Marc

How old is your Marlow rope? I'm not sure if its possible as I am no splicing expert, but it may be worth looking into, you could get the factory splice removed and have it re-spliced with a coreless splice. As from memory those Marlow factory splices are ugly dogs, does the splice itself have a protective sheath? Like this one? A New England splice like this one should fit no problems

Some H&S report I read from USA about accidents in the Tree work industries being Struck By was the number one cause of injury and fatalities, using Platforms was also high, the safest place to be was in the tree! I quite believe that struck by is probably our number one hazard in tree work.

The tree specialist Just raging you man please take no offense by it! I myself am holier than thou and would never undertake such shinanigans

Stange, I think what Steve is getting at is cut the shroud off (very carefully) but maybe depending on the splice it may simply not fit through. Some will though, a colleague of mine has 13mm Samson and it fits through the Cocoon no problems So it is compatible with 13mm rope just not all 13mm rope splice construction from the sounds of it. The Cocoon is a sexy bit of engineering from ART but I think the Link is a better tool for this use. I've seen cocoons break on impact with hard surfaces, ok your not supposed to bomb it but lets face we do. I've also seen them develop razor sharp edges where the rope has worn the sides - not great on soft rope!

Steve is a good guy to work for, unfortunatly I am only Semi-pro

Most of my pruning is with a Silky hand saw, I find pole saws pointless in the tree but not to bad for lifting the crown, if you need a pole pruner then you can't go far wrong with a Wolf Garten set, especially the ones with adjustable head.

Nice!

The slack tending of the ART tools is very good, but I do not see why you find using a HC harder than a LJ/SJ, A HC has different benfits and negatives, the same can be said for SRT work positioning. And it is important to realise that what works well for one may not work well for others. And to make sweeping gestures that one tool is hands down better than the other is also I feel wrong. For you Arborgrunt it seems the LJ is the perfect system, you've experimented and found what suits you best, I think thats what we should all do. For me i've tried both the LJ and SJ and SRT positioning and just find a HC suits me best so far, but I will always try others tools and techniques.

I like the good old Munter, great for poles as you can tie the pulling line to the top and descend on that, no need to spike down or set-up and cambium saver. And all you need is a simple suitable karabiner that most of us have. I just descend on my prussik, cords like op and armour prus can take a beating.

There is ways to slack tend even a prussik, your right and the transition over to a HC and SJ allows you to alter the way you climb, where as a prussik you tend to body thrust more as its the easiest way to advance. Am I making any sense or just chatting crap like usual?

There is not much between a HC or Spiderjack both are very good tools, i'm of the Hitchclimber camp myself and see no advantage in getting a Spiderjack but appreciate it is a very good tool. I find it hard to explain the benefits of not body thrusting to get height advantage its just something I do and is more natural for me, I work with guys who body thrust a lot and watch them pull their way into the tree, most have excelent upper body strength because of this. I just feel if you can move away from relying on upper body and thrusting actions to move up then you will find you utilise more of your muscle groups evenly and in the long run this can only be a good thing. As for pantin yes I use one, but caution has to be taken, I used RADS a lot for a year as my means of SRT ascent as well as SRT work positioning, but found using one leg to push myself up eventually un balanced my body leading to some form of pain. So I switched to a rope walker style of ascent on SRT where I use both legs to walk up the line so to speak. Once in the tree I switch over to my HC but leave the pantin for short ascents, I find using the pantin best if you bring your other foot on top of the foot with the pantin and try to push eqaully with both legs ala footlock style, I would not want to go a long way like this though. If your handy with a throwline then SRT for access will helps loads, and is not very complicated to do. We are all different though, our builds, the types of work we excel at, our work histories and those we work with all influence the way we climb and what we feel is best, kinda like the HC or SJ debate which is better? Of course its the HC because I say so:sneaky2:

BOOM! Its where it at.

What cord you using for your hitch?

HC helps do away with the need to body thrust, in fact for me to body thrust is very rare, look at Joe's spiderjackery videos where he is climbing a large open crowned Euc he is never body thrusting in the traditional sense to get around the tree, a good pulley type saver also helps. I think if body thrusting is something you do a lot of you can't really beat a prussik probably.

The later carbs are still pigs, my saw is developing the same un reliable running. I've been to Stihl and done a technicians course (you would not think so from the state of my saw) and I was told that they sent a memo to all Stihl dealers to replace faulty carbs free of charge within 12 months, unfortunatly it seems most Stihl dealerships lost this memo. I keep meaning to call Stihl and rage at them, but alas i'll probably just buy an original carb without the accelerator pump. I'll be looking with intrest at how people find the new Husky once its around, i've heard many positive mumblings about it. The 201 just looks wrong to me and i fear its another dog like the woefull 441 I hazard a guess the 201's service life will not be as long as the 020/200T and that we will see a 202. I hope I am wrong.

I good rigger will lower a tree faster than hand holding, and reduce the strain on his body there by being able to work longer, the longer you do this the better you get again making you faster. Besides it looked like they had the moneyon it and it was a good chance for the up-coming climber to practice some rigging.

the 441 is heavy than the 460 with less power and brittle plastics, if you can get hold of a 460 do it now they are a peach of a saw with durable plastics and good track record of reliability, i'll never touch a 441 again. The 660 is big heavy and slow (unless its got a 18 bar) so a 460 is a great fill the gap saw between a 260 and 660. I doubt you'd ever regret getting a 460 or a 361!

I dunno was a long time ago now, so i cannot say for sure sorry.

Its where its at!

Looks like someone has been natural fracture pruning in the background

I was lucky enough to go on a Stihl course at Stihl head qaurters Uk, and i bought this up as there has always been so much differing advice out there. What i was told is as follows, all engines are tested and pre-tuned at the factory and should be run as you intend to use it out of the box, leaving it to idle through tanks is probably a bad thing as as the engine will bed in under no load at low rpm, the best way to break in a saw is chogging down big timber at full revs with the saw under load this will allow it to bed in to its optimal rpm power range. Mix as Stihl reccomends do not richen, then after 15-20 hours take it to be retuned, its important to use a tachometer to get it running at the right rpm at full speed for optimal power, to be honest i've never bothered with this if it works I am happy, I find saws can be individual by nature i've had 3 200t's all behaved different some were naughty others were nice.

Indeed they are not as bad as some make out and we've (I say we I mean Q Got a pick of his 10% reduction on one) done some pretty huge nasty buggers, sure the little branches can be a bit of a gamble the old will it hold or will it fold etc. But on spike with your life line round the main stem on a healthy 40ft'r you'll have no problems BUT its always easy to say this from the comfort of our homes!!! At the end of the day trust your own judgement. The only bit i do not like is the leaving pegs part for foot holds on the way down, pegs are trouble! Get used to taking them off, they fould lines catch branches and can be a nightmare on a lowering job, better of removing them if you got spikes on.

That was great, loved the Gypsie stick use at around 6 mins, really good stuff and some nice kit.

No offense Pedroski, but you cannot get out there without a harness, I know branches are stronger than you think but a good tree specific harness is essential to get safe and appropiate positioning. If you free climbed to prune then you will not be cutting in the right place. You should try an Elderid Tree Magic I still got mine its easy to forget how great this harness is. Very light and un-obtrusive.

Aye but i bet you soon warmed up wrestling your way through all that Ivy.