Lancstree

Very nice silhouette shot, particularly like the sun

We had a lad work with us that wanted to do an ND in computing but his mum wanted him to do tree work to make a man of him!

Forgot the spikes perhaps?

Upon first sight the first fungus looks like Fomes fomentarius - Horse hoof. Similar appearance?

Thats nuts. When would you need that? To sharpen your pencil or lower your computer desk perhaps?

I was thinking more in the line of formula one Dean! You are right about work position too - I was sat in a Leylandii when I got kickback. Since then I've altered a lot and got into some better habits and that's what it comes down to - which habits you chose to adhere to.

I'm not going into the details of my accident because I've done that already on here with pics (if I remember correctly). I'm an advocate of 2 handed use because you are more likely to get in a good work position so it is safer - simple as that. We are talking about a profession and professional car drivers would drive with both hands on the wheel I'd imagine. At the end of the day Mike did an excellent job of taking the tree down in the vid and I'm not dismissing that, however I do think there should be some mention of alternative practice to add some sort of balance amongst the praise. If it were not mentioned then these lads at college or on NPTC courses would think that they were being taught nonsense.

Some good rigging and climbing work there and very nice video work and I like the soundtrack . My take on the one-handed saw work is this; the ones that were hand held are the branches that were at an awkward angle and didn't need to be held because the others were cut straight off and dropped. To some extent I agree with Philip and I think that it would have been unnecessary had you stropped round the tree and slackened off the life line so that you could use the saw with both hands. That would have been my way round it but like Marc says its different for each climber. Since nicking my neck with an 020 from kickback (with both hands on the saw!) I don't think I've done one handed since. I will endeavor to find a way to position myself to cut 2 handed and last resort is rig it out - but that's me. On a conifer like this I'd spike up with a steel strop, removing every limb until its topped out then stage it down with two points of attachment - is this acceptable practice? Regarding the chainsaw gloves it depends if the risk assessment deems them necessary so they are not compulsory PPE. I only use them for ground work on thorns and stuff. You're a lucky sod getting to work in places like that all the time though mike!

The first 2 I think are Oyster Brackets and I've taken an inoculated log. The second 2 are what I believe are parasol. The others I've not got round to identifying

Could you not point the chipper chute at these types? Just for a minute or two should do the trick

That's some quick hands to get the camera phone ready Dean, unless; A - you were stalking him, B - Bob was going slow or C - you've got eyes like a hawk and spotted him from miles away!

Thanks for those links. I think it might have been the stihl one.

I'm looking for a website that someone posted a link to on this site. Its some time ago and I had saved it to my bookmarks on my other computer but its lost now. The site asked a series of questions and lead you to the correct species. Any ideas? Cheers

Good job. I'd love to work on a crew that rigged like that.

Are you wearing a mask in those pics Bob? I've needed one a fair few times chipping the dead stuff this summer. Looks like good fun

Good links. I want to grow from seed that I collect and learn the whole process that way. Eventually I'd like to help pass on the skills to schools and other groups. My town used to be surrounded by a ring of oaks way back and there is talk of bringing it back that way. Some of us think it would be best to use local acorns and have kids look after them in school until they are fit to plant as opposed to buying them in.

Has anyone used one of those tool/gauge thingies. I've got one but no idea how to use it. Its an 'L' shaped bracket with lines and the letters W and T scribed in

I'm after having a dabble with growing trees from seed. Can anyone recommend a good book or website with comprehensive instructions?

Its a bit annoying when the ads kick in, you have to listen to that before you can hear your song. Yet to see how often they are. How do you create a playlist then see it again?

Its bloody annoying but I can't do without watching the news in the morning. Everybody loves raymond is a better watch

No problem, should have thought of that.. Cheers for the reply

I run a shorter tail than the pic too. I've tried increasing the distance between the half hitch and the coils in the last couple of days and it works a treat - for a bit; it seems to work closer together again after a short while. Going to keep playing around with it as I really like it, though I suppose everything has its limitations

Watched a documentary called 'Kick Ass Kung Fu' some time ago and there was a chinese fella that could receive kicks to the groin in this way. He secretly moved his family tackle up into his body so you weren't really kicking his nads, just the bone. It would take some playing around with your wee man to be able to do that though!

I'm going to be helping a local special needs home by volunteering to manage a small area of woodland that has been neglected. Its only a tiny area, maybe 30m square on the edge of a nice landscaped garden but I thought it would be nice to make it accessible to handicap wheelchair users and to make a small feature of it; maybe some owl boxes and a bench or two. I've yet to look at the site properly to see what is there and I'm due to talk my ideas over with the management there. Does anyone have ideas for how it could be used and any features to add? I want to make it quite professional as an experience for myself so if anyone has a management plan template I could use that would be great. Sorry no pics as yet and I'd need a CRB check before I could start. Cheers

Cheers for that Marc. That does seem to make sense. To be honest I don't always use a cambium saver