Hi fellows, in my station we have a Skedco tripod, and we were trying to use it like a high anchorage point, we extend one leg of it more than the others (also we tried to use it with one leg in a shorter position) , trying to form a 45° in reference with the surface, also we put strings in 60° in the middle of the legs on the high anchorages of the tripod, in resume we try to follow all that the book says, but it’s still being not a safety anchorage, the legs tend to close. Somebody know how we can work with it?
You might want to attach webbing to each base and anchor each leg then. And at the highest point as well but thats might not be feasible though. Have you tried contacting Skedco or your local tech rescue team?
Thanks friend, We will try to anchorage each leg, also we are trying to contact Skedco but the web page disappear. Anybody have the phone number or email of skedco?
Not to sound like I am giving you a sales pitch, but you really need to have a qualified person show you how to do this. You don't want that thing falling over with a member hanging on it.
It seems you are tyring to make the tri-pod act like an Arizona Vortex. The tripod head should be level to the ground. If that means all the legs are the same height so be it. To make the tri-pod stable the angle the rope exits the tri-pod should be nearly identical the angle the rope enters it. For instance if the rope it at 45 degress coming in to the COD pulley, it should be 45 leaving it. A tri-pod is designed to have equal force going down. To test this, visually bisect the COD angle. That vector should fall within the footprint of the tri-pod. If it doesn't you run the risk of tipping the tri-pod.
If all else fails drive pickets into the feet, which you should be doing anyway if at all possible. If I remember correctly the SKEDCO tri-pod has holes in the feet already for this purpose.
I have to agree, it sounds like this is not an appropriate application for the tripod. While the SKEDCO tripod is an amazingly strong piece of gear, it is meant to be used as a tripod only. For the application described, the Arizona Vortex is the way to go.