Sciadopitys

You serious? thought you were having a laugh! Sorry! Why not just tie a double fishermans? Far superior.

Marline spike i use a lot (when i worked with Yanks they called it a slipknot) Rod, is a butterfly and an alpine butterfly the same knot or different mate? and is a clove hitch same as clove hitch constricter? Never heard of that

I have always used a sheet bend (well a slipped sheet bend) for this purpose and i didn't know how to tie a quick hitch until i read your post. I now consider the quick hitch to be much better for this purpose and will be using it from now on! Thank you! This forum does work!

Totally agree, Big Frank!

Just looked in a arb book and it says it is also useful for heavy rigging, but gives no examples! mmmmm???

I have been taught that a reef knot should not be relied upon as it comes undone very easily indeed. Woodpicker is taking the piss incase anyone decides to try and make prussik loops with a reef (square) knot!

Hi all, i have been looking at knots used in treework recently and i wondered how many arborists are actually using these knots. I know there are common knots that we all use everyday, but there will be others that are used infrequently that maybe would be useful to know. So who is using what knot for what purpose? I presume we all use cow hitch and timber hitch for attaching harware to a tree and half hitch and a running bowline to block down sections. And blakes hitch / VT / Distel for friction hitch. I know the alpine butterfly which i use sometimes for creating a 3-1 mechanical advantage to pull a tree over if i don't have the gear with me to make a 5-1 system, but often wonder of the other uses for this knot. Also, bowline on a bight, know how to tie it, never used it in my work. What is it good for guys? Discuss any knots - i am interested!

I did the open water last summer in Egypt, cheap as chips over there! Did 3 dives towards the open water advanced too, another 2 to go then i'm down to 30m depth. Loved it, can't wait to go again! Enjoy yourself Bob

http://www.all-about-the-home.co.uk/baby-jolly-12v-bar-mounted-chainsaw-sharpener--grinder-112-p.asp Anyone tried one of these? Or can recomme nd a better / similar machine? Cheers for all replies so far!

:mad1:Yesterday i had a 30inch bar on the 066 and i hit nails 3 times, and as Dean said i wasted over an hour sharpening the saw, basically the chain was a mess all 3 times and took longer than normal to sharpen up. Sharpening the saw by hand is not a problem, i am not the fastest in the world, but i do sharpen it properly, just was wondering if a mechanical sharpener was gonna save me time. Some people have said that mechanical sharpeners do not get the saw as sharp!?!?! How sharp do they get it? Must be ok or they wouldn't be used at all!?! And do u really need a chain 100% razor sharp if the liklihood is you'll be sharpening it again by the time you knock another ring off? Can u notice a considerable difference between hand filing and machine sharpening Dean?? I hate nails!!!

Also, i have heard rumors of chains with special teeth that are resistant to stones and nails. Are these diamond tipped or just super-hardened? And i presume you would need special files to sharpen these?

I have always sharpened ALL chains by hand, but recently i seem to be sharpening the bloody 066 3 or 4 times everytime i use it as some moron seems to enjoy hammering nails into trees The sharpening is adding loads of times to jobs, mainly on removing large trunks when hitting nails is a regular occurance. I am thinking about buying a machine to sharpen chains, some people i know use em all the time and love em, others will not touch em. Opinions please fellas! I would love to get my hands on a 12V sharpener that bolts to the bar and sharpens like a bench grinder giving even cutters throughout the chain, i'm fed up of cutting stumps in banana shapes, cos some moron before me didn't sharpen the chain properly! Anyone have any experience with these or know where i can find one? Is 12V one got the balls to sharpen chains properly or should i be thinking of a 110 or 240V instead. Cheers!

I'll be there saturday!

A ropeman, a ropeguide primus, petzls new ascenders!

What is the basic mimimum equipment you guys would recommend for doing a simple pole rescue? Is just a 3-srand topping down strop in the bottom of ya kitbag sufficient just to tie with a timber hitch above your victim? I have just knocked up an adjustable friction saver, so that'll do me. But need a cheaper alternative for the rest of the lads that don't like over-complicating things! So what is the best economical type of strop for this purpose? And what is estimated cost? Cheers.

Right, i will get the pics on monday for you guys to agrue it out!

Distel with really short legs at the moment! Micro pulley in between the legs. VT great also. Blakes hitch is a cracking friction hitch, but once i had climbed with a micro pulley and an eye-to eye friction hitch their was no going back. When i occassionally use the othere end of my rope for double-crotching i wander how the hell i used to pull that blakes around after me all day when the micro pulley does it all for you! Gotta move with the times and take advantage of new ideas and developments imo, but there are people who don't and won't. I work with some guys who still use prussik loops and 2 ends of the rope and do not carry a lanyard. Each to their own i suppose!

Continually going over the swl DECREASES the "cycles to failure" didn't ya mean!?! Personaly, i think we have to be sensible about these things, if an American wants to use a European product rated at 22kn then imo there is no bloody reason why not, apart from somebody sat in an office writing ANSI documents. 22kn or 23kn is gonna make no difference in the real world! I know Americans tend to be larger than us Europeans by a few lbs, but come on!! And, on the other hand, i actually have a few pulleys manufactured in the States by CMI, and they are bloody good pulleys, one is a micro-mouse pulley (like hitch climber but only 2 holes!) and this is rated at 7000lbs / 31.1kn and doesn't have a CE mark so cannot be used in Europe, yet a hitch climber pulley is rated at 24kn, so i can use it in Europe. Explain!!!! Its a load of rubbish, good enough for Yanks, good enough for me! And vice versa! If its rated, its rated - End of story! (in my opinion)

23kn rings a bell!?!?!

Is the tree in the pic Argania spinosa?? from northern Africa? Looks like it

Don't ya just love speedlines!

I will get some pics. How the hell do i put pics on my posts guys?

I looked at a horse chestnut earlier in the week, it had 3 major limbs that had split bark all the way along almost to the tips, and one of them had snapped out at the top and fell onto a public footpath. There is a little bit of brown gunk oozing out of the trunk at about head height, but nothing major at this stage. Bleeding canker i presume? The tree overhangs a public footpath and powerlines, is reducing the weight of the infected limbs a sufficient cause of action? Or should limbs be removed completey or tree removed to elimanate this risk entirely? Removing the 3 limbs would ruin the shape of the tree, and would cause the tree severe stress. I want to just reduce the branches and maybe take one off, but i would first like to know how bleeding canker affects strucutal integrity. Sorry for my ignorance, i have very little knowledge of bleeding canker and similar problems!

Climbing is the way - unless i'm hungover - then give me a MEWP