jpbeaver

puwer im not sure on the assesment in germany, i was just trying to make a point that instead of having lots of expensive small courses you could have 3 courses teaching you pretty much the same thing, ok it might take a day or 2 longer to do the courses than have to re do multiple assments. i've spent lots of time and money getting qualified and in my opinion and that of my employees im good at my chosen proffesion, for some one to turn round and say every 3/5/ or what ever years you need to re test i think is bull ****. in the last 8 years ive worked in this industry ive learned more than any instructer has ever taught me through trial and error watching other climbers and reading information on forums like this. i think if i re took my nptc's i would probably fail on a few bad habits ive picked up but im still a much safer and better skilled climber now than i was when i passed my tickets and i dont need to spend ££££ to have some over qualified under skilled pen pusher tell me that. ( ive had bad experiences with trainers sorry to tar you all with the same brush)

most of the young lads ive worked with cant even sharpen a saw properly let alone use one in a proffesional manner.

about 30% of my work is freelance climbing. most companies i climb for dont mind me turning up in my pick up. hell i even where my company t shirts on there jobs. although im gonna get some different ones for when i help other companies out.

steve is there any reason why your pick up aint sign written? its gotta be the best advert for the money. think i paid £100 for mine. just think how many people you pass whilst driving every day. oh and nice job

have to agree with you there big a, as soon as i saw the title of the thread i thought its just another way for someone else to make money out of us poor sods who put up with people changing the goal posts. i believe in germany they have 3 arb tickets 1 for felling 1 for climbing and 1 for climbing with a chainsaw. not sure how long the courses last but when i was over there the level of skill seemed very high.

just come back from camping, i'll post pics soon. we got pissed on but had a great time, apart from everyone going to bed with there girlfriends at 10pm cos of it was chucking it down. my lass didnt come cos she is working today so i had to settle for my border terrier for company.

i havent got many good pics but these are from yesterdays jobs. my mate bought the tractor from buzz a couple of months ago. i was a contract climber on this job, i'd been told 3 days climbing on 2 sycamores. the first (smaller 65 foot with 3 foot base) was down by 11am. the second (80 foot and 4+ foot) was down and chipped by 4:15pm. i was fooked........ but got a tip and another 2 days work.

i clean all the crap out of the heads of the bolts on my tw using a dentists tooth scraper thing £1 from a carboot. it works really well.

my mate paul is looking at buying a used Schleising 440 zx pto driven chipper in average condition made in 1999. the company who have it at the moment have told him to make an offer if he wants it. just wondered if anyone had a ball park figure so he's not paying well over the odds. i'll try and get pics tomorrow if i get a chance. and is there anything to look out for on this chipper faults wise? cheers jp

not enough work up here at the mo. but the work i get is priced well, especially my contract climbing. got 3 days for the next 3 weeks with 1 company, the only problem is its driving someone elses company forward instead of mine.

i mainy use a vt but have used a troll rocker quite a few times for pine removals as pitch doesnt effect the way it runs.

like most things its probably what your used to. the jensen i used was a tracked hired one with quite a few hours on the clock. im sure if i used a new one for a while id get the hang of it. it seemed to feed so much better than the timberwolfs though. im looking forward to seeing one of your chippers in the flesh at some point. i take it that has a bar?

not used all that many different makes of chippers but i like the infeed on the jensens but cant stand the control bar i much prefer the buttons on my timberwolf. i'd like to try more chippers but most people round here just have timberwolfs. saying that im using an old schlising (sp) 10" turntable chipper 3 days this week on buzz's old tractor which will be a nice change.

I was a big husky fan but I have moved onto stihl in the last 3 years cos a the dealer is only 3 miles away. I've had nothing but trouble with my stihl 650 since I got it so I'm threatening to go back to husky again. I'd rather not though.

that sound bad if you need to borrow anything let me know and i'll try and send it down if possible. ps hope the you had a good time in the lakes

yeah it was cool. it was a summers evening on a golf course by a river, once i got the falcon down i got chatting to the lass from the rspca and she said if no one claimed the falcon within a week i could have it if i wanted. unfortunately for me the owner got in contact. this pic was taken just as i got down. i dont normally sweat that much but it was the middle of summer and id just stuffed myself at a bbq. and i was still in my chainsaw trousers.:eek:

dont have many decent pics this is a falcon i rescued for the rspa.

awesome pics. its been ages since i did a decent size tree. roll on winter.

here is my mitsi L200, it has a 4500lb electric winch mounted at the rear. it has a custom made tipping aluminium body. i know its small but it does the job and round here drives are narrow and a 4x4 is a must.

that's a good point ed. I've thought the same myself.

lee at lakes lumber is a great bloke. he was one of my instructors at newton rigg for 2 years.

not checked properly yet. i did climb a full 20 foot high today which could be enough to make me shit myself;)

going to work this morning with a bit of back ache.......... ended up on the floor in agony by 2pm, walking like ive just shit myself. feel like a right tool now for not taking the day off.

sorry i should of added ive never had a problem with my set.

i got given a new set for my timberwolf from a bloke i subbed for, it was his way of saying sorry for taking 6 months to pay me for a night shift. he did say that if you use them blunt they can shatter but who uses blunt chipper blades?