Dean Lofthouse

I use that technique quite a lot, you end up with little lombardi plantings at the base of the tree

Just to put a spanner in the works What would be the ethical stance if someone had moved into a house and the next day decided he/she would mutilate a magnificent 300 year old Oak at the bottom of their garden. The Oaks been there hundreds of years and some pr1ck comes along who doesn't take a fancy to it and lobs the top off it. If the tree were such a good example and worthy of it, I personally, would walk away and phone the LA immediately to put a TPO on it.

I am going to wait till we get a shutdown no problem. What niffs me is how difficult and time consuming it is. I bet I've racked up 5 or 6 hours on the phone and probably the same in researching it, doing maps and writing letters. The worst thing is the tree is a piece of pee to do and there's a tree behind to anchor into so you'd swing away from the wires should you slip or fall, plus the overhanging branches are way above the wires. You try to do the right thing ??? I am very confident they can be done without a shut down, but hey whats 5 or 6 months wait between mates.

Just put a short tape sling between you and the lockjack to get it farther away from you, double up the sling to get it a bit closer and connect directly to your harness ring to get closer again. If that makes sense

One thing I'm not Bob, and that's short of work. You keep your tenner, you might need it.

My big mistake was undertaking other works for my client without fully understanding powerline etiquette and lumping the work as one big job. The total bill for works is £2500 which has to be billed all at once to a trustees fund, I can't invoice till works are complete. What really tickles me is it's taken two month to find out whos lines they are, sending off letters and maps then waiting 28 days. You live and learn, at least I know what to write into the contract for next time.

Many of you will remember me starting a thread on electrical shutdown 14th April 2008. Believe it or not I am still battling to get someone out to look at it. I have spent countless hours on the phone talking to numpties at call centres and numerous letters and maps being sent only to be told they dont own the equipment or letters saying yes they do but... I eventually, about 10 days ago, found the right dept. Only after phoning the YEDL emergency line and telling them I was thinking of committing suicide and if they didn't do something I would fell the tree onto their lines, who then admitted it was their line and they raised a job number for vegitation clearance. I phoned last night to see whether anything has been actioned, only to be told there is no timeline for veg clearance jobs. I then told them I was going to climb the tree regardless and risk being killed as I had lost all will to live after dealing with them, my money was being withheld till I finished the job and I couldn't wait for them any longer. I told them I didn't care anymore. They then said ok we get someone out within 24hrs to look at it. They sent someone out last night who rang me to tell him which pole it was. I will ring tomorrow morning to see what the score is but if they mess around anymore I'm taking the tre down regardless, live tree or no live tree. Never again will I take a job adjacent to powerlines, I've tried desperately to do the right thing. Just proves doing the right thing doesn't always pay

Not yet, I'm going to break out the Tachyon on the get together day and have a play with it then.

I can see how now with the rope dangling down at almost 90 degrees. If the tail end up thru the pulley first it is lined up srtraight as it would be if you were vertical

I'll see if I can work it out. Cheers matty

Trouble is when they have been done so severe, they end up as dense as a beech hedge. I've thinned two today and they were that dense, I couldn't get in them, had to cut a tunnel up into them using secutares and silky. Then hedgetrimmed to shape

Uhh, pulley under it?? Am I missing something, I never read manuals

Just eye it up Mike. Loosely put the plate in place and finger tighten pressure plate so you can move it about. I can't ever remember using a clutch centre tool unless it was a multi plate.

Pollarding is an art. An MS200T is not an arborists paint brush. A pair of secutares is. Does that make sense

Self employed domestic market. I would fell simply because you cannot rely on the tree owner to keep their word and maintain the tree. There are too many targets in back gardens to top or dratically reduce trees and create long term weak unions.

Oh yes, two infact. Us northerners think of everything tha knows

Just cut above your head, if it kicks back it misses everything.

it's quite a bit cheaper to set a time lapse up than the helmet cam, all you need is a cctv bullet cam with the correct angle lense for the distance you set it up from and one of those CCTV dvr recorders, which you can now get in 12v. You could even set it up in the Van windshield pointing at the job, it records in what ever timelapse you choose.

Be nice if you can Chris, get more climbing in this time

How to speak English

It's only at Bradley Scout camp Kev

A man after my own heart

You can read me like a book

I'd of cut it here.

Yep, we're all bogging off over to yours to give all the Kosovans, Slovaks and polish a bit more room on this tiny island of ours, there aint room for all of us. Gordon Brown can have em all to himself then