Marc

It deffinetly looks area dependent, good climbers round here will get 150 a day, and i'm talking top class nothing impossible and make it look easy climbers. Although you can get a bonus on top of your day rate on difficult jobs. I charge 110 a day, i'm not very good or the quickest, but I can do most things safley and effciently, and without damaging anything. I provide my own climbing kit and 200t and thats it. I will not charge anything less. Round here: 75-100 for groundies depending on experience & ability 90-150 for climbers

That is one of my favourites pics to, I love parrell anchors I also like Mister trees reduction on the syc, they are always tricky to reduce nicley.

They are o.k, I prefered the Bashlins myself, but I think I could get used to them. You know the more I think about it, the more I wish I was'nt such a sucker for bling kit. I'd go for the standard alloy geckos otherwise, at least you can adjust the leg length. They are all good if you set them up right, right length, leg pads that you like, and spike length that you prefer. I was just as crap a climber in my kliens as I am in the geckos, only now I look good.

I used to have a set of klien pole climber spikes with velcro pads, they were good, only problems with mine were the very short gaffs which slipped out on thick bark. Since my kliens were old second hand spikes I decided to upgrade to something new. I tried Buckingham titanium spikes, Bashlin alloy spike (like in burnhams pic but without the caddies) I much prefered the Bashlins. Then I saw and held the carbon geckos at a arb show and well bought some with the short spike without trying them first. I absoloutly love them, they are so comfortable to wear and grip the stem reliably so hardly any gaffing out. Only discomfort I get is when i'm on a pole with a big saw for a long time. For open crown trees they are superb They are wicked strong, I keep mine in my kit bag which gets sat on, chucked of trucks and has other kit piled on top of it. They do get scratched, and if you walk on gravel with them they get chipped and worn more than ali. If you look after them though there is no reason why they will not last many years. I do think though that other than there lightness and sexiness I would of been just as happy with Bashlins and velcro pads.

I leanrt on a VT, but I do know why some people called it the suicide hitch. A knute or Distell are more forgiving french prussiks.

I know this is getting off topic but i'm intrigued: I don't think Petzl ever thought their pulley would be used in the way i've used it (I now have a hitchclimber), however I would still feel very confident using it in that way, after all one end of my eye 2 eye prussik is supporting what 30-40% max of my weight, and common sense (for me anyway) says that its way strong enough for this application. Anyway I do suggest using the ISC pulley if you use a french prussik this way, if the tested kit there use it!!! As for using climbing line for lanyard, yes it has no tearaway, but nether do a majority of lanyards availible. The weaver strops we are issued are crossed stitched and larks footed onto saw and harness, and are as unlikly to break as climbing line. I've only ever had one piece catch on the chain, it was my stupid fault, and I endeavour to never do it again, since then I have removed some pretty big lumps from trees with no concern of snagging the chain. Besides if i'm ever slightly concerned i'll remove the saw from my harness (which by the way has a bulit in tearaway!!!) and with my adjustable saw strop its easy to get enough length to make a cut whilst the saw is attached to the tree.

Fell it!! its a danger to everyone who gets near it, i mean look at those burrs that can't be safe. If she can't bear to lose it, dome it off, give it a nice high pollard, bog brush it. Otherwise, I go with the consensus of do the least to it that you can: Enough to keep the customer happy that there trees been cared for. Do as little so as not to stress the tree. And charge a lot for your professional services.

Army gor-tex for working in really rough weather, its about the most durable and comfortable. And Rab vapour-rise smock/jacket for drizzle, extreme cold windy days, its not waterproof just resistant, it drys very quickly and keeps you very comfortable. Is fairly pricey at £80 rrp for a smock. Have been looking at Paramo smocks for some time, they do not rely on laminates for waterproofing, just layered polyester, so small tears are not a problem and is easily repaired. But they are thick and far to warm for for summer. They are designed to be worn with a harness.

Petzl treesbee?? I think thats what its called, it has a nice large steel ring which a simple overhand knot fits through nicely, and an oval mallion rapide ideal for adding a pulley to.

The groundies were busy ringing up the cord I'd already cut down and could'nt hear me, and because I never leave pegs I could'nt find something suitable to throw at them, I did consider chucking the next log but thought that may be a little harsh, plus they had the saw I wanted to use. To make matters worse they cut through my rope bag, which is now more of a groundsheet than bag. Thinking back I wish i'd thrown that log after all

Yes its true they are the same design, only I was once told its not safe to tie onto the tab that forms the U on the Petzl pulley? I still use a petzl pulley in this way I do not care as I know it is safe, just as I know using climbing rope as a saw lanyard is safe. Speaking to the guys on the ISC stall at Cirencester about their version of that pulley, they have load rated the tab specifically for tieing the end of your prussik cord onto this to get round those who are so very very anal about such things. Am I right does your ISC pulley have a white marked rating at the tab/or bridge?

Skyhuck, mattyf I do agree to some extent, nothing beats a fresh 200T. And my newer 200T has seen some abuse so its maybe worth just relegating it to back up or pruning saw. Its just my other old saw is pucker and never lets me down or misses a beat, o.k it may not quite have that fresh grunt, but kept sharp and well maintained it performs more than adeqeutly. I can think of better ways to spend £370 on a new 200T every year (all are tax deductable). My gripe here is a new saw going wrong due to a Stihl quality fault, maybe I should just let it go.

I know vdub but I was lazy, and the groundies were not near by. I may switch back to a 12" bar so that it makes me go to the bigger saw sooner. 14" is handy now and again for knocking the odd big bit out, but not very productive/effcient at chogging down.

I use a similar set-up, it works good but like peter says not as good as a rope guide. I'd use the petzl pulley on the cambium saver, and use the ISC pulley for your hitch that way you can tie one end of your friction cord on to the tab which is load rated on the ISC pulley for this purpose, works really good with a VT.

I always just used to keep my eye out for cool trees in remote places like on the edge of farm land or in woods, your not likely to get hassle, unless you are on someones property looking over their house. I also used to enjoy the solitude of climbing trees alone. Just make sure someone knows where you are in case you get stuck

My other saw is an old second hand 200t about 4 years old and abused as hell, but by god it runs good, not quite full grunt anymore but so so reliable. My new one is a real lemon.

Lumpy running, constantly stalling and unable to tune it. As far as i'm aware are classic signs of accelerator pump problems. I did a Stihl servicing course last year, and it was admitted to me that they are having problems with the reliability of the accelerator pump. Which like you point out is fitted to reduce emmision by increasing fuel effciency. The older style carb allowed max fuel flow at full rpm and was a much simplier design, this is the "A" type carb. There have been a few carb types since then about 3 I think, mine is a D carb, I heard they sorted the problem by making the accel, pump out of stainless. Does'nt look like it though, so I may just go for a new older style carb if I can get one. Problem is I think the erractic running has ruined my saw by clogging the exhaust and carbing up the piston cylinder. Not good for a supposed professional qaulity saw.

14" light bar for me, started climbing with 12" I personally don't see any difference between the 2. Only difference is with a 14" you can maybe make 2 more cuts before changing up to a bigger saw. 2" is hardly a big difference. I was chogging down a Beech with a narrow taper the other day, I kept with the 200t as long as I could, then switched to a 361, man I wish I did it sooner, it was far more productive and effcient in my opinion. I may go back to a 12"

I thought that could be a possibility, so I swapped carb with a known good one and the saw ran sweet. So the problem is deffiently carb. I've had it apart and its immaculate inside, no dirt or deformities that I can see. The only part I can't look at is the accelerator pump.

And the problem is? In the end the loler inspector phoned me in the morning to ask what the f$%k I was going on about on the forum. In short someone did'nt want the loler inspector to see my lanyard and hid it from him for some reason! Leading me to believe it was failed. After speaking to the loler inspector he could not see a problem with using my lanyard, and said to give it to him personally on his next visit and he'd mark it fit for use. Now that is the kind of loler inspector I like

One of my 200t's started playing up a month or so ago so I shelved it for a bit, finally got round to looking at it and have narrowed the problem down to the carb. Its a new saw only 12 months old, one of the newer types with the breather pipe situated next to the fuel pipe. The symptoms are like an accelerator pump fault, i'e impossible to tune and erractic running. Only on the new carb the place where the accelerator pump is situated is blanked off with a brass cover. Now I heard that they improved the qaulity on the accelerator pump by machining it out of stainless steel instead of brass. So my question is does the my carb have an accelerator pump? Its a "D" type carb And has anyone else had an accelerator pump problem on the newer type 200t's? Just trying to see what my chances are of replacing it on warrenty.

What I mean is when you replant the tree do you back fill the hole with soil from the original site, I just heard it was a good idea to do this to keep the good bacteria and fungi intact.

When you transplant trees using the airspade method, do you also take as much of the original soil with it?

My lady is small, although if I buy her a medium for Xmas and she does'nt like it,,,,,,,

Good pics, I like how that Elm has enveloped the wall pretty cool tree to have in your garden, "FELL IT"