I have a dilemma... A friend came by while I was in Montana last week and borrowed 6 slings to help direct a tree that he was falling too close to his workshop.


Warning #8 is addressing a "too little and too late" situation.
I do enjoy warnings like #9 every time I see them.

There should be an eleventh warning : DO NOT MAKE KNOTS OF ANY KIND IN SLING. Maybe they think that everyone already knows that. Putting a knot in a sling results in Warning #1 coming into play. They always weaken a sling.

Had I been at home, I would have offered him the shackles that should have gone with them for that job, but he didn't know, my lovely Dread Princess Morgoth didn't know, and he did this :



He was putting some considerable force on the knots with a tractor, and they're fairly hard. Not rock hard, as I've seen worse, but they're not going to be easy.

They'll never be 100%, but I am trying to figure out a way to disassemble this mess and be able to re-use the slings... Of course they're damaged, but they'll still be way above a 1:1 safety factor and I do not use them for overhead work of any kind.

Anyone have any tricks or tips for this task?

Soak them in Water and then use two Awls fished through the Knots to loosen them up.

Time to unlimber your marlinspike and fid. Flex the knots until you see movement, then exploit any gains using the fid and spike against each other. Rinse and repeat.

I was going to suggest you soak them in vegetable oil. To make the knots slide apart easier.

But on second thought, I don't know. It's possible that would make the fibers swell, and make the knots even harder to get apart?

This

Drive a nail through the layers. That will make some room to loosen them.

Make the neighbor by you some tufflex round slings?

yep gonna have to wiggle it loose...use hammer and lightly tap it. any poking it with a tool is gonna really weaken it

Sorry, dinosaur here. I use wire rope cable and chains.

Those leave marks

Nylon, not as much

Just ask Fjordforder. He's the resident expert on bondage now

fixed

I got them with Dave's suggestion... Every one of them! They look great except for some wrinkles that should pop right out if I suspend a ton for a few minutes.
It surprised me. The few times that I've had knots before (inadvertent or one of my sons pulling a 4x4 out in the mud and sticks ( Bring a shackle you knuckleheads! ) I've simply thrown them away.

I wondered about "lubing" with water or an oil... I don't think nylon/poly fibers swell the way old sisal and other natural fibers do... But something got planted in my noggin decades ago that makes me adverse to adding a liquid to any fiber like that.
Thanks for the advice and suggestions gentlemen.

Who returns stuff in that kinda shape after borrowing it?

I may borrow it in pinch, and I may screw it up accidently, but new ones would be on the way same day.

The only 2 questions would be:

What address do you want the new ones sent to, and, do you mind if I keep the ones I goofed up.

It's a good point NWG... I should have mentioned that the friend is an old friend and top notch borrower just like you.
He wanted to bring me new ones or hand me a wad of cash, but I told him no need. Flat slings are not that spendy and are a consumable item. My desire to save them had more to do with that these were still kind of new and pretty, not the typical condition that I toss a sling in the trash.

I bet WaGuns could fill a long thread with stories of the bad borrowers...
A previous coworker borrowed our towdolly.
He brought it back on a flatbed with all the studs broken flush on one wheel. "I don't know what happened! Just driving along on flat smooth ground and the next thing I know the tire and wheel were gone!"