Rich Rule

Nice idea for a thread. I did post a couple of pictures in the today's job thread a few weeks ago. Here they are again. Sweet Chestnut.

Top flopping there Dave.

It is an exciting time for tree climbers. Equipment and techniques are developing to not only promote safe working practices but to allow you to work smarter and not harder. The working life expectancy of a climber can be prolonged with hopefully less wear and tear being picked up on the way. One such development in Arb climbing is the use of SRT climbing systems. SRT has been used for a number of years for canopy access, borrowing ideas and kit from rock climbing, caving etc. Traditional ascenders have always been great a capturing progress but have lacked the ability to descend should the need arise. In the last few years people have gone out on a limb like Morgan Thompson with his Unicender, Kevin Bingham with the Rope Wrench and then the Rope Runner, to develop tools that capture ascent but can be used to descend aswell. Another such pioneer in SRT Work positioning is Gordon Svedberg AKA Surveyor on forums such as The Buzz, Treehouse and Arbtalk. After producing hybrid devices such as the OAR, Gordon came up with the idea of the Compact Bulldog Bone. Having had the idea and developed prototypes, Gordon put out his design to a number of local arbs for testing and feedback via the Treebuzz internet forum in August 2014. This not only proved to be a great method of getting the Bone out there, but provided a valuable source of information and feedback from the users to the developer. Gordon took on board the feedback and over the next few months tried to incorporate the likes and dislikes he had received by tweaking the design of the Bone to allow for different users desires and rope types. The main aims being to develop one device to allow the climber to seemlessly ascend and descend and be mid-line attachable with no droppable parts. The Bone goes on the rope in seconds and can be removed in the same time frame. The Bone is made of simple parts that are easy to replace. The result of this is a Mechanical Ascender/descender, that is easy to modify and tune to your exact requirements. Although being mechanical, it operates with a very hitch like feel. For more information on the development process and the history of the device, pull up a chair, grab and drink and a 'sammich' and log onto Gordon ships the BDB after having received a signed disclaimer and payment for the product and postage. The BDB ships with instructions and 3 different sized bollards to be used on the top arm to control friction for ropes of different diameter. I received my BDB in January after reading the hype on various internet forums. I was not disappointed. First impression were of a solid, robust (read bombproof) piece of kit that I couldn't wait to use. After reading about the various modifications and development I already felt like I knew exactly how it would respond. After a couple of goes low and slow, I tried the BDB on my favourite rope, Cougar Blue with the 5/8th bollard. It responded very much like a hitch but I felt it needed a bit of time to bed in, or I needed to get used to it at least. The first 4 or 5 climbs I had on the BDB were in the rain, I was crying for a dry day. Even in the rain, once the ascent was dialled in with a HAAS and pantin, the BDB ate the rope for lunch. Desending was a bit of an on off affair till you get used to it. After a particular wet day, working over a goose enclosure my rope needed a wash... WOW! What a difference that made. The BDB literally tends slack so easily you can clip into a neck tether or chest harness and freeclimb the tree and it takes it all in with minimum sitback. My BDB self tends with approx 20 foot of line below me. Same deal with spikes, either spike the tree and it will tend depending on the rope angle or clip into a pantin or spikecender and up you go. The more I have used this device the more I am growing to love it. There has been some initial wear on the spine as the ropes and device get to know each other, but nothing to worry about at this stage. One of the main selling points of this device is how easy it is to set it on the rope. Everything is connected so there is no worry of dropping any parts. It is a case of threading the rope into the arms, bending the rope and sliding a link over the rope and locking clasp. This is just as easy to remove, just in reverse, making change overs or redirects less of a challenge and reducing the risk of getting your climbing device jammed in a fork. As mentioned, there are various modifications you can do to personalise your Bone. The only thing I have done is adjust the tending point from the spine to the top arm. In doing so, the top arm releases allowing the rope to flow even smoother through it without compromising safety. There are a few vids and reviews of the BDB on youtube. For more information on the Compact Bulldog Bone, please read the Arbtalk thread posted above. If you want to contact Gordon directly to order or simply query his design then his email is [email protected] Richard Rule Freelance Climber

I know Kevin. I was quoting the point made by donk. One minute the thread was discussing CIS next minute ... No UTR no pay.

Bad times. Heal quick Goaty.

But a Utr number is not indicative that you are register under the CIS scheme.

Military 1st are good. I have had the trousers for about 3 years but not tried the jacket. I reckon it would be an excellent choice but maybe a tad expensive. The trousers have held up to all conditions to snow in Norway to jaggy crap in Blighty. Helikon ECWCS Jacket Generation II Black | ECWCS | Military 1st

We done. I love jobs like that.

Tie the end off and drag a fig8 along the line. Stretch it and use and use it some more.

Couple of shots from today. 8 large pines to get down. Managed to straight fell 6 of them and two dismantles. Home owner to clear up. We initially had 3 days schedules for it but managed to remove some stock fencing and flop the 6 into a paddock. Yesterday and today. Rich

Sorry Mark, but I fail to see your logic. Take the example of 30k as has been suggested. You are earning PAYE, you want a car. You buy the car off out of your net wage. It costs you 'x'. You are earning as SE. You want a car/need a motor for work. You buy the car. the cost of the car or a portion of it can be written off your profit. You will also get allowances for fuel, servicing, tyres and everything else associated with that car. Regardless if it is for work use or a combination of the two. i.e. differing level and allowances. The list of examples is pretty long.

Haha.

Joe, I must have mistaken you for your ugly, thick, twin brother. Sorry bud.

Having read through the last few pages of this. Honestly, it is like listening to kids in the playground. People are throwing insults and accusations around like x in an early nineties rave. Arguing with people over the Internet is futile. Thinks are getting petty and personal from my perspective. But it is all pretty pointless. You do know an empty vessel makes the most noise, don't you?

390 Steve or it could be 420, can't remember.

It was pretty stable Steve. Pretty fast so jerky in the controls but the operator was quite smooth with it.

Yes I have one. Had it since the APF last year and still a cracker. My only gripe is the hilt type thing. Sometimes it gets caught if yu are cutting in a tight union. Also it doesn't sit as deep in the scabbard so can fall out if you are in a funny position. It does have a leather strap though and pressed stud which takes second to open close. I love mine. It make me look like a Pirate.

It was at one of the most expensive Wedding venues in the south of England. But located in woodland owned by and Industrial estate who we work for. It was brought down to 15 metres so if it did fail it didn't damage any property in the venue. Shame really.

It was pretty fair knackered and had a weird movement like dead trees do. It had such a thick understory that it would have been a nightmare getting through and due to the understory you couldn't really wang off big bits so it would have had to pieced out in hand sized bit for the most part. SO, would I have climbed it? Yes if I had to. BUT, I think it was a smarter move to get the truck mount in.

Well Dave, you can call me a puff ... but I prefer to think of the right tool for the job. We had a 34m bronto out yesterday to multistem monolith this stone dead sweet Chestnut. It looked really beautiful once you got up above the tree line and saw how it had lost its bark. Almost sculpture esq. Rich

Buy or contract hire? As I mentioned and others have, buying allows you to take advantage of your Annual Investment Allowance. Contract hire is a different thing.

Contact hire - you can claim the cost of the vehicle as a running cost of the business. Plus the deposit. PCP/HP/Loan from Bank/finance - You essentially own the vehicle and get the full vehicle cost as a business cost. Plus a bit of the interest. With the latter you own the vehicle, it is looked upon as an asset to your company but when you come to sell it you have to declare the sale price and that is added to your turnover that year. The Contract hire can be good but if the vehicle gets dinged up or you go over the milage you will be raped. Plus you never really own the vehicle. Depends what you want out of life really. I have always gone down the asset route as that is what my accountant advised.

Scheisling - German Engineering at its best. Jensen - Bad backs for the over 6'

We turned up to do a tree years ago. No tpo or CA restraints. All ready to crack on and a neighbour came out and said he would take the issue further if we touched the tree. Apparently as consent was given for the extension the neighbours kicked up a stink and the tree had to stay and it was written into some legal documents or other. Sorry I ddon't not have the details but the guy showed the documents and we left the job. The new home owner was totally unaware of these constraints. Never did find out how it turned out. (I am sure I mentioned this issue a couple of pages ago.)

What he said... ^^^