Arbocop

all NPTC require is a current mewp ticket they do not insist on their own cheers

Hi Chap hope you are well. at BTS we run this traininng reguarly and would be happy to help you out, if you would like to give me or claire a ring in the office we can tell you when we have next got a cource running, time etc. our last two cources (under the new sylibus) have had a 100% pass rate well above national average. i know we are a bit of a treck from you but we do have deals with local hotels. best regards kevin

Hi chap if it is just MEWP operation you are looking for may i suggest you do an IPAF cource try hear IPAF | English | Training | Find a Training Centre i would suggest that it would be better if you are looking to work on sites in the future , not to say that the nptc is bad, just this is, if you liek the industry standard cheers kev

Ummm few of the answeres have clearly helped....... what to look for, i would suggest that closeness is not everything but in thes days of costly travel would be a consideration. facilities, dont be afraid to phone up, as questions about the site they use (the quality of a site can make or break a course) an excellent instructor on a bad site will struggle!!), there work shops, other facilities, dont even be afraid to ask if you can come round and have a look. when it comes to cost again to some extent cost is important but does not always reflect everything, only pay a little attention to this. dont only consider the colleges, ask who your instructor will be, ask if they are on the lantra professional register for instructing the skills you seek, being on the regester does not mean they are super men but does mean they have to do cpd and keep up to date with current changes. ask others there opinions (you have had two suggestions already on here) both very reputable. and i would say being in sussex you are in a good spot, we are based in suffolk so prehaps a bit of a treck for you, but you are quite spoilt besides the two you have herd already you may try land skills training, nice set up bought in instructors os cant know who you will get, or head a little further over to dorset and you are getting close to joe and john both good instructors. also dont be afraid to ask about availibility of kit/ppe to use /try out. then think about all the info you get and make a choise, if it does not work out for you vote with your feet and change. hope thats the sort of thing you are after kev

If you fancy a jaunt up to suffolk give us a ring and we would be happy to have a chat about your needs cheers kevin

Hi all Hope you had a good everning those who came, selecting nursary stock next month. in answer to andys question, when i started at bts 3 1/2 years ago one of my targets was to get aa aproval, we were doing almost everything needed with the excaprion of enough high quality 'aminity' tree work. its taken this long to get things in that bit up to speed and we will be appling soon. But also we are trying to facilitate interesting and relevant stuff any idears welcome. kev

double opps 6.30 pm for a 7pm start

Hi Sorry no the session is at BTS training unit 6 maitland road needham market suffolk ip6 8nz sorry just realised not on the flyer opps kev

Hi Folks. As part of our free Lecture seris, this wednesday Paul Smith from the AA will be presenting information on the new Aproved Contractor Scheme. As usual there will be some special offers availible for those who attened. Plese see the attached Flyer for more information. Sorry for the Late notice but just got back from holiday. March Lecture.pdf

What can one say? Any loss is a loss too many. deepest sympathy to all concerned kev

Pole pruners/loppers? our chaps do it oftern

I belive none http://www.abcawards.co.uk/pdfs/Units&ROC/L2CertArboricultureUnits&ROCIssue1Sept10.pdf this is the new qcf sylib I was really really disapointed when the decision was maded to make this a purly theoretical qualification. to my mind it massivly diminishes the overall worth of it kev

Hi All Good old AO1 will cease soon as the new cert arb appears not to require these units, dam shame if you ask me. We have just concluded and AO1/2 Cource in suffolk, near ipswich. We are quite happy to rearrane another one in a few weeks time if enough people whant the training. We do the AO1 & 2 together, over 2 days, just over a day for the planting and just under a day for the protection. there then follows a test. if you are being tested properly you will get about 5 or 6 people a day tested per assessor. Oftern the training is not hard but the asssessment is tough to get the assessor. we are lucky at bts as we have in house staff who can do this. Rought idear of cost for 2 days training about 200 plus vat and about 120 for the two assessments. if you would like to know details plese pm me, if i get 3 definates or moor i will gladly arrnage a date for you. cheers kev

It was actually the then DTI who were within a few weeks of outlawing the sale of new top handeled saws in the uk market place. This is one of the factors that drove some fairly major changes to the old certification (CS AA) and saw some significant alterations o thow we trained and tested, but not the only way. it must be stressed that at the time the AA and FC were major plyers in getting the DTI to backdown but this is one of the reasons you should not be able to buy a toop handled saw unless you can prove you hold cs39 or sign an education declaration, i know our shop still does this as does SH. as an industry none of us really whant to see top handle saws go, but every time an accident happens with them we risk loosing them, it ais also the reason why they should not be used on the ground and the HSE deem the use of top handels on the ground for normal work to be an offence. like it or not it boils down to statistics ,and incidents. The odd thing for me in this thread is that although dean and i oftern take quite opposing points of veiw i largly agree with him n his assersions, not completley but largley. I think our current guidance is good, 'one handed use is not a substitue for good work positioning' in the new cs39 there is greater emphasis (or should be) on where you cut in relation to you and your kit. novice useres should not be put in a situation where they have to use saw one handed any one who pretends that one handed use does not happen is living in cloud coocoo land. but as dean said it should be the reserve of the person happy with there ability, not the novice, but from me it must always be the exception not the rule. and it is this part that makes it absolutly improper to try and lagitimise it through another 'ticket' that would lead to all sorts of problems that i really dont whant to go in to here. what would be better is if you have failth in your team ther mix of knowlege and learning/experiance have newer peploe coached in when it is appropriate, and how to reduce risk. another tiket bad, recognition and coaching accepterble, but like any thing when you tell someone how to you must record what you told them incase it ever comes back to bite you. by way of an example we have been working on a behond best practice manuel handeling cource at work and that had been like swimming uphill through trakel kev

you could never lagitimise 1 handed use, as it would be like teaching peoplw how to speed when they are learning to drive. If the current guidlines were followed IMHO the number of accidents cut l arm would plumbet massivley. every single year i see at least 3 people on a cource as they have unziped them selves and thought they better re-train/get trained. the question about the bit of AFAG where it says only if you can preserve safe working ie 2 attach, and you cant get a decent work position is when one handed for that op should happen, by the very virtue of that description, it is a harder tree, and a novice should not be on the cource. my thought kev

go to the libary abd look up in the bs3932 part 1 i think is the number very usful descriptions and tabels there. also you will need to look at bs4043 bit out of date but stil lcurrent. keith at barchaams is driving a new standard forwads so trawl there site incase there is moor info on there also a good referance is the hardy nursary stock manuel. as for pre planting handeling JCLI replaced CPSE but their info is sadley lacking, if you can find a copy of the old cspe plant supply and establishment guide that is quite usful, hope htta lot helps. cheers PS i cover all this stuff on my ao1 planting training kev

Hi Aileen we have cources in suffolk but think that may bea bit of a jaunt for you. sorry but the only contact i have in that area are milton keynes? any good

Talking as an assessor... My experiance is that too oftern candidates fall in to one of two catergories. 1 too soon after doing cs38 not a good enough/fit enough/ forward thinking enough climber + fail as they are oftern just unsafe 2 too much 'industry speed' take unnessary risks and are unaware of when they place themselves in a situation where they are 'chancing their arm' = fail the bestcandidatesare those that have experiance, but without the massive pressure to cut corners, but under the council of a person who understands how to do thing correctley, thos candidates are great. and dont forget it is not just about cutting bits off there is theory to do too. cheers kev

Hi Rob the sort of information you are after is collected and used by the sector skills council for the trees and timber industry. in this case it is LANTRA SSC NOT lantra awards Lantra - Raising skills, backing business in land-based and environmental industries give them a ring if you cant find what you are after here is a good place to start Lantra - Lantra ? Inspirational Stories ? Land-based ? Environmental

how much moor than they had quoted??

Dont climb it. its only a tree and you will not get any extra prais for risking your neck. I know many people will chance there arm and get away with it, but its just not worth it, you say you have never doe any thing ike this befor, so id utilse pole saws, winches and move or sacrifice the targets. I suppose that comes a bt from being an expert witness in a few cases of death and seriuse ijuries,. cheers kev

Hi all we were very Proud to host the first EAC European Tree Worker Exam the other day and here is a link to a hort week article about it. cheers kevin BTS hold first European Tree Worker exam | Arboriculture | Horticulture Week

I used the good old insulation tape inside the cover trick. i also have a pair of the cmi. bulky but bullet proof. if any one is interetsed ive actually got some left and right cmi's for sael still in the bay pm me kev

so did I !! i also keep long jump leads in a wheelbarrow tyer and have done since i was an aprentice in 1984!!!