tree surgery in the future

[Andy Collins]

Think you grasped the wrong end of the stick there mesterh, I certainly didnt interpret Dave's post in that way:001_smile:

[skyhuck]

Well, your statement means that if you arent ALWAYS in work or arent ALWAYS making good money then you arent a good climber,subbie co owner.

 

Maybe I am understanding it wrongly

 

I was speaking in the context of this thread, IE "will climbers be replaced by MEWP's", IMO good climbers will aways have a place.

 

I have been a climber for about 15 years, I don't do fencing or landscaping, I only do tree work, I have NEVER had no work in all those years.

 

My wife does not work and we have a decent standard of living.

 

I can only speak from my own experience, BUT I really do not wish to cause any offense.

Edited May 31, 2009 by skyhuck

[Mesterh]

Go on interpret it for me then

[Mesterh]

No offence taken

 

It just looked to me that you were taking about climbing and working in general as opposed to comparing it against using a MEWP

[Dean Lofthouse]

just remember everytime there a serious accident or death theres another nail in the climbers coffin, regards hse serious accidents and deaths in tree surgery or forrestry is away in the top 5, why do you think all these large companys and buying mewps by the bucket load it is because they know that its the way forward for the future. couple of councils have insist in the new contracts that work on street trees has to be done by mewps

 

The incident with the bus not slowing through roadworks and wiping out all my cones last week ??? That could have been the MEWP leg he hit, the mewp was there set up roadside !!

 

I have been setup roadside many times with my mewp with professionally installed roadworks and closed lanes etc and on nearly every occasion motorists travel too fast and too close to the cones and have knocked cones over and encroached on our working space.

 

Working on street trees from a mewp, you are not in control of your fate, the motorist is, working from a rope and harness, you are in control and out of harms way.

 

I'm sorry but working mewps roadside really scares the willies out of me and I'm about as hardened as you can get on mewp usage experience

[Dean Lofthouse]

To add a little balance, my team is LA, we have our own 28m MEWP, and it comes out approximately 6 times a year.

 

Each of the team are Tree climbers at heart (that includes this aging, spreading, cartilage challenged author) but having access to alternative access, be it Crane, MEWP, ladders and/or climbing etc, is Imho, prudential and demonstrable of Assessing & Managing Risk.

 

 

Well put David, my MEWP is out about that too 6 - 8 times a year it is there as an alternative to enable us to manage risk

[Frank]

The incident with the bus not slowing through roadworks and wiping out all my cones last week ??? That could have been the MEWP leg he hit, the mewp was there set up roadside !!

 

I have been setup roadside many times with my mewp with professionally installed roadworks and closed lanes etc and on nearly every occasion motorists travel too fast and too close to the cones and have knocked cones over and encroached on our working space.

 

Working on street trees from a mewp, you are not in control of your fate, the motorist is, working from a rope and harness, you are in control and out of harms way.

 

I'm sorry but working mewps roadside really scares the willies out of me and I'm about as hardened as you can get on mewp usage experience

 

Local Authorities and larger companies have the advantage of lorry mounted platforms. Making them far safer roadside.

 

 

I will always climb, if someone banned it all together I would just be a renegade, a maverick, an underground black market of tree:001_tongue: felling ninjas.

[Dean Lofthouse]

Local Authorities and larger companies have the advantage of lorry mounted platforms. Making them far safer roadside.

 

 

 

Lorry mounted still have outrigger legs and would not be much cop up against a double decker bus

[Jonny69]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monkeyd View Post

"To add a little balance, my team is LA, we have our own 28m MEWP, and it comes out approximately 6 times a year."

 

Monkeyd, How this can be justified by any council or business is beyond me. Even if you pay £500 per day to hire it will still be vastly cheaper to hire than to own one. Added to that you will have that advantage of utilising a specific mewp (truck, trailer, tracked, self propelled) of any size for the job, instead of using a very large machine all the time. Surely that pleases the HSE and the taxpayer?

 

Well put David, my MEWP is out about that too 6 - 8 times a year it is there as an alternative to enable us to manage risk

 

Dean, could you explain to me how a (from what I have read of your posts) small company similar to mine manages to justify an expensive item like a MEWP if it is only used for 6 jobs a year? I am not being critical of your decision to own one:001_smile:, just trying to assess how the numbers work out?

 

Thanks. Jonathan

[Dean Lofthouse]

 

Dean, could you explain to me how a (from what I have read of your posts) small company similar to mine manages to justify an expensive item like a MEWP if it is only used for 6 jobs a year? I am not being critical of your decision to own one:001_smile:, just trying to assess how the numbers work out?

 

Thanks. Jonathan

 

Sorry Jonathon, I should have explained a little clearer.

 

I bought the mewp with the intention of hiring it out, just two hires a month would cover the monthly payments and give me more or less free use of it, although I charge on top for the mewp it is not as expensive as hiring one in.

 

The system worked well, although a huge gamble it made good business sense to do it. I also got jobs passed my way from other tree surgeons which were too dangerous to climb mostly storm damaged.

 

So in effect the mewp could sit there unused by me