arbogrunt

I agree, these chainbrake/front handguards are sub-quality. I break about 2 or 3 a year and I use a Karitool clip too, its a pain, lets go to the Stihl main office and stage an arbo-sit in!

oh no, not again. Don't talk about it...its a grey area and I like it!

I did a while as a member of the guild of master craftsmen years ago, I felt I needed to distance myself from some of the local 'cowboy outfits'. I then joined a similar organisation (I think it was called the 'league of craftsmen' or similar, which was more helpful and provided me with a payment collection service which was excellent, and an office answering service, which was a life saver and increased inquiries by 25%!. I also joined the National Arborist Assoc, again they were really helpful with the running of the company (I think they are now the Tree care industry assoc). I've climbed for 3 different AA approved contractors and they don't seem to get anything (and probably a lot less) than I got with the NAA/TCIA.

just wondering how employment law affects the hiring of ground staff from distant universes?

I think looking at trees after pruning at varying times is a vital part of the job. You can learn how different species respond to pruning and how pruning at different times of year can stimulate growth. When I do crown reductions I tend to thin the crown to varying degrees too. Its also good to go back and look at monoliths and coronet cuts/rips to see how the tree has dealt with it and to see what habitat you've created.

ha ha!, it all looks good to me, lets start a petition!

doh!, did the same daft thing years ago, leap-frogging a post box - well tried to, trashed my back and couldn't climb for 6 weeks. Had to tell my customers I'd fallen off the back of my mog !. Now I've come to realise I'm far too old to pull off stunts like that anymore!

2 great white sharks, father and son, are swimming in the ocean when they find a sinking ship. 'Right son, lets swim around the boat with just the tips of our fins showing a few times', they do this. 'Right son, now lets swim around the boat with all of our fins showing this time', this they do, then they swim in and eat all of the people. After gorging on the survivors, the son says 'Dad, why did we swim round and round them with our fins out of the water, why not just eat them up right away?' and the father says 'Because son, they taste a whole lot better without the sh#t inside them'!!

The Stihl stuff is pretty awful for pruning, leaves 'fluffy' bits in the cambium on the back end of the cut, its fine in big wood though. I'd use Oregon 91VS every time.

Gentlemen please. this is far too an aggressive thread for a saturday night!...rule of thumb is...when they enter into 'touch' distance, get the first punch in...better too be tried by 12 than carried by 6.

Its because they have no fear of the consequences of being caught...when I was a kid, if I'd done something like this I'd have got a good slapping...and deservedly so!. I'm afraid the law doesn't provide enough of a deterent to make people think twice about such mindless, stupid acts. The threat of violent retribution does...but of course this can lead to more hassle than getting the car resprayed!

some good points on this thread again. I've been freelancing for about 10 years now, the way its gone is; PL is down to the company I work for, my own injury cover is down to me. Now, it just happens I also do one day a week as a contractor for the wildlife trust, so I'm required to have PL. Lately, due to lack of work, I've been pricing my own work up and have added EL as well. My ass is covered. The added bonus is, I know people who are getting bits of work that are not insured and are getting me in for my climbing....and my insurance (at the right price of course). However, I've only had 2 days of work a week for the last month....never been this short of week in 16 years! My advice would be, stick with your employer for the rest of this year and maybe think of freelancing next year if things pick up...as a freelance climber your are expendable by your very nature and the ways things are going at the moment..its not a good time to start up....

ha ha!, thought this thread was going to be about a group of unemployed arborists who form a 'full monty' male stripper group!. I hate ivy with a passion, crown cleaning a lot of ivy out of a tree and seeing the end result can be a very rewarding job.

ouch!, now that in my books is a justifiable excuse for not getting your round in!..lucky people.

Pricing has gone a bit haywire at the moment!. Big firms have many advantages in image, staff, equipment, vehicles etc, all this comes at a cost and they'll never be able to compete with an experienced, small firm with minimal overheads (unless its a big job with lots of timber etc to move, when their equipment advantage can be brought to bear). Combine this with less work and lots of laid off self-employed staff on the circuit and price differentials are going to be more common...and bigger!. Don't under-sell your skills fellas, one day this recessions going to end and we all need to earn a real living out of it again!

I've never rated those Stein throwline cubes. I just went to the Factory shop and bought a folding bucket for fishing bait for a fiver...sturdy and cheap:thumbup1:

I've had the same 020T for 16 years. Mind you, its had a new carb, engine, body, exhaust, handle, fuel tank, chainbrake, chain, guidebar etc etc. Do I get a medal from Stihl?

be careful Tom, PL is great, but remember, if people are working under your guidance (groundies), you should have employers liability...one way around this is to work with people with their own insurance (if they are will to work under it). The insurance brokers will tell you what you should have (and encourage you to part with a few quid for it!).

blimey, just what you need after a days graft. sit down, sup your pint...and a willow falls on your head!. I've warned lots of people about dangerous trees over the years, 99% of them assumed I was just touting for work. Some of the trees subsequently came down and caused damage (thankfully to my knowledge, no injuries). If people can't listen to advice, then they have to live with the consequences. Glad nobody was seriously hurt by this one...luckily!

Well done Brodie! See, everyone, you can't keep a good climber down!

this is very interesting!, pardon my ignorance, but, how do you mix the cooking oil with the diesel if you do a 50/50 mix?. Is it a case of diesel first then hoofing in the oil or vice-versa?. I've been thinking about this for a while. Bio-diesel is retailing for about 80-90p per litre around here, producing your own stuff would be a major saving - I read somewhere you can do it for about 25p a litre. This could be an alternative to me buying a horse and cart the way things are going!

I think Brodies right, he should be earning £130 a day. Sadly, things are getting harder and harder economy-wise at the moment. Those of us who have enough work are lucky, I know lots of blokes who are struggling to get by at the moment. Put the hours in and do the best you can when you can is the answer. I've been through recessions before and just grafted my way through to the other side.....I can't see this one being any different!

A few issues here, years ago (before I started shinning up trees for a living), I was out of work, my wife was heavily pregnant and the dole wouldn't give me a penny. I got a job shelf-filling on nights in Sainsburys. I can honestly say it was the worst job I've ever had in my life. The highlight of it was sticking the nightshift manager up against the wall (I left very soon afterwards:blushing:). There IS a recession on, we are going to have to work longer, harder and in some cases, take more risks to earn less money. If, however, treework stops bringing the bread home for me, I'll be off to earn it elsewhere. If I was in your shoes (and young and single), I'd just enlist in the Army, see the recession through, do a bit, see a bit and come back to treework in a few years time.

how about doing sticky arbtalk badges with your user-name on it?