Tightening Main line

[philkasza]

We started puting up main line on the wire today and we were wondering how tight to pull it and how do you get it that tight .

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Hook your mainline to the wire at one end. I do this by cutting a 2 inch long piece of main line and splitting it lengthwise. This is slid over the line and 2 pipe clamps are tightened around the wire and the line using this piece to protect the mainline from over tightening the clamps. Walk the length of your main line wire tying it loosely to the wire every 10 or 15 feet. At the other end, pull the pipe tight by using a ratchet strap or com-a-longs and fasten to the wire using the same clamp method as on the other end. Now go back and wire tie. If you have normal side ties on your wire there will be zigs and zags that your pipe should have been pulled straight across. As you wire tie, you will pull the pipe into these corners and tighten it even more. I usually have my wire ties about 10 inches apart.

[sjdoyon]

4945

See photo. Agree with Thompson's Tree Farm comment. We use the side wires to get the mainline wire tight. This allows the side wires to give if a tree falls on it. We have our wire ties every 12-16 inches apart.

[adk1]

yup, that is just what I will be doing tomorrow. cant wait to get the lat 400' section of mainline up. Luckily, I already ran the wire!

[northwoods_forestry]

Here's what I use at the anchor point to get my mainline tight:

https://www.bascommaple.com/item/wtr/mainline_tools/

I put 2 of these wire tension ratchets (wtr) on the anchor tree. One holds the wire and the other connects to the mailine. To connect the wtr to the mainline I use a mainline tension grip (https://www.bascommaple.com/item/mtg75/mainline_tools/) and wire. With the wtr's you can get it all pretty darn tight and also allow for letting in slack between seasons. As Thompson's already noted side ties will also help in taking up slack.

[ClarkFarmMapleSyrup]

I also, have a question about mainline. If i have 1/2 inch running around 30 taps or so, should I put wire on it? One part of the line will cary about 15or more taps, but it is to long ro put up a 5/16 in.line. The rest is about 10 taps , and i have a lateral or 2. These lines will all meet in a central collection point in the middleof the section of trees.
Ill probably just go with the 1/2 in. rapitube or something that doesnt require wire.