Should you need a licence to be an arborist?

[Dean Lofthouse]

IMO they mean jack poo.

 

You can be NPTC'd up to the eyeballs and will still "never" cut the grade.

 

Some people have it some dont, there will be seasoned tree cutters out there that still can't line up their gob cut and worst of all do not understand the dynamics of wood cutting, felling etc.

 

That is what you pick up along the way and learn through experience combines with an inquisitive mind that yearns for more

 

It's no good being able to put in a gob cut and back cut if you have no further understanding of the dynamics.

 

I first went into tree surgery 24 years ago for about 4 years and I watched a tree surgeon do a gob cut into soft wood and he didn't even stop to think, oblivious to the fact that there would be no holding wood. He had loads of experience of felling but to him a gob cut was a gob cut whether in rotten wood or sound wood.

 

To me it's like electricity, we all learn how to switch a light bulb on but very few understand how the light lights up

[skyhuck]

A driving licence is required by statute and carries a tariff of penalties enforceable by a court of law.

 

The competency for tree work operations is not required by law, but is mandatory because the HSE says it is. Any enforcement usually falls when a company comes to the attention of the HSE but often it will be dealt with by an improvement notice. In short it doesn’t have the teeth is ought to have and the HSE doesn’t have the resources to police the job.

 

Andy

 

Indeed!!

 

So more legislation will just make more paper work for us to deal with and the cowboys to ignore!

 

So in real terms it will drive up our costs and give the "fly by nights" an even greater advantage!

[Arborlord]

Its simple no chainsaw should be sold to any one without the minimum quals like 30-31-38-39 but can you image the chainsaw companies they need idiots to buy there saws and throw away chains as they cant shapen them.

 

No matter how much paper you throw our way its only the pros who suffer and make using cheaper firms oh so much more apealing.

 

The only people who benifit from legislation are the government why do we need more permission to carry on doing what we do.

[Steve Bullman]

Indeed!!

 

So more legislation will just make more paper work for us to deal with and the cowboys to ignore!

 

So in real terms it will drive up our costs and give the "fly by nights" an even greater advantage!

 

indeed....then we'll be whinging even more, and be wanting more legislation....ironic eh

[skyhuck]

IMO they mean jack poo.

 

You can be NPTC'd up to the eyeballs and will still "never" cut the grade.

 

Some people have it some dont, there will be seasoned tree cutters out there that still can't line up their gob cut and worst of all do not understand the dynamics of wood cutting, felling etc.

 

That is what you pick up along the way and learn through experience combines with an inquisitive mind that yearns for more

 

It's no good being able to put in a gob cut and back cut if you have no further understanding of the dynamics.

 

I first went into tree surgery 24 years ago for about 4 years and I watched a tree surgeon do a gob cut into soft wood and he didn't even stop to think, oblivious to the fact that there would be no holding wood. He had loads of experience of felling but to him a gob cut was a gob cut whether in rotten wood or sound wood.

 

To me it's like electricity, we all learn how to switch a light bulb on but very few understand how the light lights up

 

So true Dean!

 

I can remember when I was new to the industry, had a discussion with an NPTC'd guy.

 

We were looking at a very large Oak that had a very even spread and would need some form of felling aid. I suggest a very large gob, to move the fulcrum back and put more weight forward, plus the nearer the middle if the stem you get the wider the hing and thus more holding wood. I knew this from my fire wood felling at home, hardly rocket science.

He said "utter rubbish the size of the gob makes no difference at all!"

 

NPTC, I believe, still teach 10 to 25% , this is a leftover from forestry felling for timber,imo, as the gob is lost timber.

[Dean Lofthouse]

I've done the same many times to get the weight forward of the hinge.

 

Guidelines are there to be adapted and changed to siut the senario

[Marc]

I've done the same many times to get the weight forward of the hinge.

 

Guidelines are there to be adapted and changed to siut the senario

 

Absoloutly, but how can you teach someone every scenario in a 3 day course? you can't!

 

Thats what annoys me about people saying they are nptc qaulified, no you are not you are only deemed competent to a very basic standard, it takes many years probably a life time of differing scenarios to get truly qaulified. I can honestly say i'm probably no more than 5% there.

 

Anyway its boring talking about nptc

[Big 'Ammer]

I've done the same many times to get the weight forward of the hinge.

 

Guidelines are there to be adapted and changed to siut the senario

 

 

 

Guidelines are what they say they are - a guide.

 

They are a starting point, you then need to apply common sense, and your own skill and experience to safely and efficiently carry out the task in a given situation.

[Andy Collins]

 

Everyone has to start on the ground, its foolish to think you can go to college for a few weeks training and become a climber, how long you stay on the ground is all down to how competent you are.

 

.

 

Typical clmber elitism again , whats so great about being a climber? How does that gauge your level of competancy? Never read sooo much utter nonsense. Good tree workers are essential, both on the ground and up aloft. Perhaps if some climbers got over how great they thought they were, and concentrated on being a part of a good team, standards and safety levels would be higher.

 

Why do we need to understand dynamics? Many millions of trees have been felled the world over, with axes, handsaws and chainsaws, by untrained (NPTC) people. Why make out its something special, its only cutting trees, not developing thermo-nuclear reactors.

[josharb87]

isnt that what, in a round about sort of way is what the arb assosiation approved contractor was supposed to be about?

(untill they got too wrapped up in fairy stuff like 'your eyewash is out of date, you havent got a COSHH for your computers ink cartridge' instead of focussing on the quality of work to which the company can produce)

???