Tom D

Just watched it again. I just spent today lowering with the exact same pulley that Mike was using. Since when can't you use one of them?? I have a large pulley for really heavy stuff but why lug that into the tree if you're only lowering small stuff?

Really funny, clever advertising. Would actually be quite cool though.

Which takes us back to the balance issue, I said If I was using one hand for balance I would one hand a topper. If there is no balance issue then of course two hands is fine, either with a chainsaw or silky:001_smile:

Often the problem with a silky in tip work is that the saw digs in and the brench bends, you end up having to saw without rhythm which is a bit like patting your head whilst rubbing your stomach. Going one handed whilst using a topper is just common sense really, if you can comfortably get two hands on it then do, if you can't then don't.. simples:001_smile: With the ones in the vid I probably wouldn't have gone one handed, just jump cutted them, but I certainly wouldn't have a go at Mike, clearly he can handle a saw, how he works is up to him.

if the tractor hydraulics are too slow, why not just put the pump on the pto? an adaptor would be easy to come by I would imagine.

I try to avoid one handing, but it would ba crazy to two hand everything, I often use one habd for a balancing hold whilst cutting on the tips of a branch. I also avoid cutting and holding but still will under some circumstances eg dismantling over a greenhouse, after rigging a section off I often cut and hold the stub.

Are you saying he spends too much time brushing his teeth?

Bad luck mate, sometimes all the s**t happens in one day. I remember once working in Edinburgh with a 12" bandit on a big mog, the chute had to be turned to the side to tip, on returning fron the dump I started her up and two of my colleagues fed a 10" x 8foot birch log into the beast, two seconds later there was a lot of chip over three seperate front gardens, none of which was the one we were working at, and worst of all one of them was landscaped in large pebbles, took about 2 hours to clean it up. I seem to remember that was a friday too. Hope the finger heals quickly. I just remembered a conversation I had with a client on the phone once, he sounded like he had a pair of socks in his mouth. It turned out he'd been hit by a car and hurt his back, the hospital had discharged him with some strong pain killers, unfortunately too strong, they made him so dizzy that he stacked it on the hospital steps on the way out and smashed his teeth in on a handrail:scared1: I know I shouldn't, but it still makes me smile thinking about it.

Big areas! since the hourly rate would start when the truck leaves the yard, I wouldn't mind. But you still haven't said what the work would be or how much you anticipate there being.

Getting nerdy about this now, average rainfall Dunbar: 600mm:001_smile: Average rainfall Huddersfield: 814mm:sad: Average rainfall Manchester: 809mm!!! cant beleive you're wetter than Skyhuck, assuming he is in Manchester. Glasgow (closest I could get to Largs) :1015mm Anglesey :843mm Looks like SWB is the wettest unless anyone can top a whopping metre of rain each year. Clearly I need to go to bed now:ohmy:

Worth noting I suppose that the decay is on the tension side of the limb. This is where any reaction wood would want to develop in a broadleaf to maintain structural integrity.

I think any wood left in large lumps will not dry much, if at all in fact it will rot before it dries. Even indoors large lumps will take a long time to dry, ask a wood turner. Tarps will make things worse, rain will not make much difference either, the benefit of the tarp keeping the rain off is far outweighed by the lack of air circulation. I know this because a few years ago I used a yard surrounded by trees and which had weeds growing around the log piles. Even this was enough to really slow the drying process. Now, by luck rather than any judgement, I have an exposed yard near the sea, it is always windy and I regularly roundup the area to keep the weeds down. I can dry green beech (as split logs ) down to 20% moisture in just 1 year, this is just left in a big pile, no tarp. When it rains the outer logs get wet, but they are the first to dry in the wind so it balences itself out. One thing I have noticed is that even after heavy persistant rain, break the surface of a pile and the logs are dry after a foot or so, also split a rain wet log and its dry inside. The original moisture / sap in the log takes a while to loose but rain will not penetrate a dry log unless it is in contact with wet plants or soil. In shorty the best way to dry your rings Dean is to keep them uncovered off the ground in the most exposed part of your yard that you can find. BTW the vented log bags are working a treat.

As others have said, never work on day rate, there's so much that can go wrong, breakdowns etc, or even just popping to the bank to pay some cheques in, they are going to want to see you working the whole time. Give a price for the job then if you turn up with 10 men and finish it in an hour or take 2 days on your tod it makes no odds to them. I got shafted recently and ended up £300 out of pocket, when I threatened to go legal they threatened to go to local papers etc. sometimes you just have to let it go.

Had mine 2 years, the hexfoam is fine, blemish free in fact. The webbing has slight fraying on it but still passes loler fine.

Gust got rid of my ldv, it was fairly reliable over the last three years, just gutless. I've bought a transit.

There are loads of them in France and they'll pollard anything. TBH all the ones i have seen done (which was most of them) have taken it very well.

The view from an ash I was working on last week.

Acer pseudoplatanus, Fagus sylvatica, Fraxinus excelsior, Prunus spp and of course various cypresses.

This was when I got them:001_smile: http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/firewood-forum/3273-vented-bulk-bags-co-operative.html

The bags that I am using are vented .8m3 so no problems with mould, in fact they're working really well.

Anyone know the going rate ? I have around 90 0.8 cube bags already filled and enough split wood to fill another 120 but I was thinking of selling the rest wholesale in small bags. What are the small bags wholesale / retail prices like round your way, up here a 90x50 cm bag sells for between £4.50 and 6.50 retail.

The best way to prepare for treework in scotland is to jog on the spot whilst burning fivers in a cold shower while an assistant slaps you about the face with a thorny branch and shouts at you for making sawdust or taking their parking space.

My point is Kev, the AA have said nothing that I have heard in the defence of rope access methods in tree work, they have produced a guide to working with MEWPs but have not told us when we can or should use one. At best they are sitting on the fence on this issue, at worst they are undermining the injdustry they supposedly represent. I want to know if i am breaking H+S law by not using a MEWP where it would be possible to do so? If I am then the AA has totaly failed in its duty to this industry. The AA is drifting further and further away from the average contractor and only representing and supporting a vocal minority of generaly larger contractors who target a "high end" customer who will pay a premium for their services. Look in any yellow pages, the majority of the contractors advertising will not be AAAC, they will be everything from complete cowboys to quality firms who work to the same exacting standards as the AAACs but who haven't signed up for the self congratulatory pat on the back of joining the scheme. A GOOD scheme would be inclusive NOT exclusive ie bring the less well trained less well run companies on board and help them to improve, not set the bar so high that many in the industry see the AAAC scheme as totaly un attainable. If necessary keep the sceme as it is and introduce an entry level scheme for the aspiring smaller firms. This is not sour grapes on my part, I nearly became AAAC 2 Years ago but decided that it would do little to help my business prosper as it is so poorly advertised, like many others on this forum I am confident that my professional standards are every bit as good as any one operating within the scheme, I just feel why pay for a pat on the back that will do nothing for my profits? I can't imagine there is another industry in Britain where the trade organisation has such a poor reputation within its industry. There are plenty of companys out there whose standards are well below what our industry should expect and dare I say it some on this forum too. This is no reason to bury your head in the sand and pretend they don't exist, help them improve, and if they won't improve give your sceme some clout and publicity and shame them into shaping up and joining in. When every other customer asks "are you AAAC?" people like me will start taking an interest, untill then I'm alright Jack.

I can see what you mean Steve, I only sell waste, and wouldn't buy in. I probably average 100 - 150 ton a year, but with the site clearence jobs thin on the ground and more and more domestic customers asking to keep the wood there's less to go around. There's still going to be a good market for it though as so many more people are burning it these days. How do you sell it? by the bag or load etc?

The fungi are breaking down the wood in the soil, they will come up every year untill their food supply is exhausted, burying the chip will make little difference. I'd get them identified if you can, most of the guys on here can only confidently identify fungi which are harmfull to trees, the ones you have are probably not harmful to your veg or to you, just wash your veg and your hands before eating. Why not get a fungi kit and grow edible mushrooms? Shitake and oyster can be bought as plugs or inocculated straw.