stevelucocq

yeah but dont tell everyone on the web!!

yeah thought number 3 would bring some interested and it in a park in which I work, beetle numbers are going to up next year, good hey! also with 4 a good reason why not to take a large limb from a mature oak and its more like a flush cut than a collar cut...sad thing about this is there was nothing wrong with the limb just concern that it may fail....a reduction of the limb would have been a better option......going to keep my eye on this and watch everything take a hold. cheers steve

hi a few random pictures from today not really that interesting. cheers steve

Hi, interested to know about what legal cover different Local Authorities have towards ancient/veteran trees?. Also what’s the general support of different LA towards this and other tree related issues? cheers steve

thanks good one. Ok so, I need to get some idea of the degree of decay within the butress/stem then I may well get back in touch. Also will have a explore round the roots. Cheers steve

Cheers for picture and info. Targets are students on a busy foot path through the park to the uni. Amenity value is high as this turkey oak has a nice big open balanced crown and its crown is in good health. How much decay within the roots of your turkey oak is apparent? cheers steve

Thanks this is a big help. Cheers steve

Hi, has any one got any information on Ganoderma resinaceum with regards to wood decay or any one involved into how to manage a tree with this fungi? This large turkey oak below may be for the chop and am keen to present some good information to support the conservation of this tree (if after analysis things are supportive of this). I understand that the wood decay is similar to other more common Ganoderma species (base and root white rot) but have read different accounts about how vigorous this is with resinaceum. Thanks steve

hi am no real expert but interested in it. ok mark wright training in sheffield is very good: http://www.industrial-rope-access.co.uk/ He has been in the industry from the start and will give u good training and a few extra bits that I took away for tree surgery. Big opportunities if you’re willing to travel. After the course u need to get your hours signed off by a level 3 technician. Big companies like http://www.can.ltd.uk/ get the big jobs and you gain the wider skills and get all your hours signed off, but they may pay less and may be hard to get jobs with. Also there is much work on the oil rigs, working generally 12 hours shifts for 12 days then 12 days off which is a good earner. Apart from that plenty of the work may be cleaning/sandblasting/checking and testing structure. Also interesting hard work in geotechnical stabilising rock faces etc. Also what I garther you need to build the hours quick and get your skills up. I am not sure if it the kind of job where you can just drop into it for a couple of weeks every year. Hope this is some help, goodluck steve

yeah I have been aware of it since I heard about the National Trust winching out limbs a few year back. Am into the idea and keen to use it. This limb on this tree was a good size and also on a TPO tree. We decided on leaving a 2-metre section but we may well finish it off tomorrow with some coronet cuts. Ideally should be have winched or allowed a big rip out further up the limb? Again mentioned it to the supervisor but he seemed less than happy with the idea. In the new British Standards would this be acceptable on a TPO tree? Cheers steve

ha, yeah good banter!...not the best analogy but you get where am coming from.

na, not an eye sore as on the edge of old woodland where no one could see unless they really tried.

Ok,hi, today unfortunately we had to remove a large limb from a mature English Oak (no pics sorry). I understand the concept of pruning by removing the limb back to the branch collar and how this allows the tree to seal the wound. This is good practice with semi mature smaller/medium limbs. What my concerns were, were how this mature tree would deal with the removal of such a large limb. I feel that the removal of large limbs right back to the main trunk is not the best. This limb would have left a large wound into the main trunk and the branch collar was ill-defined with old wounds and burrs made it impossible to leave a good finishing cut (IMO). Ok so what options did that leave us? Reducing the limb would have been a good option but a large amount of the limb had to be removed with little branches on the main section. Ok how about taking the limb back to leave a 2-metre remainder of the limb with coronet cuts to improve re-growth and also producing other good habitats?? This is kind of what we end up doing but whats other people views on this? thanks for any input cheers steve

hmm that sounds odd, I have been involved in both NPTC and IRATA work and IMO I would have thought IRATA is the industry standard for this type of work. If the work consists of clearing Buddleia etc from rock faces, bridges possibly but I would of thought NPTC tickets would not cover this work. If the work consisted of stabilising rock faces/ repointing bridges then no. As for their view that NPTC superseeds IRATA they have not got a clue, it’s like comparing a car driving licence to a pilot licence! Am not saying that ones more elite/technical/dangerous than the other but they are just different industries. Cheers Steve ps heres a good pic! and as for viaduct work I would of thought IRATA would be the only option.

good effort!...where did you sit your exam? any work in the pipeline? thanks steve