nod

Hi B101UK Do you have a breaking strength in mind? Have you considered using a more static rope with a shock absorber built in. Cheers Nod

Hi Tony I think you've asked some interesting questions & thrown up some comments to which I'll respond. "I'd be interested to know what happens to that money and why its changed." Although I do not know (& don't care to Know) the exact figures that come & go in terms of the organisation & completion of any TCC. I am sure that it is an aweful lot more than most people would care to assume. If you bare in mind that all the preorganising (which takes many months & goes on relentless in the background), set up & pruning of trees prior the actual comp day is done on a purely voluntary basis, the £600 odd that might come from entrants fees would not even cover the insurance for an event. That's before anybody might consider asking for costs. Each entrant & judges/techs etc get a t-shirt & lunch for 2days, & a place to put it after the digestion process. Placed climbers get medals, cash, products, hand shakes & pats on the back. £25 barely pays for the t-shirts & lunch if at all. "Are there problems with sponsors??" No problem here Tony, we/I have tried to support TCC in various ways for a few years now & don't suppose that it'll stop overnight. I do understand that as an organisation, (ISA TCC) it can be difficult to keep going cap in hand to the same usual suspects each year to ask for dosh, especially when it's really difficult to tell people exactly what their gonna get for that dosh. Sponsorship would come from an advertising budget & like with any advertising, if you think it's not working then only the wrong minded individual would carry on putting funds into it? Unless of course it was done purely for the pleasure of being involved with such an organisation. We are sponsoring the Students TCC at Capel Manor next week & I'm really pleased to be doing this as I feel that any encouragement that can be given to those setting out within our industry is a good thing. As I'm sure most are aware that there exist great disparities between the way in which treeworkers approach their daily tasks. These vary for all manner of reasons but the one that I have difficulty with is that as students we are shown (mostly) what we need to achieve NPTC levels of competance. These do tick certain boxes but also leave very many untouched, so we enter industry competant to do what? I feel that the Student TCC offers the opportunity for the whole of the student peer group to see & experience great variety in approach to the same task & all encompassed within a single event over two days. There is very much to learn for us all & to support that at whatever level is surely okay. "It just seems like a backwards step to me. " It may be a backward step Tony, but sometime it is necessary to go back to go forward. As someone somewhere else once said, 'The wise man don't build his 'ouse on the sand!' "Surely, the climbers are the focus? We're putting on a show for the ISA really aren't we?" I think the organisers & volunteers, some ISA members & some not, put on the show. The climbers turn up on the day, pay their pennies & climb trees. Some of them walk away with goodies & others take their memories (if of course the're still intact), some take both. When the competitors start getting involved with organising at some level then it's possible to say that we put on the show. But, if & when that happens the question will be asked loud & clear, & probably answered 'Why do we need the ISA?' But until such time comes when that actually happens the ISA will be the one that puts on the event. I think! "Were ISA members consulted on this?? I certainly don't remember being asked? It wasn't so long ago I sat in on AGMs where we were asked for suggestions for the future of the comps..." My only recollection of AGM's were close to Macs place in Wednesbury (the Manor Arms if memory serves), a dozen or so people turned up each time to chat the day away, try to resolve any issues & make a plan for the following years comps. It worked, of a kind, but since then there has been nothing apart from a few individuals working to continue bringing a handful of events per year to those that care to be a part of it. We will all look back on our own personal involvement in TCC's with different views & with different emotion. One year will be different from the next from the next from the next, but the potential for people to learn how to go about their daily life as a tree surgeon, tree worker, cutter, climber, arborist or however we see ourselves as, in a more efficient manner can be born from an involvement with climbing championships. Whether as a climber or a spectator & on this basis alone I think that it's worth as much support as is possible. Cheers Nod You can see from this why it is so rare that I post on forums. I simple don't have the time to talk so much ****. Nod:tee:

High Scale I've been around here for ages. Read your post & realised that I still owe you one. PM me your address & it's on its way to you asap. Cheers Nod

Hey Drew Reading your posts I thought this sounded like a Thilo event (knowing he was in your neck of the woods). Do me a favour please. When you see him next poke him in the ribs & tell him regards from Nod. Cheers Nod

Hi Drew My understanding of the issue is that the test for EN/CE certification is that the harness be loaded for 3 minutes at 15kN. I'm sure there are other tests for side-d's etc but if the harness is only tested to 15kN legally then there's no reason to mark it any hgher. An interesting point here is that I don't recall ever seeing a harness with a tested load rating on it anyway. So maybe it's more a case of honesty about the product rather than ducking down behind the EN/CE certification!! As it's been said before, if your body is undergoing forces of this magnitude there will be parts breaking, falling off or getting severely crushed anyhow. I don't see any issue there myself. G'luck Nod

Hello One & All I spoke to Steve Bullman a few days ago to ask if we could get some info out to members of Arbtalk regarding a little venture from Bosky Apparell, he gave the thumbs up so here goes. Many of you may, or may not, have met Pete Davies (the founder of Bosky Tree Climbers Apparell) a climber of many years. Anyhow, we'd discussed for many moons the possibility of whether or not climbers would be keen to buy t-shirts with original designs relating to trees or treework. I think it was the AA trade show 2006 when the first shirts arrived off the printers screens. To date there have been about 6-7 different designs which will be reprinted for future sales as well as new designs in the pipeline. Basically this post is to let you know that Pete is doing a special Xmas print run of the BOSKY 3998 design. This is a limited run & will only be printed in this form this one time. Treeworker have offered Pete to use the website as a platform from which to distribute the clothing & I'm really pleased to be able to help get this quality gear into the public domain. If you are interested, even remotely, then please visit this link. http://www.treeworker.co.uk/acatalog/Bosky_Tree_Climbers_Apparel.html There is also the opportunity to win a shirt through the charity raffle that Steve is running at Christmas as Pete is donating into the bin on that one. Many thanks & G'luck Nod

Hi Biill Standard vegetable oill made from rapeseed is just fine. I've used it constantly for about 7 years now with no negative signs at all. The odd bar sprocket has failed requiring a new bar but we run our chains fairly tight anyhows. Costs approximately 70pence per litre & get the thumbs here. Nod

Sorry to keep you waiting with a reply folks. The thread had completely slipped by me Steve kindly let me know yesterday. Basically, I've been running a splicing workshop on & off for about 3 years now. When enough people show an interest I put a workshop together & it seems that there are plenty of folks keen to learn. At the end of the day all attendees will have the basic skill & information to progress through a 16 strand splice unaided. Like everything it then takes awhile to gain the fine tuning to create a real good finish. Workshops are either 8 or 12 attendees, with 12 there will be a second instructor,just to maintain enough personal time to get everyone through the day happily. Everyone goes away with a complete splicing kit ready to get stuck in the following morning!. Anyhow, if you'd like to discuss further them please PM me as I'm not keen to blag forum space in this way; but Steve did say it was okay! Cheers Nod PS I'm planning on a workshop in early December (sorry for the delay Carl) & if demand is sufficient another at the end of January.

Hi Steve I received my copy of QB yesterday 2008 Pro, £285 delivered. I personally found that to be a decent price as my bookeeper is currently charging that or more on a monthly basis. They run sage & I still have no idea about our trading up to the last year end. I guess it's only figures to them but it will be good to get the control back that I had when I did all my books myself. So although they don't know it yet they can prepare themselves to exit stage left! No doubt I'll be on the blower soon with requests for help. Nod

Hi Tockmal I'm not quite sure how you managed to construct your reply following my post, I don't see the connection at all. My understanding of hype is where the designer, manufacturer or supplier of an article push its worthiness excessively, possibly for financial gain or credibility. I don't see this as being the case with the treeMotion harness. I have only read peer review & comments from users of the harness or questions directed at its designers which have been answered without any hype. My post was regarding yoga practice & tree climbing! Cheers Nod

Hi Treespyder Very interesting to read your thoughts on tree climbings relation to yoga practice. Obviously it's correct that we do, in many cases, indulge in long stretches but the fact that our bodies are taut whilst making these movements means that it is quite far from the relaxed, deep stretches that yoga encourages. In Astanga we are taught that breath & bandas (internal musclular locks) come before all else. Breath will create harmony between body & mind during practice & engaging the bandas creates focus & protects the body whilst moving into & out of postures. The connection between breath & movement would outweigh purely a deep stretch without breath control/focus. I think that an interesting aspect of the tree climbers anatomy, in general, is how very inflexible we are. Often focusing on strength over technique means that muscles can become exaggerated which in turn can pull the bodys skeletal balance out of alignment. I realise that we do have a job to do & that we usually rate getting it done higher than how we get it done in terms of our bodily needs. There has been much talk & rant regarding ergonomic design in tree work over recent times & I feel that a connection/understanding of body mechanics will help the individual far more than any design; i.e. it's simple to use an ergo harness in a very unergo manner due to our movements & the way we wear it. In the same vein it's just as simple to use some harnesses that have had little or no ergo design aspect put into them in a very ergonomic fashion. If we learn alot about trees we can begin to understand how to look after them in a good way; if learn alot about our bodys we can begin to understand how to use them without impacting too heavily on them. This is not another rant but just a few thoughts from my own yoga practice & tree climbing exposes. Cheers Nod

Hi Silvafox How about setting the depth of the hinge using a bore cut so that the tree is not falling whilst your still cuttiing the back of the hinge. I have experienced positive results with this method when felling leaning trees in the past. G'luck Nod .

Hi Quickthorn I understand where your coming from regarding the insurance thingy. I've lived in houses with open fire or a wood burner for a long time & think that the chimney fire comes from two things; a lack of understanding about how to burn wood well on your own particular burner/fireplace or a basic lack of maintenance. If these two things are preempted then a chimney fire is just about impossible. Last winter I had my first chimney fire because I didn't sweep out when I knew that I should do. And for no good reason I threw on a small handful of fir prunings that I had in my hand when I came in from the garden with. Double tw*t really. What I'll do is to have a door of somekind fabricated which will go into the wall above the stove & access through to the chimney. This allows me to sweep through the door & collect all the debris in the bottom of the 90degree bend pipework at the base. With a decent piece of steel it can look quite funky also. Nod

Hi Chimp Dead keen to ask why this harness in particular? I have used the harness & have thoughts about it but I'm interested in what reason folk have when they choose a harness for everyday work. Obviously we are generally quite different in our physical makeup & in the way we use our bodies at work. Some harnesses seem to help & some seem to hinder, but what is good for me is not necessarily good for the next guy & what is good for the next guy definately doesn't work for me. Horses & courses etc! Cheers Nod

Hello All We're about to fit a new burner with back boiler to our revamped heating system. A guy came over on on friday & told us that due to new building regulations a burner cannot be fitted without a flue on houses built after 1972 (I think but don't quote me on it). Our burner exits out of the back before turning 90degrees up the chimney; to my mind this will just about guarantee a chimney fire within 2years because it will impossible to sweep the chimney due the brushes going through the front of the stove & then upwards. Anyone any thoughts on that. Mine are to do it ourselves & give one large central finger to building control!! Well someone has to!! :thrasher:Nod

As far as I can see Steve it's the UK&I ISA that want them to change their name to 'The International Arboricultural Association'. I think that the AA in recent years have really started to pull their collective finger out when it comes to offering something to the practical side of the tree industry in this country, & from what little I hear that is only going from strength to strength. No point busting it up when it seems to be close to mending. Too much spiele in the ISA for my liking, I'd rather get on & do it rather than gobbing off about it. Just my take on things obviously. Nod

Lets see if this works!

Hi Steve As you know, I've been practising yoga for a couple of years (not on a daily basis i might add) now & I couldn't shout it's benefits loud enough. There are many forms of yoga of which many are certainly not for me, with differing emphasis on breathing techniques, postures or general physical challenge of postures. It interesting to see how difficult it is to make it a daily practise because it's so easy to make crap excuses for not getting out of bed half an hour earlier. Anyhow, I was recently at a 3day workshop with this fella. Check out the photo section & bare in mind the guy with the dreads is 74 years old & didn't start yoga until he was 55. It's never too late but sooner could be better than never. G'luck Nod http://www.dannyparadise.com