Paul Barton

I like these cabins - I have seen a few here in the UK built around a lake in the Cotswold Water Park. Erlud House log cabins and wooden houses in the UK Check out the 'models' page for prices of different styles....bargain!!!

What method are you using to age trees like that Tony?

£178 is the "normal" (i.e extortionate) price....it's half price for the first month.

"You lot" meaning who?

Sorry - the flyer came with an email. I have copied the text below: Hello All, Please find the attached flyer for a another course coming up at Hatfield Forest in November 2012. The course is a one day event, and will focus on the techniques and background around ‘veteranising’ trees. As it’s a one day course (and the recent two day course sold out), it would be worth registering your interest with the National Trust at Hatfield ASAP. There isn’t a cost for the course agreed as yet, but it will follow shortly. Please note- At this event there will be a live demonstration of explosives being used in trees, by BREXCO Ltd, and is not to be missed. If you have time, you might also like to read the recent article from Essential Arb also attached, about the two day course held in February. Please forward this e-mail on, if you know someone who might be interested in it. Thank you Regards- Reg Reg Harris Director Urban Forestry (Bury St Edmunds) Ltd The Old Sawmill, Ampton Lane, Ingham, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP31 1NS T: 01284 729091 F: 01284 729634

Tony - I like your idea for this thread and I am all for retaining appropriate trees. What I don't understand is why your tone (I know, it's a forum constrained by typing text - maybe if we were chatting face to face I'd get it?) is so 'them and us'? You have had an experience with one consultant that charges alot for their opinion and (quite rightly!)won't guarantee the outcome. So ask around, get a second opinion. Sometimes I read your posts and get the sense you feel like a crusader/lone ranger for trees....there happen to be others, including many on this forum that also share your objectives and are out doing the work every day. It's high time you got the necessary qualification/accreditation that you need plus some insurance and get on with doing what you write about all the time. Perhaps then you won't feel so frustrated? Maybe.

Looks like an interesting day!!! Imagine the risk assessments for sticking dynamite in to trees.... Veteranisation Course Poster- Hatfield Forest. 13-11-12..pdf

Have you taken a core and put it in a fracto then Tony? If you have I'd be interested to see the results.

I got a mortgage in 2005 when had been self-employed for only 2 years and it was a nightmare. I don't think I would have managed if I hadn't used a financial adviser/broker and had a decent deposit. I recently moved and re-mortgaged but now I am employed and it was ALOT easier! I realise that lenders need to be careful about mortgages now, but in my opinion it is way too hard these days if you are not an employee. It is one of the major reasons that would stop me leaving formal employment again in teh fuure - I got treated like scum by every bank I talked to when I was self-employed, it sucked!

Sounds interesting. I have only used cavat infrequently for individual compensation cases so probably can't contribute much. Good luck with it.

What do you want to know?

There: 2 x Trimble Nomad (GPS, Camera, Barcode) and 1x copy of Digiterra GIS ArbTrader Arborists Classifieds

There were some Trimble Nomads with Digiterra for sale here the other day....

You ain't no fool! Sorry for talking in arb riddles. T/r ratio is the ratio of the thickness (t) sound wood (aka 'residual wall) to the radius ® of the tree stem. Dr Claus Mattheck's work suggests that a ration of less than 0.3 (or 30% if you like) is a critical ratio beyond which a tree is highly likely to fail if it has a full crown.

I agree it's a good guideline but I just dislike it's overuse as a golden rule or something that's claimed to be proven. Every tree is different (as you well know) and should be assessed independently accounting for the myriad of factors that affects its ability to stand or fall... I recently inspected an open grown mature lime with a full crown that had a t/r ratio of 0.15! It may well fail any time soon, but it has lasted a good few years since the t/r was 0.3....thereby showing that there are no 'rules'. You know I am playing devil's advocate here Tony - I respect Mattheck's work. We need more research/statistics on tree failures to better inform these decisions. Apologies for the slight derail.........

It's not really proof of a rule though is it? What about the unquantified number of trees with a t/r of less than 0.3 that didn't fall over?!

I hardly think the PTI plus one qualification is an unreasonable criteria for £25k. I would have thought they'd get lots of applications in the current climate.

No doubt matey - I am not taking anything away from what you do. Offering a service such as yours to arborists is a great idea - I wish I had made contact with you before! Can you email your contact details so I can bear you in mind during busy spells? [email protected]

Hi Sloth, I use KeyTREE: Tree Survey Software It's not designed for capturing data in the field really - you either need to use a GPS program that you can import in to CAD, or just mark the tree numbers on the topographical site plan that (hopefully) you have been provided with. I really only use KeyTREE for BS5837 work. It's pretty easy to use for making professional looking TCP's. I import the spreadsheet of data collected in to the program, and then one clink on each tree on the topo inserts the tree number, crown spreads, RPA all colour coded according to the BS category of the tree. There are several videos on the Keyscape website where you can see how it works. If you are looking for something to act as a more general survey tool for collecting tree mapping data for other types of survey, you're better off looking at a GPS data collection program like Pear mapping, Digiterra, Ezytreev etc. It can soon get expensive though! If you have some big sites this software soon pays for itself. I recently created a TCP for a site with over 5000 trees on it and it took about 10 minutes. If I had needed to draw each tree in turn in CAD it would have taken me about 5 days if not more.

Hi rck - I am a real CAD novice with no formal training so I plumped for a package that does alot for me...but it cost over a grand! Your bolt-on looks great, well done for writing it. Hats off to your skills!

Best wishes for a successful operation and full recovery. Scary stuff.

Is your main question how much they should be reduced, or how much will it cost? Obviously one will affect the other. Without opening the can of worms of why does he want them reduced and whereabouts in the country are you.......I would have thought that looks like an easy day for 2 people so a cost would be in the region of £450-600. I would suggest the best way forward would be to ring a good local contractor and ask them for a quote - that way all the factors of the site can be considered for a proper quote. Most companies offer free no-obligation quotations so you have nothing to lose.

Following on (but not detracting) from anther thread about AutoCAD for tree constraints plans, I thought I would post an example of how my CAD program shows tree shadows. I don't know how this compares with other offerings such as the one created by the poster RCK but I am generally pretty pleased with it. You can set the geographic location, timezones and times of day in numerous viewports to show how the tree shadows will move round during the day. The shadows are plotted using information input from the tree schedule - current height, branch spreads and clear stem height. They look a bit like lollipops but I think this is preferable to the arc as specified in the 2005 standard. The software I use is called KeyTREE. I'd be interested to hear your comments. tree shadow example.pdf

HCR lives in Kent though!

Will it work with AutoCAD LT?