s better to load the slide line and THEN apply the appropriate tension and it’s a lot easier to do this when you have a modern rigging control system such as the GRCS.
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