Tom D

Having used both I'd go for the 88.....

If you really don't want to go down the HC route (although I think you should) then try this. http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/climbers-talk/21327-dave-rich-howard-knut-combo-treeflex-mod.html

I've often wondered that Tom, will the shakes be worse felling whole or just the stick? The brash slows them down in flight and acts as a cushion when they hit the deck, but does the action of smashing the branches off when t hits cause more damage than the stick landing on its own. I'd love to know.

I put some chip down in my garden, got the same shrooms. The interesting question is, were the spores in the chip, or were they in the soil already and the chip gave them the energy they needed to fruit.

Good reach on that care John. Nice one.

If I have embers in mine I just put more logs on and open up he air..... thats all it needs. And if the stove is out, I just take some embers of the rayburn and chuck them in it, put some logs on and it works every time.

Thats disgraceful, phone the police, She should get a talking to by the boys in blue at the least.

The best forests (for looking at, waking in, and wildlife) are made up of a mixture of species.

at the time I thought this was the best boxing match I had ever seen, this was tainted by the injuries suffered by mclellan. This is a very interesting program so far, turns out mclellan's trainer is a nutter, maybe benn should have lost in the 1st round, and mclellan wasn't a very nice person...

Today's beech reduction..

I think the only problem with oak is that it holds its shape as it burns, it won't drop down onto the embers and stays in a lump. I was burning pure dead oak from a big council job we did earlier this year, it was all deadwood removed from big mature trees, I burned it straight off the job and it was excellent. I think the trick is to split it a bit smaller than you would other species.

do you actually get much snow down your way?

They will probably wear faster than a road tyre, but they have a lot of tread to wear.... They look good. I'm only going to get 4, no need to change the fronts.

Found some... I went in to Redpaths today and asked about snow / mud tyres for transits, they showed me some, good tread depth and will be way better than my current set in the snow. You can stick 4x4 tyres on a transit but they will fail an mot, these are rated for commercials... MPC : Newlife Tyres Online, new life to your tyres

Solicitor, simples. They don't have a leg to stand on.

I would like some off road tyres for mine, not for mud but for the snow. Its an uphill drive up to my yard, with a load of chip the van would be ok if it had some decent tyres on.

I saw a panel transit with some very chunky re-moulds on it the other day, I don't remember the size and make but they were this pattern... Puma : Newlife Tyres Online, new life to your tyres

I have wondered about this issue for years, and my opinion has changed totally, I used to believe that we needed a strong voice in the industry to help standardise the skills and qualifications required by all tree contractors. I also thought that having a strong lobby group would help improve the legislation that we are expected to comply with day to day. I now believe that we would be better off if the organisations who purport to represent our industry were weaker than they currently are, It is not the ethos of these bodies that is wrong, more the fact that so many of their members seem to be either from a non contracting background or disgruntled former contractors who want to make life as difficult as possible for the smaller firms who perhaps they see as unfair competition because they spend their time working instead of attending seminars on soils and the latest H&S regs. I consider myself to be a "good arborist", I have done the AATech and PTI as well as numerous NPTC's but I no longer believe that we should all be forcing every one else to do the same in the belief that it would make them easier to compete with. It won't, there will always be guys doing tree work on the cheap. End of. Just as there will always be guys selling cheap logs. Its far better to worry about where you and your business are going than keep looking over your shoulder at everyone else. There is a very high proportion of trainers involved at a high level in the AA etc, they will be present in disproportionate numbers at AA events and seminars, their influence on AA thinking is not necessarily in the interests of the average contractor, more NPTC's, pointless refresher courses, constantly changing NPTC definitions and qualifications etc. We need this like a hole in the head, because those of us who do commercial as well as domestic work will eventually find that as LA and commercial clients keep asking for more and more qualifications and we keep spending money putting our staff through them, there will come a time when we are so expensive that we will no longer be able to do any domestic work. Many others have reached the same conclusion and decided the the answer is to make everyone do all the tests to create a level playing field, hence my points above, however as the domestic tree market is totally unregulated there will always be those who won't bother. And therefore this utopian dream where we all have hundreds of letters after our names and no one gets to work on a 10 foot leylandii without producing a 2"file of paperwork for the little old lady who owns it is exactly that, a dream, and it always will be. Far better to keep things as they are, there will be those like me who have invested heavily in training and those who haven't and as things stand just now I am able to compete in all sectors of the market, I like being able to do that, and I fear that a stronger trade body would force me to choose between a low cost, low level of training domestic market ethos and a high cost, high level of training commercial market. The only way I would support an stronger trade body or association is if ONLY contractors could join. No trainers allowed (by order of the management)

For me apart from all the usual stuff i think ability with a saw is much overlooked. being ace round the tree dancing from one limb to another is great but IMO being able to get the cuts right and confidently drop the top out from halfway up, saving the need for all that fancy climbing, is the more cost effective option. Good saw skills allow for all sorts of labour saving, cutting down on the need for time consuming limb walks and making 10 cuts where one will do. A good climber will have all the climbing skill, he will also be able to make his saw work for him, and he will have the knowledge and experience to know where and when to use the different skills in his arsenal.

I find that so long as your teeth are of a reasonably even length then you only need to use a depth gauge on the rakers once on the first one, count the number of strokes required and then repeat that for the rest without the guide. Its fairly quick then. I let Big J do some of the teeth on my 385 with his electric sharpener, TBH I wasn't impressed, they were no where near as sharp as you can get with a file. This tool looks ok, but until you have had a go with one its hard to say. I watched your bar dressing video, and thought it was good, I have recently bought the oregon bar dressing file and am very pleased with it, makes a really nice job and sooo much quicker than a flat file. In fact previously I used to put the bard on the bench grinder to save time, no need for that now.

Yes Daddy.

Just googled this up..... there's a lot of chemicals in wood! http://burningissues.org/pdfs/tablewoodsmokeweightnov02%20.pdf

Sorry.... they're not on the swear filter tho, so we can be forgiven for thinking them acceptable...:blushing:

I was going to say the same thing as garden kit , magnesium is important I believe.

and that was very intellectual. Perhaps thats why it bothered him, he doesn't know what it is..