Marc

I've worked with climbers who can rig trees down faster than cutting and chucking.

The reason for roping everything is its more effcient/quicker in some instances, easier for ground crew, more controlled, and no damage to the lawn, shrubs or fence underneath. I did see that Reg knocked a few smaller pieces out without rope though. I attach everything like Reg, Although not quite as fluidly! I put a half hitch then throw the biner round and attach it back to the line its more secure especially on smooth barked trees like Euc. I believe he was using the same attachment on the big trunk pieces, occasionally i'll put 2 half hitches in before attahcing the krab there by having 3 choking holds for extra security. And a Timber Hitch for connecting the pulley. Although i'm sure Reg will correct me if i'm wrong. Really nice work and vid Reg, super smooth as always

Missed your post Matt, all I can say is looking at all 3 trees including Ash I could not see much wrong with them, not to say that I may of missed something. And I don't really mean to slag people off or call them butchers, I have my way of doing things and other climbers have there's. I just prefer the less is more approach to pruning if possible, and I should of expressed that with other words than butcher.

Could I drive a unimog on my pre 97 license and tow a chipper?

I just use my hitch climber for getting the groundies to send the saw up or down, simple.

Absoloutly, but with that way of thinking we'd still be climbing in uncomfortable leather harness, using pole spikes and 3 strand rope. So why be uncomfortable when you can be comfortable.

Hey you started me along these lines with your nifty idea about an adjustable tool line!!

A datatag is no real deterent it may just help you get it back (but unlikly) Wheel clamp it, chain it, little nugget for the tow bar-or/and tow bar clamp. Also carry a chain and padlock with you for when on site, and you have to leave the chipper out the front whilst your in the back garden so you can chain it to your truck.

Thats the thing that bothers me most, I admit that generally you are absoloutly right. But life isn't so simple and clear cut, I just beleive in weighing each individuals chracter, don't just label him as a useless druggie addict. I too was a addict, but finding tree work has helped me to change my life for the better, if no one gave me that chance, then i'd probably still be that useless untrustworthy addict. Don't stereotype keep and keep an open mind.

Only just caught up with the posts on here by Telhol, skyhuck and Tony, funny as, nearly spat my coffee all over my laptop especially when Dr g hessayon was bought up as reference, I think my Hessayon books ended up in landfill (sory Doc). I admire your conviction Telhol, it takes a quite a bit of confidence in your opinions, and respect to you for that. Its what I love so much about a forum. And there was me trying to be diplomatic and not slag someone else's work. I was a horticulturist for 5 years and arborist for 3, but I reckon i'll need another 10 years of experience before I can say I have a good indepth knowledge. Anyway here is a pic of my favourite type of reduction, its the one in the middle that does'nt look like its been reduced, the one on the right was butchered in my opinion, especially as none had any outward signs of weakness other than bledding canker, in which case reduction is probably the worse thing to do.

Congrats mate I hope it serves you well.

Charlieh I think you need to take the top out of that tree to give it a better shape its not quite balanced right, and be carefull of overloading the limbs with those big balls, maybe reduce the weight on those too.

Nice work and pics skyhuck,

As i've said before, I quit weed over a year ago, and I drink maybe once every couple of months. I don't care for any kind of high anymore, but its not my concern how others choose to live their lives, only when I see someone destroying there life does it bother me some. I can understand why and how it piss people of working with stoners, so don't. I don't get it if you don't like them don't work with them and let them either find someone who puts up with their ways or come to the decision to not smoke at work! Its simple to me, I'd out right refuse to have a compulsory regular drugs test, I believe in trust, arb work comapnies are generally small, if you can't trust someone to the extent you feel you need to drug test them, then well maybe you should be using someone else. Maybe my experiences are vastly different to others, or maybe i've just been lucky to of worked with good people. What pisses me off more is lazy bastards who don't care about doing a good job, who'se bad practices are truly shocking and its an amazment they've escaped serious injury, and they don't even have the excuse of being pot heads.

Wht do you mean by seperate tool line? My harness is not compatible with suspenders. The best i've tried is hanging the saw off my bridge, only it takes some getting used to having the saw hanging between the legs,,,, it was one reason for making an adjustable rope saw lanyard, I can reach under my right leg to get the saw and drop it down again easier, and always have enough length. This is only a little niggle, carrying a big saw is not unbearable in the least, just trying to think up an alternative.

True, I've now been thinking a big saw hung from your shoulder may possibly be more uncomfortable than your hip anyway. Especially dropping the saw. It was just a thought.

pic of thing

I'm always trying to change things and try something new. I find with my harness when carrying a big saw it drags the waist belt down and to the right, I know with some harness you can get suspenders just not for mine. I've also tried hanging the saw off a secondary bridge, this is o.k on poles but the second bridge gets on my nerves when I don't use it. So when looking through this site I found this: http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/climbing/0602150340038 Its for organsing a rock climbing rack, but I was wandering if something like this could be adapted for carrying a chainsaw? Anyone tried something like this?

The flywheel is the big disc the blades and fans are attahced to mate, so most have this, apart from some drum chippers. I'm not an expert but I always look at belts as the weak link, these help to reduce shock loads to the engine, as a flywheel direct to the engine is not good. I always find easing the throttle up helps to make the belts last longer and is good for the engine especially in the cold.Some of the groundies i've worked with yank the throttle up and you could hear the belts squeling as they slipped not good.

I think it may be due to the fact they use aluminium fins to propel the chip, these get worn quickly. Don't worry to much about it though, your chipper will do you just fine and pay for itself. Treefitter is a just maintenance crazy, all his kit is kept in tip top condition, i've never worked with such an old chipper, as most outfits would of blown theirs up and bought a new one. It just goes to show though if your willing to spend the time you can keep anything going for a long time, and increase your value for money/profit.

Your absoloutly right i'm not argueing that point, for me I prefer not to work with stoned colleagues as its not a part of my life now. In an ideal world this would'nt happen, but it does, i'm all for fairness and choice, if someone wants to do it its their life! I don't want to live in a world where people cannot choose how they want to live their life. I also don't think weed is a performance enhancing drug thats stupid. Its stupid to smoke at work full stop. But having been there and know what its like, for me i'd work with someone I know who smoked a joint an hour ago. I would'nt choose to work with the guy climbing with a spliff in his mouth,,,, but thats all besides the point. I'm with Big A on compulsory drug testing, people should have the choice to do want they want in there free time. I have found thats its very easy for me to choose who I work with or for. I choose to work with people who take there work seriously, where safety and qaulity is paramount, that includes being of clear mind on the work site.

A good point, plus how can you test if someone is stoned at work or just residual from the night before. Do we have a right to pass judgement on what people do in there home time? And as you rightly said prescription drugs can be far worse than pot.

I've worked with many guys who are totally incompetent yet totally straight, and many who are stoned but far more competent. I would'nt neccesarily walk of site if any of my work colleagues were stoned, i'd make a judgement on how safe they'd be to work with. There are some people I would never want to work with and they've never taken drugs.

Don't get me wrong i'm not trying to condone anything, anykind of drug and work can be a bad mix, just expressing my opinions as an ex dope fiend! And there is a good reason why I quit. When I was smokin weed like cigarettes the only spliff that got me stoned was the one in the morning, after that the effects were mild and wore off in half an hour. Smoking like I did was stupid imo thats why I quit, 10 years of habitual smoking just got boring for me and enough was enough. I would never swing round the tree with a spliff thats just stupid, and even when I did smoke I thought that was stupid. What was even more stupid is that I kept my toking ways hidden from most employers, I don't think anyone noticed and I was always in demand for being such a hard worker. The effects for me at the time were very mild, now if I even smoked a tiny pinch i'd be totally unable to work. Each to his own, I don't ever want to smoke weed like I used to, i'm just happy having a tiny pinch every couple of months and enjoying it. I want to stress i'm not promoting toking at work, its just stupid! In all my years of doing dangerous work even oxy-acetalene demolition and rigging I never ever had an accident. Maybe I was lucky, but I personally think it has more to do with your mindset and apptitude. I'm just as likely now to injure myself through stupidity or plain accident as I was when I smoked, in my humble opinion.