Rik

you drew that?! i thought u must have got it out of a book or summat! i'd have given you much more credit if i had realised!

ahh wicked cheers ashes, actually looks well simple to get made.. spesh if you know a tame blacksmith! nice little plug there gensetsteve mind if i ask how much each of your bags holds? where about in hampshire are you based? i assume i could collect from your yard? cos it does sound an appealing thought (apart from the load of wood ive got to get gone this particular time!)

sounds interesting! dont spose by any chance you'd have a picture of said tray?! i have a fabricator at my disposal who would be able to knock summat up pretty sharpish!

quite agree with all, the risks are and will always be there, i guess its just a case of being as aware of them as possible but like you say mog, using it all to the best advantage whilst keeping within the boundaries.

likin the look of that bagging machine ting andy! recon if i end up doing a lot i can make something similar to this! for now though i think i may be at the level of the inverted upside down bag sleeve trick! simple and by the sounds of it effective!

completely agree with every word! try and keep the risks as manageable as possible, cos there are enough of them! having that knowledge in the back of your mind that your able to get down quickly whatever happens would i think definately give you more confidence and mental space to concentrate on the job in hand, not how to get out of is if it goes wrong (therefore hopefully meaning your less likely to have that accident in the first place)

hey guys ive been selling logs for a few year now but have only just recently tarted selling kindling in nets as well.. there seems to be a fair market for them but have one problem... how the hel do you guys that sell a lot get your nets so full and neat and tidy?! i'm currently splitting and loading them up by hand and every poxy stick seems to get caught in the netting, wont push down neatly to the bottom, rips the side (if i get really annoyed with it) etc etc! is there some gadget im missing out on or some kind of 'funnel'/'shoot' type arrangement that u can get?? (or am i just being a reject and should man up and get on with it?!)

ahhh cheers Wuss! that makes complete sense of course now i see it! cant believe i hadnt actually thought of that already!

im getting lots of ideas from all the replies, if anyone has any pictures at all of the systems they have mentioned (i find it difficult to picture things from words ) then please do post! i'm gonna try get some myself in the next couple of days when i try out different ideas

ahhh got ya.. im with ya now! in that case yes i do!, (i feel dumb now )

hey swampster understand what u mean about the pole being limited, also im afraid im not familiar with the 'DDRT' system? could u give me a pointer as to what this system consists of?

haha cheers mog! i like to keep upto date with stuff cos its me thats up that tree and i want to make sure that ive got everything in place as possible incase it all goes kaput! likin the idea of the poles that clip together.. i had thought about having a throwline or thin rope attached to the mainline with a pulley just above the prussik that could be pulled down from the ground and lower the climber. however this would of course have the downside of having an extra rope flailing around getting hooked on everything getting in the the way. (which we all know it would!) possibly more useful on a pole than in a big spreading broadleaf.

We were going over aerial rescue techniques etc the other day and still it always seems to be that no matter how prepared you are, to get a climber up into the tree and attach to the injured and then back down again is gonna take a hell of a time... i know the talk of 99% of the time the climber will get themselves down.. but if its too bad for that then by my reconing they may only have a couple of minutes or so to get on the ground.. no matter how much we get ready and prepared, i still an seen to get the whole operation down to less than 7 minutes... and thats with an extra line already in the tree ready. im trying to come up with ways that the groundy can lower the climber down from the ground.. the best ive come up with so far is simply a sling and krab around the base of the trunk, and if need be the groundy can then just clip the rope through and lower the climber down, this does still however mean the climber has to cut his own prussik (or whatever he uses) which of course is useless if they already out cold.. anyone else got anything they have seen or used or any ideas at all? any thoughts welcome as always

hey, have all the needed chainsaw certs and lots more to boot but dont have the pts. am based in oxon, are there any more details about the work, timescales etc at all? cheers, Rik

also confirmed in a woodland near maidenhead near me also.. seems to be spreading to the west at a fair rate now...

a bit close now but the old dear has just told me there will be a segment on the ash dieback on the itv1 news between 6 and half past this evening. might be of interest to some of our guys

VERMEER STUMP GRINDER / DIESEL | eBay basically as the title says guys, saw this on ebay, but i cant find what model it is? ive had a search but cant find it, ive even just been scrolling through google images to match it up but cant seem to, its had a respray so no id mark apart from the engine plate, ive rung the guy but he dosnt seem to know either.. anyone recognise it at all?? cos im......... 'stumped' (sorry couldnt resist) cheers guys

Hey guys, been asked to make a coffee table for a mate out of 'summat interesting and not boring' i was thinkin about a full diameter plank about a meter long, 50 -60 cm wide and a couple inches thick, just wondering if anyone on here would have anything like up for sale, i'd love a piece of yew but am guessing thats gonna be a long shot and if even possible, a little out of my price range! any thought, suggestions, prices etc would be greatly appreciated. (im based in oxfordshire, but can of course collect a reasonable distance). cheers for any thoughts as always guys.

personally i had a set of duplicate sheets printed up, they act as estimate sheets, needed tool checklist, rudimentary risk ass, and i give the customer a copy after ive been out to look at the job to give them a little bit of proof of what weve spoken about, (they sign it) and a little assurance that im gonna actually get back to themonve ive sorted out any admin they may need sorting, (tpo's aonb's etc) took me a while to get it right but it works for me.

it always seems to happen that way, concentrating on either summat completely different and irrelevant, or concentrating so much on summat important that u zone out of everything else thats going on around you! at times i must admit if were on a difficult awkward job that may require big rigging etc my head seems to get full of a million things that are all simultaniously happening around me.. at that point i have to physically stop. sit back for a couple of minutes and take stock and refocus!

interestings thoughts already, ive heard a few times from people in different walks of life, that as soon as kiddies come along then all of life looks different, trees seem higher, bikes seem faster, saws seem sharper, ropes seem thinner, that kinda thing!

so guys, ive recently been talking to a couple of climbers and have read a couple of bits on here about climbers being scared of heights, ive had a quick search through the archives and its seems to be a lot more common than i ever thought. i must admit, of course ive had the odd spaz out up more than a couple of trees in my time, i personally find it to be a bit relative, i could be 100' up a solid old oak and i couldnt be happier, yet i could be no more that 20' up a half dead lil poplar and be weeing meself! just wonderin what everyone elses feelings are?

had exactly the same on a couple of my toppys, both the breather, one the 'mushroom' had dissapeard completely, and the other the little rubber hose had split, from what ive heard its pretty common and the first place id check, luckily a really quick and cheap fix if so!

blimey days! many point here being mentioned id never even considered or even vaguely thought about! i think im gonna go to her and try explain all this to her and get some clearer desicions before she jumps into anything. if im honest i recon itll end up as firewood tbh rik

cheers for the ideas guys! ill get back to the woman and give her some ideas and see what she says!