Dean Lofthouse

Used the Mewp today and as some of you are aware I have had mewps in positions you would think impossible to get them into. I have never taken photos before so now I am starting to take some. Todays job was straight forward on hard standing, there were two trees where I thought it would be better to get the mewp onto the banking for better work positioning. I first tried to get it up the banking which was about 40 degrees but the tracks wouldn't grip enough to get up and the mewp went past balance point and tipped, you can see the tracks off the floor in photo's 1 and 2, note how I position the legs so the mewp only tips onto the pads so it can be pushed back upright. Couldn't get it up the banking so I tracked it above and decided to bring it down photo 3 show the mewp position ready to come down a steep muddy slope. It actually slid, not tracked down the 45% slope, I then had to turn it through 90 degrees on the slope so the mewp was totally off balance and tipped backwards and sideways, so it was on the back corner of one track. Pic 4 shows the tracks off the floor again We got it halfway round by sending out the boom in pic 5 and two lads pushing on the lever effect while I tracked it round. We then jacked the lower side track up in the air using the legs and packed wood underneath to level it up to track it off the bog we had created and finally into position. This is extreme mewp manouvering not to be tried by the faint hearted.

Yep, me too

Stockers, I understand your point of view, but lifes cruel mate. I prefer my food from natures larder, much less cruel than from the abbattoir and pest control is a big part of that. You could say it is sick to hang dead chickens up in the supermarket by their feet for all to see, putting dead carcasses on display. We had someone have a go at us last week for having pheasants hung on the back of the landy, whats the difference? There'll always be some things one will find unpleasant where another will not. But I do believe everybody should be exposed to the realities of life

I don't allow drunken beaters, they keep falling asleep in the brambles

They have cost me many a thousand pound over the last 24 years including a brand new cage sided trailer fully secured with wheel clamp and hitch lock and looked over with cctv

You roll over and let them tickle your belly, I won't. Would you give £150 away to someone in the street. The whole point people are trying to make is we shouldn't and do not require one. Woodchip is not waste and is a valuable comodity. I have an exemption for my yard and do not intend to apply for a transportation licence. I am, next year putting up a 3000 sq ft steel building to store all my woodchip and logs. Drax have just announced they are going into bio feul energy production, I can see the price of bio fuels going up. Waste you pay to get rid of, not charge for it.

Nievity at your age tut tut

They were brought out to make it easier for left handed use, the handle goes right round the saw. Last time I saw one over here was 15 years ago mind, the HSE got going about that time.

Thats deep man!

Yuv gotta chew baccy to be an axeman. Oh and be stupid

I've just been onto Calderdale website and there's no facility to do online applications, so I have emailed the TO to ask if there is anything in the pipeline for online applications. Let's see what they say

I knew you'd be on the wrong track

Large Rowan is hard to come by, wasn't someone asking for large Rowan Butts recently and was willing to pay good money.

Might have to take you up on that Steve, might burn out my chipper. I'll have to log it up into 2 inch lengths

It is actually just over the road from PeteMcTree's house, wonder if he will sub in as a climber, could possibly do with two sets of rigging gear.

Just to add, the logpile consists of only Oak, Ash and Cherry. The fifth photo is on the floor at the base of the logpile in all the bits of bark etc Don't know if this is relevent

Cheers for that Ben, I will have a go online next time, sounds complicated at first but until I try.... I'm sure it will become very easy after a few goes. Where do you download the plan of the garden, from the LA website ??

Polyporus squamosus Must get a better book

Just been to price this huge job. Spec is to Prune / Reduce the cherry below. It is all of 12ft high and mainly epicormic recovery shoots from a previous butchering episode. Not sure I can take this job on on my own, my be too big for me. Will advise the client to either leave the tree be till it recovers from the last episode or to save it from further butchering just take the poor thing down. As you can see it was a little windy and Teddy on my bonnet was feeling a little chilly, have to get him a coat

Went down the wood today and after all the Fungi talk thought I'd have a look round and took some piccies. Fungi didn't interest me in the slightest but haven't been able to get away from it lately so thought I may as well join in. I have identified all the Fungi below as Logus Pilus decayus fungius I particularly like the third pic, it looks (to me) like it's shows different stages of the fungi ?? All found on the log pile.

Don't have a copier Peter ( fan dangle things)

You've never heard of a full wrap front handle

You can't be doing a very detailed application in that time then Ben The last one I did I timed and it took me 3 hour of my time off, ie at night. I filled in 4 copies of the application, 4 copies of photos, 4 copies of location maps (zoomed out) 4 copies of close up garden detail maps, 4 tree reports and 4 detailed schedule of works If they want four of everything they get four of everything That price includes initial site visit and any subsequent visits with the TO I am at the end of the day a business not a charity

I wouldn't, it's more down to respect for me than anything else. I had a bod quoting the right to roam to me the other day when I asked him to pick up his dog shite in my wood, he would so I told him not to come through again and that's when he quoted it. Right to roam doesn't mean you can tramp through anywhere in an urban enviroment But I would just go and ask the owner to be polite

I have a couple of regulars that do just that, they ring me and tell me to fit in a certain job as soon as I can and tell me to just send an invoice. If someone can trust me as they do I look after them