Dean Lofthouse

You are kidding surely We are not talking about aboriculture done correctly, we are talking about hacking trees. There is something wrong, if you are a fully trained tree surgeon mutilating trees for no other reason than to please someone who has not the first inclin about trees! You should be educating the Tree owner has to why what they are asking you to do to the tree is wrong and will either cause problems in the future or seal the fate of a perfectly healthy tree

I have both and to be honest haven't noticed any difference in general feel of the harness (saddle).

You must see paper work, if not enquire yourself. Tell him it is immpossible for you to start the work untill confirmation of Tree status has been seen. It's your career and money at stake if not.

The Huck is right. Ropes are tremendously strong, my biggest worry is the branch failing. Especailly when you see some limb failures that are apparently healthy limbs. Someone once asked me if I was scared of heights, I said everyone is, but to differing degrees. If you wasn't scared of heights that would be a bad thing.

If I want a jump, I just ask her.

I see what your saying Treemotion, it just wasn't too clear how you explained it. I do the same, I put ladders up, throw a line up, walk up the ladders taking up the slack. If there are braches all the way up, you may as well step up them using them as ladders whilst keeping your attachment points as you ascend. Correct?

LOL

That crane operator looked to know exactly what he was doing.

My mates son can climb an 80ft beech with no ropes or harness. It takes me three times longer with ropes and harness. Does that make him a good climber?? A good climber is one that can access the crown and move about the crown in a fluid and safe manner in order to carry out the work he/she has to do

Your right Steve, that should read: Teaches you to climb safely.

Love to meet you sometime then Dodger ! I have lost countless jobs because I have refused to do as the tree owner asked and I haven't been able to persuade them otherwise. I am a firm believer that (sometimes) qualifications mean nothing. If you haven't got a degree in common sense then the rest of your qualifications means nothing. However, saying that. A climbing course does not just teach you how to climb. It teaches you how to climb correctly and teaches you about the tackle you use and what should and shouldn't be done with it. Also inspecting the tree before you climb. I have sold and repaired power tools for nearly twenty years, including repairs on chainsaw. A chainsaw course taught me things I didn't know about chainsaws, ie the chrome plating is the cutting edge not the metal of the tooth. Courses and qualification have theur place dodger and shouldn't be poo pooed. I have no arb qualifications, but tht doesn't mean to say I haven't studied arboriculture, I have read Alex Shigo books cover to cover a hundred times. I have all my tickets. I did tree surgery 22 years ago, then I knew nothing. I came out of it and then decided to go back into it about 8 years ago, spent 2 years doing courses and my own studying and then set back up again. If you are going to do something Know your subject, so that if a customer askes you a question, you know the answer. You also need to know that what you do to a tree is correct and how what you do to a tree affects it. I still have a deep hunger for learning and will listen to advise.

I think I would have Mewped that one Monkeyd, with all those brackets round the bottom. But saying that, if it had stood up to the big winds recently?? Did it look pretty sound when you got to the base?

I think the prices for the 6" bandit and the 150tw are very close if I remember rightly when I got my bandit. I went to orange plant to look at TW but the tinny build and square aperture put me off. I looked at some of the second hand ones to see how they wear after a few hundred ours or so and they don't fair as well as the bandits.

I think it's a removable spike though.

What length flipline would you buy. I have the 3m one and find it's far too short for medium to big stuff. Thinking of going for a 5m

LOL, They,re not, you'd be walking round like a robot.

Perhaps you should start selling these for chainsaw use Jonesie

Got some nice toys there Huck.

Tony, you need to get your head out of those books

That's a different senario, I know they do it to save money but you'd think in the long term, it would be better to remove the trees under power lines, would save a lot of money long term and they could have a tree planting scheme elsewhere to balance things out. Would be better than leaving half a tree wouldn't, plus it wouldn't make you feel guilty. :wave: Get your calculator out anyway you, "logsplitter" working away is no excuse for not having the time.

Saw benches are Ok bill provided all guards are in place.

Teupan are the dogs, very good machine, everything is fail to safe.

Reading Dodger threads from no1 to his present post on all the threads he has posted, you would have come up with the same conclusion. He has also admitted he and some of his mates were on a wind up. Shame on you Ed for not looking at the whole picture

The point I was making is you shouldn't be doing it "purely" for the money. That would be a complete tosser. Of course we have to earn a living out of it, I wouldn't be doing it otherwise. But we can still earn a decent living out of it, whilst at the same time carrying out tree work in a proffessional manner and being able to take pride in your work everytime you drive past. If we drive past a tree we have done in the past looking the other way then we need to be asking ourselve whether this is the job we should be in.