Marc

I was thinking the same thing, like the idea of the cambium saver though looks like it could create a large radius giving even less friction than art products. Pricey though i bet.

Try AKU Crodas top boots wi wear them every day great climbing boot, light and kind to your feet, i used to suffer from bad knees and back these boots helped sort that out.

I don't have a problem using my Zubat to make little felling cuts yeah there not as accurate but its good enough. Have a Gomtaro but never use it now the zubat is a good compromise between fine cut and aggresiveness. Keep meaning to buy my blades in bulk, anyone know if you make a good saving?

Thats the point this is not a new technique, its just a revision on the idea that an outboard should be used when removing side branches, experienced treeworkers have been doing it this way for years its a safer way of doing it and still achieves the same result.

Not to bad i suppose. Still like the 150ft white popular reduction more blows me away everytime i look at it,,,,

If i want a flat a drop as possible i will cut inline with the undercut or ever so slightly behind it. I now always when in the tree cut behind my undercut, also when gobbing piece out on leaning stems i'll cut beneath my hinge, also when doing my sap wood cuts I go above the hinge to stop tearing and getting my saw caught in the kerf of the tear. I don't really see any reason to do an outboard cut? but i will do it on occasion. I rarely undo my saw as i have no fear of it being taken with the cut.

Those wedges are to clean!

Looks like a nice tidy methodical job Andy:thumbup1:, or is it just the bluriness that makes it look that way:confused1:

It was a rewarding experience and i had a great time with some cool people thanks Paul.

I doubt my puny arms could take it i'm so used to carrying round just a silky.

I've seen this on at least 4 occasions on Betula over the last 3 years round here eventually girdling the stem and sub branches causing die back and eventual death and this is in my area (Oxfordshire). Also see bacterial/bleeding canker/phytphora often on Oak, Beech and Horse Chesnut but thats nothing new.

I knew you weren't getting at John mate i just still felt it was a point worth mentioning. I can do it quicker and better by climbing hate using the death on a stick!

I know your only joking around in all seriousness though i reckon thats a good 30% sail area/weight reduction but yeah at least 70% foliage, it all depends how you look at it i guess. Willow is not an easy tree to reduce lightly one good thing though is they can take a good tonking!

that is one way to ram the point home!

Inonotus hispidus doesn't always fruit every year so look for tell tale black stains like this, although Inonotus his. doesn't usually cause die back in fact the canopy can remain healthy and vigorous the fungi will just deterioate the wood leading to possible failure.

These are just my thoughts on it, from the pics it doesn't look so bad but pictures do not always show the extent of the problems. You say the tree has large amounts of dead and old pruning wounds, these are already entry points for pathogeons so further pruning shouldn't create more problems besides if pruning needs to carried out to reduce risks then it just has to be done. Have you seen any Inonotus brackets? either hispidus in the crown or dryadus at the base, or other fungi apart from King Alfreds cakes? You could just reduce the areas over targets and remove major dead wood this may leave the crown looking unbalanced, or just reduce the entire tree, qouting percentages on that kind of job is pointless you just have to get up there and start cutting use the force and see what you can do, basically you'll be dictated by the growth points and how hard you have to hit certain areas that have died back. You could do it in stages or just do it in one go being that its an Ash and has good vigour in the lower crown may be worth a punt.

Liked the guided rope bombing just over half way through thats my kind of lowering like guided log missiles Just curious about that stem you felled up the bank why the high felling cut took a nasty bounce, all was good though just curious if the was any reason why you did it that way?

The Holm Oak looks even nicer in a full size pic Q I also like this pic:laugh1:

Attach the bowline karabiner into the middle hole helps to give a little more seperation and less prone to interfere with the hitch, i climbed with a bowline for 6 months like that because i was to tight to buy a new rope or get a new splice, although far! from ideal with good rope discpline i don't believe its dangerous. Now i have a splice i use the top hole although the middle hole does make the hitch slightly easier to grab i prefer leaving it open as a second attachment point.

Yeah i often work in just a g string in the summer, i stay nice and cool and no workers tan for me:biggrin:

Yeah it was probably just the pic that makes it look that way.

I'll have to double check with the tree planting team, i'm not 100% sure how they do it.

That piece in the last pics looks flying a good distance out from the stem never noticed that when i've seen or done snatching bet it comes back with a good thump. Wonder what causes it? The snatch block being so low?

Nice picture set, nice helmet to!

I know that the guys i've been working with have been known to knock 4 stakes in around the root ball, this helps to stabalise the tree, then just buy cheap ratchett straps and ratchett the stakes together to hold even more firmly the tree in place and bury them so there hidden. Its a cheaper alternative and works, we plant many hundreds of semi mature trees a year and use this method often.