John Hancock

I went into Cheltenham and bought a new Blackberry Bold on Saturday. I was due an upgrade and wanted to access the forum of all forums when out on site. £180 lighter I’m back home acting like a kid with a new toy! Plug the charger in, switch it on….nothing! Turns out it was a faulty phone, drive back in to Cheltenham, swapped it over, dashed home, plugged it in, switched it on….Yes it works! I spent the whole of Saturday evening and Sunday morning messing about with it trying to get my beloved forum up on the screen….nothing! Ring Vodafone up and after about half an hour listening to a poor take on the Queens English, discovered the spotty pre-pubescent teenager that served me had sold me the wrong data package and they want another £12 per month (ex VAT)! Back in the car to Cheltenham (for the 3rd time in 2 days, 90 miles covered in total!) I went absolutely ballistic at them, absolute Muppets! If they sell a product they should know the blasted product and not be so keen on taking my hard-earned cash. Full refund and I’m cancelling my contract with Vodafone, which I’ve held for about 15 years! Anyone know a good phone with internet capabilities and a clinic for over stressed Arbs???

Stunning!

Hmmmmm never thought of that one! Still waiting to hear from the AA to see if we can camp there!

35 maybe...? I dont think it was 40%

Dead centre of town!

Hi guys, just come back from the pub so apologies for the late reply. I started the job yesterday (Wednesday). While I was up there I stuck a probe inside that cavity and basically it went in the length of my elbow. I write the specs for my own jobs so I’m very flexible! My head is saying (given the location of the tree) I should have taken more off! But it’s a nice tree, in a lovely location and I didn’t want to butcher it (even more than I had already) Its not a perfect reduction by any means – Nothing was roped and I did catch a few on the way down – shattered like glass being Ash at this time of year, I was gutted I can tell you!

...and modest with it.

You ask, so shall it be..... I didn’t have both vehicles today so I’ll be back to chip tomorrow. I should think it was about 22 metres tall (the MEWP is a 15 model) – ideal for very short trees! Lol.

My personal view on Pollards…..they’re fine, have no problem with them at all. If you carry out a pollard (in the true sense) your continuing a regime of good, sound arb practice that has been used for decades in order to keep trees in specific locations.

I thought I’d lump all my general work pictures together on one thread. So here goes…. This was today’s job, Ash in a well-used public park in Worcester. The fungi is Polyporus squamosus (Dryads Saddle). There is a fairly large cavity which is visible in the centre of the main trunk. The spec was a crown reduction by approx 30% in order to reduce end-weight and sail area. I’ve been criticised for not using the MEWP enough at work so thought I’d better take it out. Had to climb it too as the tree was too tall, or should it be the MEWP was too short…lol

I’ve always thought a tree surgeon is someone with all the relevant NPTC units. As you progress and start passing and working through your RFS, ISA Tech Cert etc then I think you can call yourself an arborist. An arborist without these qualifications/knowledge is a tree surgeon.

Yes its smaller than APF, but its pure Arb (not so many hairy forester types walking around) . There are loads of climbing and rigging demos going on, workshops and more…. I’ve been to many APF’s and and AA shows and I prefer the AA show every time.

Me, me, me me !!

This is the reply I had off the AA - It's going to take two weeks to get an answer! Good morning to you Mr Hancock Thank you for your enquiry. I will endeavour to deal with the response as quickly as possible, but it may take two weeks before I can confirm the situation as we are in the middle of relocating the Head Office. The removal lorry will arrive on Monday 23 February and once the office is reset I am hoping to have the answer. I appreciate your patience at this time. Best wishes Zoe Zoë Paskins Administration and Events Arboricultural Association

Thats a lovely tree, with a tale or two to tell I bet! I'd keep it.

Sorry its such a morbid subject but I thought it was well worth sharing. Take the time to go into the HSE web site and read the statistics – like Mesterh said – a real eye opener!

Thanks Dave, I've already re-worded some of it - seems 'mitigate' is too longer word for the natives of Worcester!

SUMMARY OF FATALITIES In Arb Industry BY HSE FROM 1 APRIL 2007 TO 31 MARCH 2008 A 28 year-old self-employed tree surgeon was killed whilst felling a tree at a private dwelling. He had climbed into the tree by using an extended ladder and was carrying a chainsaw to cut branches. His father heard a shout and discovered him bleeding from a cut to his neck. He died from a deep laceration to the neck caused by the chainsaw. A 54 year-old self-employed contractor died whilst using a chain saw to fell a tree. He had made a sink cut (taking a wedge from the trunk to dictate the direction of the fall) and then went on to make a number of felling cuts - cutting through the remaining part of the trunk to allow the tree to fall. The tree was being felled using a telescopic handler and a homemade grab attachment to hold the tree and prevent it from falling towards neighbouring property. As the tree moved, a cracking and splitting noise was heard and the tree fell out of the grab towards the chain saw operator. He died from injuries likely to have been caused by being struck by the tree and the chainsaw. A 28 year old self-employed tree surgeon was found dead in a tree with severe laceration to his neck. He was discovered by his employee, who had been working at ground level, suspended by his rope and harness in the tree. He was in the process of pruning a multi-stemmed willow tree in preparation for felling it. There are no eye witnesses but it is assumed that the chainsaw kicked back causing a severe laceration to his neck. He died from his injuries almost instantly. A 37 year-old forestry worker was hit by a falling tree during a tree felling operation. He was felling a tree when a dead tree leaning against it fell striking him on the head. It is not clear whether he was trying to free the tree he had felled from a hung up position or whether the dead tree slid down the trunk of the tree being felled crushing him. He died from head injuries. Further info can be found at… http://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/pdf/fatal0708.pdf

Just putting a draft letter together for the local residents, it'll go something like this..... Dear resident, Some of you may be aware that the large Oak tree situated on the green open space close to your property is subject to a fungal infection. I am writing today to inform you of its implications to you, the tree and its surrounding area. The fungal infection is known as Inonotus dryadeus, it effects the main supporting root system of the host tree and can render it unstable. If the tree was on open pasture land (as it used to be before the Warndon development) this would not be such a problem, however given the close proximity of your property, footpaths and roads; action has to be taken in order to minimise risk and fulfil the council’s duty of care. The options regarding the future management of the tree are… Option 1 Undertake an extensive crown reduction in order to mitigate the presence of decay within the rooting system. Option 2 Remove the tree completely and plant three replacement Oak trees. Option 1 has the advantage of being less drastic that total removal. In time the tree will become host to various flora and fauna due to the exposed wood from the large pruning wounds. It is hoped that in time, a new crown will develop and some amenity value will be kept. There is however a risk that due to the loss of photosynthetic area and reduction in stored energy the tree would not survive. Option 2 has the advantage of removing all risk to people and property. The replacement trees would be as large as possible and in time become established in the new urban landscape, supporting their own flora and fauna. We are fortunate that in the Dover Avenue area there are several other mature Oak trees which are, at the moment defect and pathogen free. I would appreciate your time in considering the above options and would welcome your views and opinions on the matter. I am best contacted via e-mail, my address is as follows.. [email protected] Kind regards, John Hancock. Senior Arborist, Worcester City Council.

It’s great that everyone is so enthusiastic, especially that its still so early in the year,(must be this lovely spring weather) I could think of no better way to ‘spread the word’ of Arbtalk by wearing some trendy, well designed T-shirts. I can imagine the response of none-Arbtalk members on seeing a large group of handsome guys, and girls wearing such trendy T-shirts. We need to find out if this rumour of no-camping is true or not. I hope it isn’t as ‘The Village’ is a dam good idea! Perhaps the organisers need to be made aware that if everyone is in good-spirits they are far more likely to spend more money. I’ll see what I can find out from the AA.

I would think I’m on about 90%, but then I am L/A any my arse is in this seat 2-3 days a week.

Yes I think its ok, its good to give young lads some responsibility, but remember…just because they do a one day course the supervisors and managers still have to supervise and manage, i.e. they have a responsibility to go out on site and check the lads are following chapter 8, wearing their high-viz, using the right size cones etc. Courses are not a ‘Get out of jail free card’ for employers.

Wiser??? They refused a course and you call them wise!? Not a description that springs to my mind..lol Bet they never get offered another course! Well-done you young guys!

I'll share one with Gaynor.

If you have the '8' and you set everything out correctly you have nothing to worry about (if something goes wrong.) If you don’t have the '8' and your working on the highway and something does go wrong you'll be getting to know a lot of solicitors very well!