Arbocop

An interesting read. This information has been washing around for a number of years in the 'green earth' press in the USA. very recently there was an amendment to the UK/EU label for glyphosate. there has been no posting so far on the UK pesticied site, but have to monitor it. I think its fair to say that weather you like glyphosate or not, all us old moaners that go on and on about tickets so you use these things properly, wearing the right ppe etc is just so important. years ago when the pesticide tickets forst came out i remember watching a film news clip of some chap from i think ici drink some gloop he had invented and say its so safe you can drink it if memory servs me right it was 245d lol just remember whatever it is you are using be safe follow the instructions wear your ppe arbocop

Try BTS training in suffolk,

Greetings all a long thread , and prehaps the first of a few posts as I come accross things... sorry if i repeat my self but typing as i go 1. 'Buy the book' actually buy the books, the ISA, the NAA UKHSE hell even pete bridgemans old book. all info helps, but the book wont tell you everything.. 2 'or just for ease? in my 12 years climbing theres one thing i've learnt while practising rigging and that is it makes for a very safe controlled work environment and in some case's quicker than just crashing everything to the floor.'... umm i don't necessesarilly agree with this statement, the second part yes, a slick rigging set up well run will indeed make the whole job run quicker, but because of the many variables and issues it can cause current wisdom for tree safety/stability is when you can free fall material. 3. not really rigging but please tell me that power line was switched off... 4. 'My next post after this will show pictures of basic kit to complex kit used in the rigging world'... I think the next bit should look at weather the tree is safe to rig or weather you should fell in one use a crane free fall. primary Risk assessment if you liek, sussing out and planning the job if you dont like RA... 5 now on to who should do the work, as is already clear from replies people we all have a differant ability level, for many resons, sending a c team person to do an a team job will end in tears, but send a b team person to be mentored by an a team will end in staff develpoment... Match the person to the job.. so now we have decided the tree is safe to rig, got an outline plan of how the job will be done and matched the people to the job, time to liase with the team and plan what gear we need oooo goody the gear bit i love this part so ill start a new thread.....

Hi chaps Ive just re read this thread for the second time, and I have come to the opinon in many ways al of us are saying a similar thing just missing important words or phrases. eg 'beech is intollerant of pruning', should read, 'if beech is pruned at innapropriate times of the year, or has badley placed or large wounds it will, in the balance of probabilities shed libs, rot or create weird growth ptterns' in the same way one could say about willow, 'prun it heavy and it will flourish or die' sycamore do what the hell you like as it will always grow back. in short, i think it is fair to say that the problem may well lie with innaproiate interpritations, and understanding how things react and how that reaction will interact with the environment. what i mean by that is if you hammer a beech in summer the chance of it lobbing out lims goes up a lot, in a wood or if you have cut all the branches off no worries, over the door to a hotel a little moor of a problem just the thoughts of one of those poorly educated un experienced ludite TO's... kev PS as to the arbs statment, id just say before any of us do any thing we do it for a reason, ask the reason before attacking the answer

I think paul is exactly right. The way to think about all of it is ' the local authority has a duty to protect trees...bla bla' the trees in conservation area stuff gives the LA TO breathing space to decide if strick controls are needed by making a tpo. The CA stuff also gives some automatic responsibilities to 'maintain tree cover' thus removing the burden on the LPA. to be fair its a bit of an old trick in CA & tpo just agree it as an exemtion to be removed, and then there is the duty to replant, and if it is a tpo the cover automatically covers the replant (i think thats still the case but will have to double cheak the new regs) have fun

JAmie the important bits you still need to do the city and guilds units that apply to your work you now only need one unit to register in the street works register (used to be min of 3) to be laggally allowed to work on the highway you need to be regestered with street works regester (cert alone is not enough) you have to do a recert every 5 years. PS chapter 8 in the chapter of the road traffic that deals wth road works lay out, now addressed through the best practice book that accompanies the NRSWA. hope that helps.

as a PS. 'in my experience of monitoring stump treatments, arbs are some of the worst for massive overdosing and poor aplications of pesticides and biocides, i would erge you to learn how to do it properly, and the price of the cource will pay for its self in the concentrate you will save. arbocop

STOP PA1 will not qualify you to 'only treat stumps' it is about handling storage records etc. you must do an aplicator unit, but you do not have to do pa6a you could do pa6c which is minimal caliberation, ie appling eco-plug, painting a stump etc. it is much easier than pa6a as the caliberation is so easy. arbocop

OMG i find my self agreeing with dean >>>>!!!! im not sure whats going on, must be the fact im going stir crazy as im cooped up in the house nursing broken ribs n bits after a nice person decided to try and re-arrnage me and my motor bike... i know what it is i have concusion!!!!! But seriously, i disagree with the post that said 'if you under price you dont last long' IMHO if you under price you are not doing something, that may be grow as a company, it may be H&S stuff, there is a company near me where i know for a fact a discussion went like this with the boss " yep i know the law says you are allowed 28day off but its like this you have the holiday or you have a job" so people do under price and they do survive the big question is what are they not doing that allows them to be cheap? and dean well said but i reckon moor like 5-10% of running a tree business LOL cheers ho hum

look through the entire assessment sheduel, see if you can get an assessors guidance, and just remember this for practical and theory... 'upon demand the person presenting for tech evealuation must be able to deliver a polished performace to a greater level than that expected of a candidate on a certificate of competence' eg. Q. whats this A. it is a peice of origon 73lp chain, being a 3/8 pitch with a 1.5mm guage commonly used for cutting softer wood the chisle cutters will dull easily on their working edge in dirty or hard wood. the filing angle reccomended by origon is 25 deg and a depth guge setting of 25 thou. the file size needed to sharpen this chain is 7/32. this particular peice of chain............... or Q. fel that tree A. Yes sir where do you whant me to put it.... and crack on at an industry accepterble speed, not like amaniack and not like a sloth happy times

I have a simple opinion about prices in the Arb, neh al lthe lland based sectors, we under value our selves, that is fed b a perseption of undervaluing a 'manual trade' so we under value our selves so we price in an undervalued way. alas all green trades seem stuck in a perpetual spiral of trying to cut eachothers throat while continuing the undervaling of work my goodness what a depressing post...

Wow what a long thread. how are we all doing, and i guess the tree is long chopped up now, but id like to give you a little perspective from the other side. i changed jobs recently to get experience working within an enforcement department, managing health and safety (boo his i duck to miss the rotting tomatoes...) but it is a fixed term post so i will be returning to pure arb soon. ive worked as a LA worker, tree officer, contractor, consultant teacher and trainer. and now saftey so here goes ill give you the 911 the law, at this point, affects self employed and employees and employers. the law requires you are insured if employing, you and/or staff are competent, have safe systems & equipment, communicate, control and provide ppe. that is about 300 regs squashed in to one. if you are investigated because you get a spot check or something goes wrong it is these principlas that will be looked at, BUT there are rules etc that govern what sort of action is taken, so eg a self employed person is a lot less likly to find them sleves in court they may still get there but unlikly. the thing with 'tickets' and recognised training is they show your ability at a point and make it easier to prove you are doing the above things, and also you understand your obligations. you do not have to have say NPTC tickets but they are the market leader for a reason, you just have to prove competence, but if you think an nptc ticket is costly, try paying a barrister to argue your point in court that you are competent. so the answer to your question is, if you are happy you are competent, and you advise the land owner (as that are in the firing line too if it goes wrong) then go ahead and do it, but you still have to discharge your duties at law to not harme people etc. but id recomend you do some formal training im sure you would learn from it . there you go cheers all kev

Try finding arborjim on here (kim philpot) he does a lot of trainig arround that area and is a top chap. cheers kev

Currently im working in a place that enforces parts of the HSWeA 74, and have spent some time with joint warrant issues, in the last few months some of the sites ive seen have made me evern grayer than i was when i whent there!!!! the enforcement attitude will look to the acop, and your culture, if it is a standard visit. there is a mountain of documentation to guide inspectors and officer as to 'public interest' 'concordats' c o p for public procicutors etc etc etc if you have had an accident and it looks like it could be as a result of a failure in your loler system or that is a contributory factor then the verosity of that system will be challenged... what ive learnt working on that side of the fence instead of the reciving side is that you must be prepaired to be challeneged, and if your methods comply with the acop or are better or equal things will be ok. but fail or do it wrong and they wont.. also dont forget the little gem, that now HSE can charge you for enforcment work at c.£135 an hour... focuses the mind a little.. so in short go ahead cheak your gear if you are competent to do so and have a sysytem in place that will demonstrait sutible indipendence, and just bear in mind "as i climb on it" is not a sutible argument... cheers all

Hi Fella Just finished a cource in hockley for BTS. if you chat to claire there she can add you to there list for the essex cources. depending where you are , im basildon area it takes me about 1 15 to get to bts in the am so quicker than going over the bridge ... Writtle used to do the course but dont know if they still do and i dont know who they use to instruct. hope that helps

Hi dave I have just done some stump grinder assessments for BTS training in suffolk. give clair a try cheers

The requirement for a pole rescue has been in the assessment for many years, but as an assessor chosen option. many assessors did not choose to put candidates through this and many moor trainers did not teach it hoping the assessors did not pic it. what ever you use for your friction you MUST have fail to safe as part of the system. grigri ok Rig better I'D super but they all cost money. what you may be trying to remember is 1 running bowline at bottom of tree 2 2x alpine butterfly 3 muntr on bina to frint 4 klemhiest to ether front of munter or controll tail 5 rescue casulty. if you forgot it on your test that really menas that in a high stress situation would you remember???? practice practice practice it till it becomes second nature then go back for your test. if you cant remember prehaps you may consider another day or twos training kev

Nope not exempt, if grown for good hort ie the production of fruit may not be expedient to tpo them and there are some pruning exemptions if they fall under that description. And The exception is under a bit of law where you would be guilty until you prove you are innocent, so keep the officer informed, take photos vids etc. and a long time ago i became moor and moor of the opinion that dangerous trees in the wind you should protect people and let it fall a persons life life moor important than the tree breaking a wall.

the 60 is the replacement for the 57, and is an outstanding saw. the 346 is one of my all time fave saws so i know why you like it so much. If you fancy a drive to needham market on the 14th (tomorrow) huski are there and the chaps from BTS have arranged a try before you buy event. bring your ppe and have a go with a range of huski new saws

That dragging bag looks cool. but i have had one of these for a few years and still going strong, i must say though the newer ones the zip is not as good as my orriginal one Wholesale Army Surplus Blog Archive British Army Holdall

Ill be arround on the sunday and possably the monday but alas new job so cant get all the time i whanted up there

Sweet shot terry. going by the harness, helmet and saw styling circa 1997 i would guess??? and i would also guess you took the pic ....... to the topic ingenneral as for starting the saw as terry has said there is some good guidance in the mewps in arb A Guide to the Use of MEWPs in Arboriculture some one said way back on page one a fall arrest harness, best practice says a 'full body harness' with lanyard of up to 2 m NO fall arrest device. us arbs tend to wear sit harnesses but this is really only acceptable if we are using the mewp to get in the tree or you have 250mm slack or less, that where a harness like the sequa comes in to its own climb in a sit but add on the top for the mewp. when it comes to starting the saw there is general guidance and that would favour out side the basket pre warmed. but as has been said already for every rule there is an exception, and the 66 and 88 are good examples of that

When i first saw ecoplug i thought wow why have we not been able to get this befor (only since september last year) in the UK. the depressing thing is they have been in sweeden for over 20 years!!!!!! kev

Ditto

Hi saw man Hope this finds you well, we import the air spade and as part of that we do offer a very basic one day cource that covers a little marketing, a little science and a little supervised use. in august the scotish branch of the AA are having an event that is looking at plant health in the morning and in the afternoon glyn and i are doing some air spade stuff, as its an aa thing we wi also be doing som imbarisingly good deals on air spade kits!!! but why not jump on a plane and have an excuse to come to the fc scotland!! paul hanson scotish branch will be able to give you loads of info. failing that give me a call cheers kev