ecolojim

http://www.bats.org.uk/publications_download.php/235/Howtomakeabatbox.pdf http://free.woodworking-plans.org/bat-house-plans.html theres some for a start Ian, Ive got another one somewhere, a really good one with more information re: height of installation etc (5m+ iirc)

would you charge a person to rescue them from a tree? I damn well wouldnt. same goes for any other animal in need!! R/C planes etc would charge, but then only a small amount.

cerne, if its purely the cost thats an issue, why not constact 'train to gain' and have them pay half? I did

How much?! my cs38 was 520-ish, and Ive paid myself through all my courses to date, so I applied to 'train to gain' who funded half the cost, so a cost of £260 to myself. not to mention, it took me a week to do my 38, because it took me a week. no way I would do all those other tickets over 10 days. I wouldnt have even managed a combined cs38 and 39

you just mentioned something there that Id quite like cleared up once and for all. CS31, to fell and process (or whatever the wording) 'small trees'.... and then some subtext about trees less than or up to diameter of the guide bar. then 32 'medium trees' up to 2x guide bar length or whatever, then 33 is up to 3x or something. now... Ive always understood that the small, medium, large had little consequence, It was merely a way of classifying a set of techniques, and as such a 3 1/2 foot diameter tree could be felled by an operative with CS31 so long as he used a saw with bar length at least 3 1/2 foot, as he would be using one of the basic techniques. and so on and so forth with the other certifications. This would make a lot of sense. I have certainly felled trees a lot larger than 15 inches using those basic cuts and larger saws, and find the process little different. I was also under the impression that the whole 15 inch basis was for no other reason than 15inch being a bar size taken by a lot of saws, and availability of training and assessment trees for CS32 and 33 if the bar size were larger, would be next to none, and a waste of fantastic trees. Again, pointing toward 'size' being immaterial, and 'technique' being the item actually being classified. clarification would be appreciated Jim

no problem mate. I realise my explanations were a bit rushed so if you want anything clarifying, i'd only be too happy

ah right, sorry Lee Ive certainly not seen you write that before. Seems to be total madness to me. Whether or not you can do the job well, A level playing field of qualifications is surely the best thing all round when we all rely on each other for the state of our premiums. anyway, not the topic at hand

so you dont have your cs38, you therefore dont have your cs39, but youve been doing climbing jobs and you're insured? does that not hurt the wallet more than the price of a course or two? Im not having a dig, I just thought nigh on all of the ins companies required at least 38 and 39 before they would insure you? In a nutshell the techniques were: recovering using 2 ropes: connect casualty's central D to yours with a biner or quickdraw, put positioning lanyard over their shoulder and behind them under their other arm to stop them falling backwards, and operate both friction hitches to bring both of you down to the ground. keeping your legs one above and one below theirs aids in control on your rope only: as above but once they are secured to you, attach them via another biner and a prussik to the working end of your line (not the end with the friction cord on), disconnect them and lower both of you on just your system (your friction hitch takes the weight of both of you and can bind up hard or go very quick depending) 3 man recovery: one chap enters tree and reaches casualty, other sets a belay anchored to the bottom of the tree with timber hitch, alpine butterfly and prussik loop. man in the tree passes end of rescue rope over a strong anchor and attaches it to casualty and releases them from their system. man on ground lowers casualty, man in tree lowers himself and concentrates on supporting casualty. pole rescue: essentially like the one rope rescue but you have to install a false anchor point first (I didnt do this on my assessment or course, no suitable trees) remember, keep talking to the casualty all the time, and assessor dependant, if he has been suspended longer than 7 minutes, dont let their weight out of the harness until you've explained why.

first video, skip to 1:47. puma speedcats and a fall arrest harness! that's some accessorising right there! these videos are brilliant!

On my course I learnt to give a huge kick off the main stem and swing out to such branches. I like your method but jumping out is certainly quicker. took a few goes to get comfortable doing it though, and there is the possibility of missing and swinging back into the stem, plus you look a bit funny hugging the branch while you strop off. plus jumping only works for shorter distances. Another case of horses for courses. Good method, good post

hate to say it but one of the many reasons I didnt go for samsons ropes more recently was the unrest and mistrust re: them being now manufactured in china or something, Please someone correct me if im wrong!! for the time being at least, whether im missing out on something or not, Im happy with my yale!

personally I would have (although Ive not seen the site personally so can only make assumptions) have given more thought to balancing the lower portion of the tree, a fractured crown lift if you will. This would have given a far more natural result whilst still letting you do some fracturing. I have no problem with fracturing per se. It does however begin to seem that youve taken hold of a technique and are now very much intent on using it at every available opportunity whether appropriate or not. IMO from what I can see this was very much a 'not' occasion

Im afraid Im going to have to move over to the 'that looks ghash' side of the fence. I AM a fan of fracture pruning... say where there are two or three limbs that are posing a risk or naturally failing and can be winched off to good and natural effect. Im afraid, that to my mind, that tree now looks incredibly unnatural. It looks like its been 'reduced' and cut untidily. Dare I say it, like some rare cowboy with a sense of shape did it. I dont like 'roundover' reductions as they look completely unnatural, but to then fracture the end of the branches to try and combat this IMO looks even worse. so for me, it's failed to tick the aesthetic box, it's also failed to tick the mimicking nature box, and the only one I have left is the 'best for the tree' box... and tbh, I cant see that being the case either. Sorry

conifer 'killing' is never bad! conifer 'reducing' is hell! what a job!! but I would have dragged the client up there to show them what it's probably started to do to the stone lattice work in the belltower windows. I was reading something just recently about how such things as ivy and other assorted creepers can have a very destructive effect on buildings. something they do that just makes mortar crumble to dust. Will try and remember what it was I was reading

small consolation I suppose lol

I dont think I perhaps explained myself properly. He's going to be in the tree as well, there will be an additional 2 persons on the ground. The Idea presumably being to get the reduction done more efficiently, and Im hoping, theres going to actually be some instruction for me. My concern isnt climbing the tree. I shouldnt have listed the anchor point thing as a problem, I was more looking for confirmation that horse chestnut is a weaker wood and something I should be conscious of. My concern is whether Im doing something bad if I use a saw when Im not qualified or whether it's on him as the boss man. My other concern being that I want to make the cuts in the right places, not re: my safety, but making the tree look no worse than in my opinion it is inevitably going to. I was more looking for people's insight into how to visualise the shape from within, people's opinions on the job itself, my opinion that 50% is too much and anything too big for a silky is too big full stop etc. my main concern, is knowing that I had a hand in hat racking what is probably a very nice tree, and probably just on somebody's whim

Hi Kev, just racking my brains... think it's at number 30 so by my guess that's somewhere up near newark road end. Domestic job. Its only a small contractor from misterton Im working with tomorrow. Pleased im climbing and not working on the ground though. Brash has to go through a gap in a 7ft conifer hedge and theyve got a 4/5inch bearcat chipper on site. Im gonna laugh so F hard if we get there and its one youve felled!!

thing is, I should only be using a silky anyway since I dont yet have my CS39 whether he's conveniently ignoring this or whether his insurance allows for 'supervision' Im not sure. Im sure I could voice concern, and he wouldnt be a turd back, but it probably wouldnt change anything now he's specced 50% I agree, it should be a dismantle job. Its one of those inner city 'tree's too big' jobs I suppose. Tree may well have been there first. Oh well, his company sign on the van thanks for the pointers Chris!

got a bit of a problem boss has asked/told me that I'll be climbing a big horse chestnut tomorrow with him. think it's Doddington road Lincoln to do a 50% reduction on it. This will be my first reduction ever. problem a: I dont like reductions for reductions sake, and 50% sounds like a pretty horrid one! problem b: Im under the impression HC is particularly snappy to climb, so Im going to want a pretty large anchor point? problem c: this is the biggy. where the hell to cut. I cant be asking him where to cut all day long. I know the principles of pruning and where to cut in that respect, but im talking more about preserving the shape of the tree, and knowing that Im going to be cutting pretty thick stuff (gonna look ugly) problem d: he's going to send me up it with an ms170 rear handled saw because he only has one 200t and im still waiting on some parts for my 019t. Might just say I'll do it all by silky power, IMO If im cutting stuff thats too thick for a silky, theres something drastically wrong what says the board?

contact trees unlimited mate! very good bunch. I would have loved to work with them if I were still in Leeds. Alas, Im not

does that not have a detrimental effect on the structural integrity of each cutter? how very cavalier! I propose an in depth study into the effect on integrity with respect to different numbers. I propose the number 4 weakens a cutter more than a number 7. discuss

thought there was some big thing about them not letting people kip in their cars cos of thefts overnight or something? i probably got that wrong, but it's what I was considering doing

nearly bought a 3 disc version for the tractor hedger. not quite got the vertical reach of that though! haha

if im not mistaken, all the information you need for any professional saw made, can be found by searching by make and model on oregon's website. http://www.oregonchain.co.uk/commonpgm/SelGuide_SelctMfg.asp?UserType=PRO&BusId=OCS&SellReg=EUR&LangId=UKENG&ShowRem=N&ShowAnsi=N&ShowQuality=N&ShowCombo=N

thanks all