Marc

Sounds like the smart feed is working well, all the Vermeers I use it's temperamental and never works which is a pain but not essential. I would think the problem is more something is binding somewhere: Are the slides greased for the rollers? Also if i remember right they run on a captured rail the top plate can become loose to check the bolts holding the rollers in the slide if they have worked loose it can cause the rollers to bind as it will kick up. Occasionally a bit of innocuous looking chip/shard can get stuck behind the roller, they will move but only so far jam and reverse and repeat so check and clear loose debris particularly a problem with the bc1400 which I would of thougt they sorted with the 1500. This was a few hours ago I see, let us know what the problem is if you find/found it.

You sure your talking about the right ones? Vents are insanely thin and as these things go about as cool as they get. Normal Gladiators though with the waterproof fronts do mean you end up feeling like boil in the bag rice. I wanted the normal Glads for the tick guards only they do not do them without waterproof fronts, even the non chainsaw Glads have water proof fronts and are to hot to wear in summer. Guess I'll go back to Sip progress sans protection for um pruning jobs easily on par with Pfanner if not better.

No no the price is insane, yet they are good trousers.

Pfanner do not always know what they are doing, they make some utter crap over priced stuff that breaks in the wash, or is cheaply made with poor material at a premium price. Having said that I have the Gladiator Vents type A and they are very good, better than the Arborists.

I prefer rigging on the Yale polidyne, I find the Sirius a bit harsh but a good tough rope at a fair price. In an ideal world I'd have both Sirius for top roping and polidyne for snatching.

Only climb on 10mm myself cannot stand 8mm to small in hand, gets hotter and often binds to tight. Currently gone back to the cheapest poly stuff I can find. Each to their own, try 10mm you might like it, it's the beauty of the Hitch over mechanicals many possibilities and tuneable.

Willow doomed because of tear outs and exposed tissue? Nature is never very subtle, often why we can sometimes prevent this from happening in the urban environment by shortening lever arms. Still looks to me like self optimisation along with all other suggestions here.

Survival strategy? Like a Mulberry possibly.

Exactly my thoughts, why be single minded. We already have to many fools laws, let's hope common sense prevails.

SIP Progress, couldn't wear Stein because I'm a snob not heard anything bad about them though. For me SIP hit the sweet spot of price and quality.

Normal or Vents? From what I understand the normal gladiators have waterproof membrane on the front so it ends up like a sauna in them. I got the ventilations type A class 1 for climbing and ground work they are cool enough. Not much help if you have to wear type C's

What's the bank like access wise that you took the picture from? We've had trick ones like that where the bank the tree is on is a no go access wise is the no chance to drag it up/down stream to a better landing spot?

But what it the warranty like? Although I have found this to be dealer dependent some will try to charge for warranty repair or some I would not trust to fix a mechanical pencil let alone a 2 stroke engine.

There are 4 of us running 540's since end of last year, no issues with the rear av spring or any other parts breaking, even the bar is holding up well. Only issue I had was with running the saw I eventually got mine replaced the new one runs well. I would add the new 201's give the 540 a run for there money, and are better built.

Sounds an epic tree there OMT, and looks like you saw the potential benefit of two ropes (lets not call it DRT! To confusing) not wanting to sound like a broken record but 2 separate tie in points and lifelines should not become a standard only something we should consider on a tree to tree basis. I know other rope access work uses 2 ropes as fall protection, but these guys use shock absorbers and suitable harnesses, our harness are not designed to fall into the are work positioning harness not fall arrest harness with front and rear attachment.

Stop speaking in riddles man, and nothing should be made compulsory we are free to choose as many anchors as we want with a minimum of one. I for one do not want to revisit the thought of making 2 lines compulsory in tree work, we all should be able to make our own assessment on every climb as to if 2 ropes are appropriate.

I cannot see how a work positioning strop constitutes a life line, in some instances like spiking up a stem it is your primary means of contact backed up by your life line. I will never consider my lanyard to be primary life support or even in most cases secondary life support. It is merely a work positioning strop, I use it to attain a safe work position to carry out the cut safely therefore effectively eliminating the chance of me coming into contact with my life line. On occasion I will not even use my positioning strop to make a cut and only have one tie in point if I deem there is no chance I'll cut my line, or my rope is deflected so there is no chance of pendulum, or even to allow me to cut and be able to move out of the way if required. This is an old topic the case of using 2 ropes, and thankfully the powers that be were convinced that mandatory 2 independent life lines are not required to carry out tree work safely, this is not too say that there are no circumstances where 2 life lines improve climber safety, this is down to your own industry competence to recognise when 2 ropes are appropriate.

Agreed unless your looking for something exotic or live in Australia it's rarely worth the hassle.

You could probably find an deal about the same in the UK so do not see the point, also given the fragile nature of these saws I'd want a to buy from a UK dealer so I have the warranty

Kevin you've been rumbled! I can see the sense in 2 anchors, just not the practicality I a 3 dimensional tree. And for me it just comes down to being more practical with a single lifeline the most important point is ensuring good work position. I have full trust in a single line to keep me safe, at least with doubled rope I always have the opportunity to create a second independent anchor on the fly without the need for a second rope.

now now Kevin, your taking it out of context or maybe I am taking you out if context. This is not about Steve not trusting a single line, more to do with being so familiar with doubled rope. I to am trying to get to grips with srt working I have been using srt techniques for several years, but have always worked the tree with my hitchclimber and a doubled rope system. I have never found my climbing to be difficult, so do not trust srt work positioning to actually make my life easier! Though nothing ventured nothing gained. I remember when I harked on about srt back in the day, I used to get shot down by the why not use a ladder brigade. Now i feel past it for not using srt to work off.

The new Stihl auto spouts fit albeit a little tight, the ones with a kink. the older short straight ones do not fit.

Use a hitchclimber pulley as a cheaper alternative to a petzl tandem set up for a retrievable zip line. It will speed things up once your into the swing of things, use a line for the piece tied of to the dougie and a suitable anchor with some kind of tensioning system, and a second control return line with a pulley below your zip line tie off on the dougie to the hitchclimber pulley, depending on the size of limbs you can do 3 or 4 at a time. Doing a simple free line is fine but i find if you have many limbs to remove something retrievable is easy quicker.

Is that a noticable wear grove in the DMM axis swivel? How old is it and is that your original bridge?

Nice picture set David,