Tree survey equipment

[Tony Banner]

Hi all,

 

I'm looking to set up surveying ( bs5837, tree condition etc ) an am wondering what equipment/software people would suggest to get me up an running and where's best to get it.

 

Also, does anyone do much climbing when surveying and is their much call for decay detection equipment ( picus sonic tomograph, treetronic ), as these are things am really interested in.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

[StephF]

Just done an Arb ass survey and inspection Lantra course which was very good, and recommended what we have been using for many years, which is tapes, increment borers(rarely needed), basic stuff like compass, binoculars etc, this is all you need to do basic hazard identification surveys, never needed to use anything more comlicated and we do quite a bit of inspection / survey work. If the problem needed more scientific instruments then would call in someone else, but never needed to yet in over 25 years.

[sloth]

Hi all,

 

I'm looking to set up surveying ( bs5837, tree condition etc ) an am wondering what equipment/software people would suggest to get me up an running and where's best to get it.

 

Also, does anyone do much climbing when surveying and is their much call for decay detection equipment ( picus sonic tomograph, treetronic ), as these are things am really interested in.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

In my experience there is very little call for climbing inspections, and I've not yet felt the need to use picus etc. I imagine it's a service you might offer when very established with a large client base that are willing to pay for it, as it is so expensive to buy in the first place.

My first set up for 5837's and condition surveys was tapes and a notepad, paper maps and a selection of coloured drawing pens, and lots of time copying from paper to excel. Long winded but cheap! Then on larger sites I used an arbor cad technician to draw up TPPs etc, which knocked profit a lot. Now I do it all in house using pear technology software and a handheld gps data logger, very pricey but easy to use and no faffing with paper and pens.

Hope this helps,

Kev

[RobRainford]

In my experience there is very little call for climbing inspections, and I've not yet felt the need to use picus etc. I imagine it's a service you might offer when very established with a large client base that are willing to pay for it, as it is so expensive to buy in the first place.

My first set up for 5837's and condition surveys was tapes and a notepad, paper maps and a selection of coloured drawing pens, and lots of time copying from paper to excel. Long winded but cheap! Then on larger sites I used an arbor cad technician to draw up TPPs etc, which knocked profit a lot. Now I do it all in house using pear technology software and a handheld gps data logger, very pricey but easy to use and no faffing with paper and pens.

Hope this helps,

Kev

 

How are you getting on with the pear technology package?

 

I've started using their software too over the last few weeks. It's a good set of kit.

 

How do you get on with maps? Where possible I try to use cad maps with correct georeferencing but feel that any other maps just don't have the same level of detail or accuracy. Plus all the Trimble data works better with the management and mapping software.

 

 

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[Tony Banner]

Thanks for getting back to me Steph,

 

I've just finished the tech cert so I've got the basics am just wondering how much work there is out there that calls for the picus range of decay detection equipment, that's something I want to look to doing in the future.

 

Also, I know there is mapping software specifically for doing the bs5837 surveys, but I've no idea which is best and what people are using. Do you do any bs5837 surveys?

[Tony Banner]

Cheers Kev, I thought they'd be little call for climbing surveys but am missing the climbing, I just got sick of taking a chainsaw with me.

 

I've used pen and paper all through my tech cert, I need something better. What gps data logger you got? Where did you get it? Cheers for your help!

[StephF]

Thanks for getting back to me Steph,

 

I've just finished the tech cert so I've got the basics am just wondering how much work there is out there that calls for the picus range of decay detection equipment, that's something I want to look to doing in the future.

 

Also, I know there is mapping software specifically for doing the bs5837 surveys, but I've no idea which is best and what people are using. Do you do any bs5837 surveys?

 

Have yet to get aquainted with the GPS stuff! hate to admit it but we are still managing with pen and paper etc, I have looked at mapping software it would make the mapping side easier! Although we are using calipers and other gadgets supplied by FC which record data when doing mensuration work.

Requests for inspections and surveys have definately been increasing over past 2-3 years, with pressure on landowners to get trees inspected regularly to get insurance, schools etc as well. Rare to have to do a climbing inspections.

[daltontrees]

Hi all,

 

I'm looking to set up surveying ( bs5837, tree condition etc ) an am wondering what equipment/software people would suggest to get me up an running and where's best to get it.

 

Also, does anyone do much climbing when surveying and is their much call for decay detection equipment ( picus sonic tomograph, treetronic ), as these are things am really interested in.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

What qualifications do you have, my recommendations and suggestions would depend on your response?

[Tony Banner]

I have the nat cert in Arb level 2 and the technicians certificate in Arb level 3 for now. All goes well I'll be getting regular bs5837 and tree condition surveys, anything you can recommend or suggest would be great thanks

[ScottF]

Obviously a DBH tape and a nylon hammer. A good waterproof bag for carrying all of your gubbins in is an often overlooked bit of kit.

 

Some sort of phone-based GPS data collection software would be an inexpensive way to get started. There are so many for Android and IOS to choose from I'd be loathe to recommend one. Something than can record where a tree is and some basic data is all you need.

 

Paper is fine for small surveys, but once you're getting over 20-30 trees I think you need to think about automating things. There's nothing more demoralising than coming back to base with 20 pages of hand-recorded tables, with hard-to-read writing (because it was freezing) and ruined paper (becuase it was raining) to type up.

 

If you're doing BS surveys Arbortrail is pretty hard to beat. Although due to the demise of PDAs it's not being developed further, I still find it the best in terms of the tabular and map outputs.

 

In terms of decay detection, some people think it's unneccesary and never use it. I use mine all the time, but I certainly managed without it for the first 5 or so years. You can always buy it in initially and then if you end up spending lots on hire (as with anything) it makes sense to get your own.

 

Good luck.