Chipper Course

[Highland Forestry]

Having recently completed an NPTC chipper course in order to tick another box... has anyone else attended this course recently?

What a joke...... one whole day for training and another day for assessment??

 

NPTC courses are becoming a bit of a con IMO..... I do respect the qualifications and need for them but the costs involved and the time are a joke.

 

The whole of the chipper course training AND assessment I could have done in literally 2hrs.

 

 

Just looking in to going for assessment for the CS40 & CS41 tickets at the moment also - £245 per person based on two people for assessment in one day for both qualifications...... how on earth do they justify nearly £500 for an assessor for one day and a certificate that takes months to arrive and a dodgy plastic photocard?!?

[Stephen Blair]

ooooooooooo, this should be good mat. did you manage to get the branchy thing through the rollery thing ok?i bet you did it with lovely straight bits in the daylight, not a bramble infested rodidendron at night time with a spotlight in your face like you will have to in the real world. ha ha

[taffupatree]

ive got a chipper cert but not nptc, on sommat called CORS(chainsaw operator registry scheme)..ran in colabiration with the highways agency.anybody else heard of this?

[tommer9]

Haha. I was on my climbing course and there was loads of neatly piled old, hence leaf free, radiata brash, and the instructor got us all through the Chipper course, basically by letting us have a go! All w had to know was what to do in pre-use checks, and not to stand directly behind the machine when feeding it!!

 

Nonsense box ticking course. Love it.

[Highland Forestry]

They have just changed it to a two day afair though which is the biggest load of bollox i've ever heard of...... its a total con and the most annoying thing is you don't learn anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

the course used to be half day training and 30min assessment in the afternoon. and now it;s a day training and then another day for an external assessment.

[Highland Forestry]

ooooooooooo, this should be good mat. did you manage to get the branchy thing through the rollery thing ok?i bet you did it with lovely straight bits in the daylight, not a bramble infested rodidendron at night time with a spotlight in your face like you will have to in the real world. ha ha

 

 

Yep! and I even managed to get the diesely stuff into the tanky thing...

 

The worst of it was we all turned up at specified time and place, and there was nothig to chip! Nobody had any saws or PPE apart from me so I had to cut and prune a load of stuff for 6 guys to feed through the chipper..

Having some stuff to chip would be quite high on my list if I was providing a chipper course..

[tommer9]

its a total con and the most annoying thing is you don't learn anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Yep.

[Highland Forestry]

Yep.

 

It's a piss take when you're putting 4 blokes through it!

[tommer9]

It's a piss take when you're putting 4 blokes through it!

 

Especially when one part is familiiarising yourself with the chipper in question( how to change blades, sort out blockage etc etc) and no two make and models are the same!

[Highland Forestry]

Especially when one part is familiiarising yourself with the chipper in question( how to change blades, sort out blockage etc etc) and no two make and models are the same!

 

LOL..... the guys all came out with a cracker for the changing of blades, adjusting belts etc - theyre not alowed to do it as all of the maintenance is carried out by the contracting company....

 

As soon as the blades are buggered or the thing breaks down we just call out thier fitter who makes it work again and we get back to work

 

The assessor couldnt argue with it really.