Arbocop

looks like the extended sides are made of steel. might be an idea to weight the landy empty, then look at your chassis weight plait and work out what you can put on it ?? I used to work in a yard that weighed in chip and green waste but the 100s tonne a day, and its mad how variable the weight can be, not just on species, but time of year, if it has been wet, if it rained on the way to the tip. overloading not just a big fine can also be byby license. and of course worst case sinario, loose control, hit another person and kill them. overloading is a habitual problem in many industries, but is very very dangerous. of course if you are going to tow your chipper behind it you need to add that weight in to your MAM too. ho hum arbocop

opps http://www.samsonrope.com/index.cfm?page=28

follow this link then have a look at the appropriate section, strangly the back splice will be harder than the loopy forming

funny thing advice did the chap in the shop tell you not to use 3 way Krab, or did he advise you to avoid certain makes?? possably the latter... not all Krabs work with certain bits of kit (gear miss match is oftern overlooked and quite a problem in this industry) and some makes also have inherent issues with their operation, being moor prone to fouling and sticking than others. cant name makes really but most of us know through use that a certain companies Krabs oftern stick new out of the box if you are going to use a sweedish strop, cut resistant lanyard... pull line make sure that it has a soft link to make sure in an emergency it can be cut away. as for wd40 and Krabs the sticking and lubing issue is a hard one, graphite works well and is quite inert, but out on site it does not clean out too well, the advantage of things like wd40 etc is they can clean out debris fouling a gate on site, how ever the disadvantages relate to the interation of oils and the internal bushing used in Krabs as well as the fact they dont lubricate long term. the best advice. warm water, washing up liquid, an air line and a lube reccomended by the manufacturer, more oftern than not graphite. a final word if in doubt about what gear you should be using dont forget AFAG 401 and the guid to good climbing practice. hope that helps arbocop

Marc with ref to PPE-PFPS v rigging you are correct under the requirments of LOLER the two should be clearly seperated and marked as such, best practice and acops then tell us that we should not use them at cross purposes, unless in exceptional circumstances such as a rescue. so from a point of view of day to day operations you do not mmix them, but should they be needed for a recue then if you like that is what they call an exceptional violation, but acceptedly. as you say your rigging kit should be perfectly caperble of supporting a casulty, but best practice seperates them. as for the question about 2nd line for rescue nptc assessors are advised that if a candidate indicates such an action on there RA they can use that method in there rescue. for a full list of the cs38 requirments you can go to http://www.nptc.org.uk

Hi Deer Man I think BTS training offer the training up near ipswich dont have there number to hand but you can find them on the internet

well thanks for the clarity gentlemen in answer to the innisial question, in MHO finding a tree inspection course almost impossible, there is the QTRA witch is more a methodology of assessing risk in an arb context, interesting, a useful tool. The LANTRA accredited basic tree inspection, delivered by many training providers including the AA, a simplistic training course aimed at for example a park ranger who may well be asked to 'keep their eyes open for any problems' The Prof Tree Inspection, again LANTRA accredited and delivered by a number of training providers including the AA, but it would appear from comments hear that there are mixed feelings about it, personally, i found it very interesting,but perhaps it is very trainer dependent. OCA used to deliver the M&C based method in to large customers, again interesting with a points system for applying an action level, so some eliments of tree related issues but with a risk assessment take on things. Caple manor College Enfield used to do a basic tree inspection course over 3 days witch covered a range of subjects including basic reports, simple plant id recognition of simple mechanical faults etc, but that has now been replaced with the lantra 1 day course. they also used to do an advanced tree inspection course that looked at some simple soil science data collection for specific matters and some gadgets such as resistographs etc, this has now been replaced by the PTI LANTRA cource. thats about all i have herd of except on the odd occasion colleges have tried to run them on there own. so good luck in finding a cource and i hope what ever you choose is helpful to you. as for the other stuff debate is a good thing, i disagree with some of the things stated about the AA, but well i pay my member ship to several bodies becase at the end of the day no single one gives me all i whant, so happy hunting, stay lucky, and ohh no need for google a perfect use of the noun. arbocop

Hi chaps shame really, i've read through this thread, and well its just a shame that a body such as the AA is begilled over some poor marketing in the early days of a cource. ive looked but cant find a thread praising there crucial work in getting the banning of top-`handled chainsaws withdrawn. nor a detailed account of how the AA brought together all trade groups over the 2 stroak engine banning issue and securing a stay of execution for the thing that keeps us all going. i could right a list of many benefits members and non members have gained from the work or the paid and the volunteer staff of the AA, but i wont bore you all. with regard to the ATI couce it is a shame you did not enjoy the training nor did you feel you got any thing from it, but it does show why it is important to fill out happy clappy forms at the end of a course so that amendments can be made. i know that a large amount of feed back on ATI is positive and reflects a gain in self knowledge but not always. just think in stead of slating the body why not become bart of it and help guide it, if you feel it is that far away from what is needed to support UK arb???