Marc

Thats quite an old historic wound, and if thats another wound by bulge, then without seeing it i'd say that to is an old wound and the bulging is reactive growth,,,, possibly. Basically they are old wounds and the tree hasn't fallen over yet! even in the recent snow and wind. The trees stayed standing this long alright, and think of the valueble habitat it provides, i'd do everything i can to eep it, just carry out some slight remedial works as a duty of care. That big limb going of the powerlines is immense i love limbs like that, i'd love even more getting out there and nicely reducing, maybe not going quite as hard as that limb on the left, if thats the growth point on top, i hope you reduced that to.

Nice work Andy, looks like i'll be on the planting team some of next week, i'll have to get some pics.

I'd trust a lockjack more than rope on rope, I prefer a rope hitch with pulley though thats just because it suits me and my climbing stratergies. "garlic bread i've tasted it, its the furture" Peter Kay pheonix nights qaulity

purdy, what you going to do with them? I just ordered the left hand one to accompany my Black Diamond nForce ascendor.

For me all the crap on my harness and in my kit bag is there because i get bored easily, i'm under no illusion that you need all that junk on your harness to do this job. For me i get excited (yes i know its a little sad) by finding different and novel ways of carrying out repetitive tasks, i also find it makes me better equiped to tackle some potentially very difficult situations i encounter with ease, speed and safety by finding alternate soloutions to a problem.

i could always bring my fisher price steering wheel stick it on the glove box and pretend i'm driving would that be o.k? Only problem is i can't toot the horn at all the pretty ladies.

What pulley are you using Ray? As far as i know most arb specific pulleys like the Hitchclimber or ISC pulleys are 13mm max diameter.

Everyones set-up is different tailored to the way they run their company to be most effecient and profitable. To us at Heritage wood is a pain it clutters the yard and takes to much time to process, the more we can convert to chip the better its the most profitable for us and the way we operate! We chip everything under 25" Most of our chip is recycled and sold on as mulch/planting compound in our planting schemes or for mulch circles on mature trees. With a small amount going to power stations. Skyhuck gis us a job i'll be your stick bitch for week as long as i get to drive your mog

It is an awesome rig, and very configurable, it has remote controlled crane with usefull cable and hook, also a grab attachment, a powerful 2 speed winch, a decent sized 13" chipper and huge carrying potential with that 13ton grain trailer. But and its a big but its huge size and length is limiting, you can run it without the grain trailer only the spout is to high for another chip truck over the back, so you have to chip to the side. Basically space to fit the rig is an issue, if you can get it in then your laughing and not much will touch it. My favourite rig has to be Skyhucks i would love to work alongside it and see if it truley is as versatile as it looks. He just needs a bigger chipper:001_tongue: Having a demountable crane trailer with chip body on the mog looks a far better idea to me.

I can't view the video, it say i have to accept you as a friend first, to be honest i'm not sure i know you that well, i think i'll wait a bit first i'm not one to rush into things.

8m lanyard stuffed in a silverbull dity bag, 4 revolvers with 2 dyneema slings one long one short for redirects or making 3-1 advantage systems etc. 1 large biner for various stuff also takes the place of a fig 8 as i can use a munter to descend with it. Another sling and biner for lowering and a mini prussik. A homemade friction saver which i use on every single climb no matter what, i'll never natural crotch. I use a sawpod for my Silky my silky is the single most used cutting instrument i own more than my 200t I use everything on my harness at least once a week and i don't want to be calling down for it. Oh yes and i climb on a treemotion, maybe that says something about me! All the gear and no idea, perhaps.

The chipper was a machinfabrik but i'm lead to believe this is a ducker, there was an auxilary fan attached to the discharge chute to give it that extra omph, in all the time i worked for them never saw the chute get blocked once even with conifer. In this front pic you can see the extra fan on the right

How do they get past BS5837 with that one:001_tongue:

Not very relevant probably, but just found this old pic of a company i used to sub to and their mog rig. It has a remote controlled palfinger crane in the pic we were craning off old willow pollards. Also has a 9ton winch with ground spades at the back and a 13" ducker chipper.

Don't turn up just to watch Frank, just have a go, I was rubbish, i did'nt score on the footlock or speed climb and timed out on the aerial rescue but still scored some points. It was a learning experience and i know how to do better next time. I'm not worrried about how well i do anyway its just a good laugh.

Just bring your kit and turn up and have a go Frank, everyone is really supportive and helpfull, if there is something you need that you haven't got then someone will usually lend it to you for the event.

SBTC yes you have to stop to tend the slack (unless you use a bridge extention which will move the hitch up for you) the important point though is whilst you holding your self to tend the hitch your doing it in a more ergonomic way by having your arm locked straight. I go out of my way to not body thrust up the tree or at least make pulling myself up easier,a self advancing hitch opens up more oppertunities. For example if i'm in a broad tree and i have to work my way down one side starting from the top i'll install a pulley or revolver by my friction saver put the tail of rope through that, then make sure my tail follows me as i work my way down, then when i need to go back up to redirect myself to work the other side of the tree i have a 3-1 pulley system to pull myself back up which also tends the hitch for me. I'll go up with a mixture of hauling myself and climbing the tree whenever possible its all made easier by the fact i can hold my position in the tree with one hand then use my free hand to advance the hitch. All things that are not easy to do with a prussik and is just a small example of how using a self advancing hitch opens up more opertunities.

I had a job spec to reduce a 40ft Lombardy by 2m once, i think it was a typo must of meant to 2m!

Uses of a throw line, i can think of a few. Obvious one: Setting your climbing line by isolating a limb close to trunk for ascent by body thrust, or away for footlock/srt. 2: getting out hangers. 3: retrieving stuck cambium savers 4: installing cambium savers 5: setting rigging systems 6: setting pull lines (no need to isolate a limb just tie the other end to the base of the tree just above felling cut) Can anyone think of anymore to add to this list??

Hey my comments were made with a bit of sarcastic humour, i don't think anyone is a moron, stupid little things like this make us think and hopefully learn. Even i was not 100% sure i've just always taken it for granted that if it has a CE mark or ANSI then its safe to climb on.

I'm using 10mm on my Tachyon at the moment, The way i look at it is the smaller the diameter the more it bites it can also generate more heat. I've gone with 10mm ocean poly on my 11.5mm line as i didn't want my hitch to bite to hard and start to lock up/be difficult to advance or pay out slack. I also got fed up with burning my fingers and constanly having to fine tune to find the sweet spot with a VT. So i've now gone to a knute, its a little less fussy, is always easy to move taking in and paying out slack. I can also get the legs really short so I have minimal sit back, basically when i move my hitch up it doesn't drop me down several inch before it holds. A nice compact knot, it will occasionally self tend to if i have enough rope beneath me.

Also try buying a karabiner with a lower rating than 22kn, plenty rated at 22kn none below!

Nice karabiner, and perfectly suited for our work, it has a trilock and is 22kn anyone who thinks it is not fit for use is a moron,,,, no offence to your colleagues who i am sure are all decent chaps. The only ting i can say about those Elderid biners is stock up on the graphite those gates are prone to sticking.

As far as i know the minimum requirment for climbing karabiners is 22kn to achieve a CE rating, the same with rope i guess. What Elderid biner did you buy?

Pete really got me thinking about how much force i'm putting on my anchor redirect, i'm still a little confused but feel the anchor redirect has its place. Here is what i've got in my head,,, in my pic if i'm hanging directly below my redirect the double pulley is supporting twice my weight, as i increase the angle i am reducing the load on the pulley, by how much i'm not sure. There are other factors to consider to, only i'm to tired to think properly right now.