tockmal

Whilst we had the blue version out on demo we found another application.....log truck!!

Not yellow, green. Here's one of my hedgecutting assistants at a job next to the green version we had out on demo. Notice the obligatory red shoes which are a requirement of all my staff.

I was thinking of buying one of these as a greener addition to my fleet, what do you think? Could be a great marketing tool? http://www.roperld.com/science/ZAPXebraPKXX.htm It would make an excellent small hedge and shrub vehicle.

Felco make a triangular holster which clips into Silky scabbards real easy. So the Felcos sit in front of your Silky scabbard. Another option the first one showing the clip at the back that will attach to the silky scabbard.

Good job on the shape mistertee. Guess sometimes you have to go with what the client wants. I like seeing two trees being treated as one when it comes to shaping the canopy.

Ha ha! thats good

90% of Scottish people are inherently weird, especially people from Glasgow, myself and Jamie are luckily in the other 10%.

what r those weird little spikes for?

The older ones were cool, smaller, compact little workhorses, this newer version with it's macho boatcar looks reeks of 'I'm a badasss look at me' there overpriced poseur mobiles, all that horsepower and cant pull worth a f**k. I also know of 4 of the new Navaras whose engines have blown up at 60,000. Avoid it like the plague. If you buy this vehicle you'll be sorry. Its shite. Easily the best value for money, with the 3 ton towing capacity, Ford realises that some people still use pick-ups for work. They made a lot of improvements to the new version, more power in all the right places. Who says Ford are a spent force? Not me. What can I say, joke, what a bloody joke! WTF were the Mitsubishi designers on when they came up with that cross between a flying saucer and a dogsh*t, to say that this vehicle is ugly just does not do its ugliness justice. Any self respecting person would not be seen dead in this vomit inducing travesty of a pick-up. Aimed at subnuts, bought by subnuts. Avoid this vehicle at all costs, you will be bitterly disappointed if you by one. Those graphics, Jesus!!! Very good from what I know if somewhat overpriced, why are all mazdas overpriced? who knows, who cares. Used one for 2 years, never had any problems with it whatsoever, still aimed firmly at the working market, still used by intelligent people. Good buy. Well, well, well.....what have they done to the humble little Hilux? I'll tell you what they've done, they've turned it from a decent and indestructable little pick-up that couldn't pull a foreskin into what can only be described as a bloated scrotum on wheels. Jesus H Christ!!!! 170 Horsepower and only capable of towing 2 and a quarter tons!! WTF!!! Toyota have forgotten their roots, they've gone for the white trash with cash market. Pathetic. This pick-up is a toy. Its not for work. What would I go for, the Ranger cause its still made for workers like myself. ps anyone know why Daihatsu stopped making the awesome Fourtrack?

Looks bad, the cut aint in a good place to heal fast. Did it cut throught to the bone?

Strongly disagree, the higher the tree, the more at peace I am, in fact I love climbing incredibly tall trees, and rigging them down from well over 100ft. My favourite trees are ones where you can see the vast expanse of air and nothingness between you and the ground. Its both peaceful and beautiful at the same time.

Over the years I have decided that this is the wrong way to approach my work, what the ground people are doing will never dictate wether I should speed up. These days I work at my pace in the tree, and no groundies or bosses will ever change that. If you are working harder to keep the groundies occupied then there is something wrong IMHO. If a climber is too slow, then he has been sent up the wrong tree by a piss poor boss.

Why is it we find ourselves up in the trees working at speed then? Surely the higher you price a job the slower you can work, thereby decreasing the risk of an accident?

Great photos

Sorry Steve, I disagree.....speed is a by product of a culture of having to do the job on time because you quoted too low. In other words, if you are working too fast, your boss did not quote high enough or he is greedy. It's mainly down to good pricing.

When I first started working for a tree company, I wanted to be fast, I wanted to show my peers I was as good as them. This continued for at least 5 years until I had three bad accidents in the space of 2 months. 1 - stuck a 2 inch climbing spike into my calf muscle while distmantling a street tree. Reason it happened - working too fast. 2 - Took a bad swing - 35ft from a tight angled branch walk into the main stem, the impact was across my spine 60 ft up an oak - I couldn't breath for 1 minute thought I was going to die of a broken back in the tree. Reason it happened - working carelessly 3 - Tied my climbing saw over a stub while I decended for lunch, I was acting like a fool swinging out from the stem abseiling, then I suddenly realised my rope might be hitting the saw, just before i could look up to see, my 020 hit me square on top of my helmet from 20 ft above me, badly jarring my neck. If I had looked up half a second earlier I might not be here today as the saw bar would have embedded in my face. Reason it happened - behaving like an idiot. I go slow these days, although sometimes i find myself in fast mode without realising I'm doing it. A throwback to my days of speed. I have to watch myself for the signs.

Anyone know what the little round orange button is on the top right of the handle is for? Please don't tell me it is for manual oiling!

Ok, I was pruning some trees in a house this week and there was this gardener guy who told me he had a little saw he never uses, got it from a friend of his apparently, says he'll sell it to me for 80 quid. I looked at it, looks brand new/hardly used, it sounded weird and cut ok but what I need to know is if any of you guys have used a Tanaka and if so are they as much junk as they look? It seemed strangely powerful. But nothing compared to a MS200T Here is a pic of the same saw; I thought it might be handy as a backup saw, although seriously damaging to my street cred if I was ever seen using it.

Jamie, that sounds cool. I got my own recipe for scotch pancakes, but I wouldn't mind seeing how they are made east coast style? Have you ever tried putting some golden syrup into the mix? Please post your recipe and instructions. Thanks

Genius Reg...pure genius. You make crane work look so easy, when in actual fact it is extremely difficult. Keep up the good work.

Weren't you in the navy Mb? didn't you call into Southampton, Portsmouth, Holy Loch or Faslane on your tours of duty?

Reg, I remember that vid from TB, last 2 mins are the best. If you could do that job again would you have taken the last piece smaller? maybe 2 sections? Seems like the crane was labouring?

I had noticed that on my last visit to the TH. Sad. It seems like the end of an era or something.

I've had experience of this as well, they seem to have a moral self righteousness, that comes from their oppressive communist work ethic, its not their fault really they've been brainwashed by the Soviets. They show disrespect which is sad, I thought they might be reasonably intelligent people, obviously not. I'm hoping for more Spanish and Portugese to come in so we can introduce Siesta.

Some people would say New Zealand has bigger social problems than the UK, not that I'm one of them. But they went all out for that American style free market reform thing a few years back and I'm not sure that it went so well?