Craning up a 60 foot maple when I noticed my rigging line was shot

Last month in Rochester we were lifting a big red maple off a house roof. I grabbed my 3/4 inch line, gave it the usual tug, and it felt fine. But when we tensioned up for the first pick, I spotted this tiny flat spot near the eye splice. I ran my glove over it and felt the core was mush. I flipped my whole lift plan right there and rigged it through a block with a backup sling. That line had been in service for 8 years and I never once thought to check inside the cover. Has anyone else caught a line failure before it let go, or am I the only one who was trusting rope that long? What's your regular check routine for splice integrity?

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jana5842mo ago

Damn right I've caught one before! I was doing a big oak removal and noticed the cover looked slightly wrinkled near the splice, turned out the core was completely shredded inside while the outside looked perfect. Now I flex every splice by hand before each job, and if I feel any soft spot or crunch, that line gets retired on the spot, no exceptions. That 8 year line had way more life in it than you probably thought, good call flipping your plan like that.

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