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benedmonds

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Everything posted by benedmonds

  1. benedmonds
    Having only ever worked in domestic/amenity arb I was mortified when my guys told me one of the experienced (5+ years climbing) qualified freelancers put on his spikes to undertake a DW and lift on a lime.. My team stopped him and he didn't use them..
  2. benedmonds
    I don't think the grab is attached to the crane in the pic..
  3. benedmonds
    No.. general feeling seemed to be it was to complicated..
  4. benedmonds
    So are the people discussing and"deciding" the industry best practice in refresher courses are Lantra and BALI, both companies/training providers who have an interest in making refresher training regular compulsory and expensive.. Shouldn't the industry decide what is best and then the training providers develop refreshers courses to meet the industries needs, rather then the training providers deciding what meets their needs and excepting industry to pay for it...
  5. benedmonds
    This is on a similar theme.. I was surveying these neglected willows (with an apprentice..) for a hydro scheme.. Individually nothing special so C1.. but as a landscape feature they pretty valuble.. so B2. Or do the veteran features make it an A3..? If you pollard them does it still need an 11m, 385 m2 RPA?
  6. benedmonds
  7. benedmonds
    New position available, full time..
  8. benedmonds
    I would agree with Mark and it should be categorised in its highest sub-category.. Another issue I have, is when categorising individuals in groups; individually the trees may be rubbish and the loss of one in the group not significant, but as part of a group or feature they are important, so they might be a A2/C1..?
  9. benedmonds
    I would envisage a fee paid by the coop member each time they use it which goes to cover insurance and maintenance.
  10. benedmonds
    The point is that yes, if I owned it all I would not share it around, but if 10 people owned a share as a co-op, that's only around 2K invested and all those with a share would still look after it as if it were their own.. I know I would. We are supposed to be entering a new sharing economy. We won't own cars in 10 years surely we could share a picus..?
  11. benedmonds
    I have nothing to do with the sale on here, but wondered if there might be a way a group could purchase a picus? £21,500 + is a lot of money for a machine that you do not use often but I assume has little moving parts, is unlikely to wear out.. I could not justify the purchase and have only specified it a couple of times over the years.. But if I had access to one I might sell the service... If a group were to own the machine they could all use it or hire it out to each other?
  12. benedmonds
    We just re did our insurance and got some wildly varying rates.. Trust were cheapest on PI around £3K but wanted around £3K for tools and plant NFU wanted over 9K for PI but only £600 for the tools.. Both were supplied the same info, including details of a £15K claim and both were new for old on small plant, climbing kits etc..(£35k worth) but replacement on the chippers, grinders etc (£65K worth). NFU also initially stated they would not just insure the tools but later changed their minds.. I also found it interesting that Trust told me that after a claim they load the premium by 40% in the next year with additional premiums for the next 5 years .. So if you are paying £1,500 a year for insurance I estimate it really is not worth making a claim for less then £2,500-£3,000
  13. benedmonds
    Island, as has been said before, the standards don't appear to have any real scientific basis (except "it seems to work") even in the UK, I imagine the Australian leans heavily on the BS5837 findings, (I think saw a draft copy years ago). When you start applying them to totally different conditions and trees not even contemplated by the UK based writers they are going to be even more vague... Would anyone consider using 5837 for the RPA of a baobab? I would be interested in seeing how other countries do things? Surely the Germans and Americans have something similar?
  14. benedmonds
    There can be huge variation in hardiness even within euc species. If you remember that really cold winter we had a few years back, we took down a number of dead 15m plus eucs. While identical looking individuals in the same garden were fine. The theory I liked was that their natural range in the blue mountains ranges from very hot in the lowlands to very cold in the mountains. Lazy seed collectors who collected seed from low levels collected less hardy plants then those who trekked into the mountains..
  15. benedmonds
    As I understand it there is no scientific basis for stem diameter x 12 formula, no field tests and no real research. If there is I am happy to be corrected. A trees stem diameter has to get thicker every year, however it's rooting area doesn't. While I agree there is likely to be a correlation of stem diameter to root area, there is likely to be a correlation between height : root area or leaf area: root area, these are ignored in the formula. Sticking to what BS5837 says is too simplistic. It is a guide a starting point and hugely unrealistic.
  16. benedmonds
    I do on trees with disproportionate trunk to crown size, but normally specify some exploratory digging to ascertain if the roots actually are present. Lets face it the calculation has very little relevance to the real world. It gives a starting point to work from. Unfortunately many seem to think it is fact.
  17. benedmonds
    I was trying to preempt the give global a ring post
  18. benedmonds
    I never said they would rip me off.. Just charge more.... genuine parts are almost always more expensive but not always better.
  19. benedmonds
    Another solution, it's not rocket science... also not required if someone on here knew the answer.. I thought I would be able to figure it from the code on the pipe. It didn't come up on google, so I thought the simplest way would be to ask the helpful folk on arbtalk, save me a bit of bother if some one piped up yes its 16mm get it from pipesrus...
  20. benedmonds
    It may be 30 seconds to undo the jubilee clips, but first I have to drive to the yard, 30 mins, then to the nearest shop, 30 mins, then back to the yard, refit and then home.. More than 2 hrs.. If some one knew the size I would order it online, have it delivered to the yard and the operator will fit it in 10 mins and it would take me 10 mins to order.. So would save me 2 hrs, which is worth more then £25...
  21. benedmonds
    Good idea, perfect thanks
  22. benedmonds
    That will involve me taking it off.. and going to a shop.. I have learnt not to do the mechanical stuff, and I generally avoid shops for purchasing anything.. The internet has everything you need at the click of a button... I just wanted to order some so the guys can fit it. The mechanical side of Canopy is on holiday...
  23. benedmonds
    We have a possible reason for our HB20 issues. We have a perished fuel pipe. I would go to global but they will probably charge twice the rate of a general supplier... Can anyone decipher the numbers or know the size and someplace online to get some cheaply..
  24. benedmonds
    We took someone to court earlier in the year, who did similar refused to pay and started up another business straight away... Unfortunately for him my colleague who did the quote had not put the business name on the quote so we pursued him personally... The court sided with us.. not sure if we have seen any money yet.. It was not a huge amount £500 and must have been within his means to pay as he had the cheek to offer us a hot tub from his new business.. Moving forward in the future you can check companies house and see if directors regularly go bankrupt.. There are a number of free sites where you can get info. https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/04905417
  25. benedmonds
    How much do can folk get for biomas? We sell all ours for £10 a ton.

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