Nautical rope work and tree work offer many opportunities for cross-pollination. I think I might have swiped this idea from August Hunicke, who worked as a commercial fisherman before becoming a prominent arborist on YouTube.

Again, very simple idea: add a smooth, fast rope attachment point to a piece of heavy equipment, in this case a mini-skid steer (Bobcat MT85). The cleat can be used as a fixed anchor or as a smooth-friction lowering device. Some loaders, more geared toward tree-work, come with bollards from the factory for this purpose. But skid-steers, being more intended for earth work, presently do not.

Design considerations:

-make it easy to reach from both sides of the machine.

-put it in a place where the rope can go in many angles but not snag other parts of the machine.

-attach it to a strong piece of metal.

-make it able to lift things (on the loader arm, not the chassis)

-cleat should be large and strong enough to handle routine tree work loads, about one ton.

Details:

-Perko Marine cleat, aluminum

-the base plate had to be ground narrower very slightly to fit the flat surface it's mounted to, which is actually a sort of protective cowling to the loader-angle-actuator-piston

-tricky part was finding bolts to match the countersink depth of the cleat. McMaster Carr, Stainless Steel is what I used.

-drilling 1/2" holes through that steel was slow going with a hand drill