Marc

May be a stupid question Sorenson but what is HAVS? I said most coronets look like potatoe mashers I actually meant a meat tenderiser. And thinking about it doing it that way especially with a big saw must be hard work. On some "natural fracture" jobs i've been on we've roped the top of the stem then just put 1 or 2 cuts about half way in from the back, then winched the top out creating a huge tear (well thats the idea does'nt always work). Its not something i've seen done often, its just one idea and can work well, obviously its something that has to be done carefully!! Usually the single cut and resulting tear is enough to give a satisfactory result. As for makng it look like a meat tenderiser, I personally don't think it looks good and its awkward to do comfortably. I'm no expert, and only have a few years experience in tree work, i'm not trying to pretend I know everything I don't and never will. Just expressing my opinions in the hope of learning more.

Thanks Roller gives me something to go on, I googled 24v to 12v step down converters and found plenty but nothing specifically for tow hitches. Also googled dropper box, found some info on Land Rover forums, but most of these were for using CB radios and setting up 12v lighter sockets for charging mobile phones. I'll give some towing centers a ring tomorrow and see what I can find. I did hear about something that pluged into the socket at the back which you could also plug the trailer/chipper into to. This would be ideal as its simple to install and uninstall. I can find nothing like this on google though.

We want something more simple, we have 6 different towable bits of kit, all with built in lighting. Changing bulbs, or adding lighting boards is something we want to avoid. There must be some kind of voltage converter or other availible?

I see your point mate, I find that a bit distastefull to, I take no pleasure in finding that I have disturbed a birds nest and may have to deal with it. I have like mentioned here relocated nests, but on some rare occasions its not possible. As for hitting them over the head well I can see how that seems more humane, until you get seen! This is a publice forum and an emotive subject, but I think it is good and constructive to talk about it openly. No point pretending it does'nt happen.

We just got ourselves a 7.5t truck its a Daf don't ask me which one, all I know is its big. The 7.5t is the only vehicle that has a 24v trailer power supply, for the brake, indicator lights etc. Everything else we have runs at 12v So the question is whats the best way to drop the voltage down to 12v? Any suggestions?

Its curious allright, its deffinetly not carbon from the top of the chamber its not hard or flakey. Looks more black crumbly and oily.

Thats a bit harsh treediver, I agree with the songbirds though and I try to take every reasonable step to not disturb any birds or wildlife. As for chipping birds, well how would you deal with a pidgeons nest with fledglings in, that you've just discover in the top of the conifer that was just knocked out, in a built up area with potential emotionally charged members of public going about their day? I'm not proud to admit it, but when the chippers going and the brash is falling thick and fast, with the pressure on to complete the job with little fuss the answer seems simple. I don't feel i'm being cold hearted, lazy or idiotic. Am I to put them in the truck and give them to some animal rescue center, or rehouse them in the tree, for people to then see that we have disturbed/moved a nest? I'm all ears for a good way of dealing with such situations. Thankfully it does'nt happen often 2/3 times a year maybe.

Its off topic I know but why the dig at coronet cutting? In the right setting I quite like it. Most coronet cuts I see look like the working end of a potatoe masher though.

I remember on one conifer hedge topping job the neighbour phoned the authorities to report us for disturbing the birds during nesting season. She then came out and gave the boss a right ear bashing, saying he was breaking the law doing tree work at this time of year! I found it ironic that she had 2 cats.

Well i'm screwed then! Pidgeons don't concern me to much, if I find them during a fell then i'll continue and dispose of them discreetly. If I spot them before I start i'll speak to the client and see what there view is and if they are happy to reschedule. I'm not a heartless bastard and don't take any joy in murderin birds or any wildlife, but I have a job to do. Its natures way anyway, and last time I checked humans are top of the food chain. Besides i'm pretty sure domestic moggies kill far more birds every year than we do.

Big A I never said my 200t smokes, I did say that I like to see a little smoke to know my saw isn't running to lean, although I know its not the best indicator. With the HP super there is no smoke and after one run I noticed the casing was melted around the exhaust, which lead me to worry the saw was running lean and I may of caused damage. That and the fact it was running poorly on occasions. One of the 200t's running on Stihl HP has burned out with heavy scoring around the exhaust port and its only around a year old. I think i've sorted it now, I just had to tune the low speed a little richer (very small adjustment) and now it runs faultlessly. It has just been affecting a couple of the 200ts some of which seem to run a little lean at factory settings???? None of the other machine have had problems. What I really wanted to know is what could be the cause of the black deposits in the piston chamber as seen through the spark plug hole? Can't be carbon, almost looked like dirt getting in past the air filter, but so much after a run? I'll try to take a look in other saws

I hear you there Tockmal, my advice about going freelance, not sure what others think, is ring lots of people, get your name out there. Even when you have plenty of work booked still ring round, and try to fit in a day here a day there with other companies. I'd even travel upto 60 miles to work for other companies. I had companies that would tell me to come in for the next few weeks, then tell me at short notice they did'nt need me i,e next day, which sucked. I was lucky one company would have me any day I was free, even if it meant i'd be on the ground as a back up climber, which did'nt matter to me as my rate was the same no matter what I did. Also one subbie I worked with had his own 7.5t truck and chipper, he sub's himself out as a unit at around £250 a day. And on days he was'nt booked he scheduled his own work. Seemed a good way to do things, as you build up your own client base you can steadily go towards working for yourself and build your own company.

I've seen a few of the new and even established outfits round here fold in the last year or 2. Its a tough market. A few companies are going out at ridiculous rates, £250 or less a day for a 2 man team. I've worked with guys who have put appropiate qoutes of £500-650 on a job only to loose it to someone who will do it for less than half that. This just screws it up for everyone else, and is why I struggle to get more than I feel I deserve for the work I do as a climber. Still I work hard, do my best and keep my standards as high as I can, and hope things will improve.

I thought about entering the comp steve, its one reason why i'm going through my pics today. I have hundreds of pics, but most of them were taken at low res, and not taken for artistic value. Some of the pics i've seen in the comp are amazing, I especially like JpBeavers with him on a pole and the sun behind him. Tockmal has some nice ones too with good settings. So i'll keep looking for that special pic. Here is my most recent pic, it was taken by the groundie, he does'nt know how to use my camera properly, and its the only pic I have of this extremly difficult job (for me). Every stem was dead apart from the one i'd anchored into, and a tight drop zone to boot, good job it was an Oak. It was to be left as standing deadwood.

A Chesnut dismantle

And more pics, this time of a dead chestnut fell

More pics

My girlfriend sorted all my pics out, so here are a few random pictures of work.

I've found the knute less fussy, and a nice hitch to use, almost as good as a VT

Nice thread, a lot of the trees I work with are pretty manky with a wide variety of fruiting bodies and defects. So I really make it a habit to throughly check the tree over. I'm still surprised at what a tree can take, as in I look at some trees and wonder how its still standing, only to see another similar tree but even worse still standing. Still you can never be to carefull. One thing I was taught to do on a tree I think might be unstable is to start from the top, or at least try to remove 2 times my body weight, then tie in and work off that stem. I rarely see this done by other climbers though.

Anyone else running this oil? Supposedly this oil is better for Hedgecutters and 4-mix engines, due to less carbon deposits. Only its been causing problems with my 200T, I have poor running issues i.e the engine will not pick up revs smoothly and a high idle. I used to run my saw on Stihls red 2 stroke oil with great results. I've found it hard to tune with this oil 2 as its smokless which I used as a guide to how lean or rich the engine runs, not only that my exhaust is always dry with a small amount of black powder left behind. Whereas before there used to be a small amount of oil and hardly any black deposits with the ordinary red stuff. And to make matters worse I took out the spark plug to inspect it, and looked in to the piston chamber only to find lumps of black deposits floating round. My saw is only about 6 months old. Anyone know what could cause the black deposits in my engine? there are no other signs of excesive carbon deposits in the ports etc? I've now got my saw to run better, I needed to tune the low speed screw slightly richer. I still have more black stuff building up around the exhaust exit than usual. Anyone else running HP super or used it

I'd love to see more of this kind of thing to, AS LONG AS ITS NOT ME WHO HAS TO CUT IT! 50ft high beech hedge half a mile long sweet jesus!!!

Trees:Their natural history by P. A. Thomas One of the guys I worked with who was on his RFS cert arb course kept this in the truck, I always enjoyed reading it on my lunch break, and found it easier to read the Shigos book, covers much of the same info and biology and other stuff.

I saw an old Elm aerating roller in the undergrowth of some old garden, it was still in good working condition, that elm is some durable long lasting wood, must of been at least 60 years old. Not only that they used to use it as timber lapping on old buildings due to its durability, there must be a market for those who like to restore old buildings using original materials. We've started using a guy to collect our timber for use in wood work of any kind. Generally though we make no money from it, its just a handy way of getting rid of our by product. I'm talking massive lumps of Beech, Oak and Walnut. The time it takes him to collect and process negates the cost of him buying it from us.

Steve do you have your saw lanyard attached to a double pulley? looks like it in the 2nd pic. And you truly are a slave to bling equipment!