Peter

You dont need a vice to use a toss wand. Nick's setup is very cool, but for the small amount of splicing I do, handheld is fine.

You would need another winch to haul the cable up for you!

I usually do the whole splice with the Toss wand on DB.

I dont use the NE instructions for that, just the normal DB splice as per Samson instructions, and chop the second core off and throw it away. Much easier to bury, and it hasnt fallen apart and killed me yet, so I'm fairly optomistic.

Nice one Tony, you big swot!

If you dont find anywhere closer, this is 20 minutes from Huntingdon. £10 a tip for chip. AWO Bedford & Partners Recycling

They use then on doors that open out, instead of the battering ram.

You'll be needing a 70-100 tonner then. Good stuff, pricey though!

I like my navara, does a fair bit of towing, hauling gear, getting muddy etc. It's not quite an all out workhorse, and it's not quite a luxury car, but if you need one vehicle that will do most things adequately then it's great.

On a practical note, the owner us extremely unlikely to pay, whereas the RSPCA are more likely too. Furthermore, they have the option of recovering the costs from the owner at a later date. After all, the owner called the RSPCA, then they called you.

I've got one.........

If you can't get hold of a timber trailer, I might be able to help you out with my crane truck.

There is no cross loading issue. Cross loading is loading across the minor axis. I know what you are referring to though, and it doesn't bother me one bit in this application.

Alpine butterfly would be easier to tie.

Yeah, then you use the last set of the climbing line to pull the stick over....... Or set a pull line, and rappel off that.

If your blocking down it doesn't really need to be.

Take the top biner off the hitchclimber and put it through spliced eye, then use the biner to choke onto climbing line. Fig 8 or something to supplement hitch for srt descent in emergency.

choke it off under your lanyard? I do that with my drdt system anyway.

Looking sharp! Does it work as well as you hoped?

Yes, I had a 40 yard ro-ro for a couple of years, but I got rid of it when they put up the tonnage rate. I just pile it up and then do a tip run with the grab truck when there's a load at the yard.

I tip at one of several green waste recycling firms. Expect to pay between £20-£45 a tonne depending where you take it.

Garden Equipment & Tool Hire: Dan Clark - 01603 625370

Ben Burgess in Newmarket, or Newmarket Plant hire in Milton.

If you are using a bollard and pulleys in the tree, then a double braid is the best construction. Double braid is essentially a rope inside a rope, so the load is shared by core and cover. If you use DB on natural crotch rigging, the extra friction taken by the cover means it takes more than its fair share of the load. If you do a lot of natural crotch rigging then a 12 strand hollowbraid or 3 strand rope is better. Assuming you want a DB, then you are looking at strength and ability to absorb shock loading. The best in my opinion on those two points is Yale Polydyne. Yale are so confident in its ability to absorb shock loading that they calculate its Working Load Limit with a 5:1 Safety Factor. Personally I use a 10:1 SF on all textile, even with that it still comes out on top. Make sure the diameter rope you buy is compatible with the bollard and your pulleys. Unless you have specific kit for a large rigging system you will probably need a max 16mm rope. It is possible to build a rigging kit around a 19mm line, but you will need 25mm DB slings for the pulley, and the pulley itself will need to be either the big DMM or the big ISC, with the 19mm sheave.

Farmi make some nice cranes, Jonathan Latham deals with them.